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But are tourists satisfied? Importance-performance analysis of the whale shark tourism industry on Isla Holbox, Mexico
... Experiences are the psychological outcome from visiting the environment (Baker and Crompton, 2000;Prayag et al., 2013) and are affected by the visitor's profile, motivations, preferences, expectations and satisfaction with the destination (Gnoth, 1997;Baker and Crompton, 2000;Yoon and Uysal, 2005). Thus, to improve management responsiveness, it is necessary to understand the needs and expectations of divers (Manning and Lime, 2000;Ziegler et al., 2012). ...
... However, the assessment of this MPA effect remains a global knowledge gap (Ban et al., 2019;Rasheed, 2020). Therefore, it is essential to understand the influence of the MPAs' management context on the quality of visitor experience to guide adaptive management and investment priorities aiming to ensure MPA effectiveness (Manning and Lime, 2000;Ziegler et al., 2012;Bentz et al., 2015). ...
... In this sense, expectations that are not consistent with reality are known to affect the quality of the tourist experience (Pizam and Milman, 1993). Consequently, divers' poor knowledge of the conservation status of Wildlife Refuge, rigorous ordering and the high costs of the activity may explain unrealistic expectations with the local context and, subsequently, lower levels of satisfaction than other areas (Pizam and Milman, 1993;Ziegler et al., 2012). As the Widllife Refuge is still in the beginning of diving operations, we need to consider the low experience of diving operators with this destination (e.g., choosing the best dive sites according to environmental conditions, since some can become difficult to divers when currents are too strong) can have on the quality of the dive and the satisfaction of the visitors. ...
Sustainability of scuba diving tourism should be assessed not only in environmental terms, but also concerning the quality of the diving experiences. Through the application of semi-structured questionnaires, we assessed differences in the scuba diving experiences from three subtropical Brazilian marine protected areas (MPAs) with different contexts and management regimes. We found that MPAs of more restrictive categories attracted mostly divers motivated by their natural attributes. We also found that satisfaction levels were significantly lower in the no-take MPA, where public use planning is stricter. Although we could not replicate the MPAs' contexts, our findings highlight the importance of management strategy as well as the influence of MPA age and socio-ecological context on scuba diving experiences. In this regard, managers and dive operators are encouraged to assess user characteristics and the context in which the MPA finds itself to plan and develop sustainable tourism.
... Reviewers who did not encounter polar bears tended to be more negative when providers displayed many pictures of polar bears and indicated high chances of encounters on their websites, while reviewers mostly remained positive in cases when providers displayed warnings that encounters were not guaranteed. This finding supports previous studies discussed in the first theoretical perspective (Tourism experiences, see section 2.1.2) which claim that expectations are linked to pre-visit knowledge, including consumer-driven images (Skinner & Theodossopoulos, 2011), and that providers need to be cautions in promoting their reliability, as false advertising can lead to unrealistically high expectations Pleger Bebko, 2000;Ziegler et al., 2012). ...
... While this finding is partially related to the price levels and success rates at the two destinations, it is also related to participants' perceptions of Churchill and Svalbard as wildlife watching areas. This indicates that managers of wildlife watching areas should be cautious when marketing wildlife attractions, as false advertising can lead to unrealistically high expectations Pleger Bebko, 2000;Ziegler et al., 2012) and decrease visitors' overall satisfaction. Additionally, findings from Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella national park indicate that short-duration wildlife watching activities based on a single species can be positively related to participants' intentions to perform pro-environmental behaviors when high quality guiding and interpretation is provided (Article 4). ...
... Providers need to be cautious when promoting their products and services, as appealing advertising may unrealistically raise tourists' expectations Pleger Bebko, 2000). In their study on the whale shark industry on Isla Holbox, Ziegler, Dearden, and Rollins (2012) for example found that false advertising within the industry caused many whale shark tourism participants to have unrealistic expectations of species diversity and underwater visibility, contributing to lower satisfaction with these factors. Many of the criteria which consumers use in their evaluation of an experience involve how well their tourism providers are able to recover if a service failure occurs, and it is important to take complaints seriously (Pleger Bebko, 2000). ...
This dissertation contributes to the wildlife watching tourism literature by investigating which elements are important to participants’ overall experiences and how these elements can contribute to the desired outcomes and/or reduce the negative impacts of wildlife watching
tourism activities. Moreover, wild animals are unpredictable as main attractions, and attempts to make encounters more predictable often have negative impacts on the animals involved. Certain exploitative practices such as food provisioning and habituation are also illegal in many areas. Therefore, the thesis emphasizes how other elements than the actual target species encounters can enhance overall wildlife watching experiences, and results provide suggestions on how providers can facilitate high quality experiences while reducing negative impacts on wildlife. To achieve these goals, the thesis investigates participants’ main motivations, whether participant characteristics influence overall wildlife watching tourism experiences, destination loyalty and pro-environmental behavioral intentions, as well as which elements are important to participants during wildlife watching tourism activities. These issues were mainly investigated at Norwegian wildlife watching tourism destinations, and the thesis is a novel contribution to the literature on Norwegian wildlife watching tourism. The mixed methods research approach was adopted, and data collection was based on the convergent research design, in which different but complementary data on the same topic are obtained to investigate a research topic. Empirical results are based on participants surveys, participant observations, travel party interviews and digital content analysis.
This is a compilation thesis, which consists of a synopsis and four research articles. The synopsis provides a snapshot of the main findings of the four papers, frames them theoretically
and discuss the overall findings as well as their practical implications and main theoretical contributions. Article 1 investigates participants’ main motivations to participate in wildlife watching tourism and links between motivational factors, overall satisfaction and destination
loyalty. Article 2 and Article 3 investigate which elements are important to participants during wildlife watching tourism experiences when the target species is encountered and when the target species is not encountered. Finally, Article 4 contributes to the discussion on wildlife
watching tourism’s potential to foster pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors among participants, by investigating the relationships between two of the concepts used to study this
issue: The theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985) and involvement (Burke & Stets, 1999; Havitz & Dimanche, 1999), measured by centrality to life.
Findings underline that there are several elements of importance to a wildlife watching tourism experience besides the actual target species encounter and that it is, in some cases, possible for participants to have positive experiences even in the absence of their target species. Elements that were important to participant experiences included the natural surroundings, encounters with other wildlife in the area, secondary more guaranteed side experiences and guiding, which
was especially important both when the target species was encountered and when it was not encountered. Thus, findings indicate that providing high quality guiding should be a priority for
wildlife watching tourism providers. The other supporting elements became more important to participants in cases when the target species was not encountered, indicating that they are especially important to consider when the target species is considered difficult to encounter. Another key priority is expectations management, as findings indicate that participants who are warned that encounters are not guaranteed are more likely to remain positive towards the
wildlife watching activity provider in the absence of their target species. Additionally, findings indicate that participant characteristics influence overall experiences and at least two of the
desired outcomes of wildlife watching tourism: destination loyalty and intentions to perform pro-environmental actions after joining a wildlife watching tourism activity. Therefore, wildlife watching tourism providers and managers of areas that are rich in wildlife should carefully consider which participants they would like to reach when they implement marketing and communication strategies.
... The environmental stress exerted by climate change is affecting recreational activities, which are the pinnacle of NBT (Ziegler et al., 2012;Mushawemhuka et al., 2018). This has resulted in the impediment of activities such as fishing, game drives and other forms of NBT (Ziegler et al., 2012;D'Amore and Kalifungwa, 2013). ...
... The environmental stress exerted by climate change is affecting recreational activities, which are the pinnacle of NBT (Ziegler et al., 2012;Mushawemhuka et al., 2018). This has resulted in the impediment of activities such as fishing, game drives and other forms of NBT (Ziegler et al., 2012;D'Amore and Kalifungwa, 2013). Climate change is then compromising the tourists' perceptions of travel destinations, patterns of seasonal attractions, and the activities that can be engaged in, in an area (Brace and Geoghegan 2011;Hopkins and Higham, 2016). ...
... Governments, policymakers and other relevant stakeholders in the Global South, often have an inadequate understanding of climate impacts, risks and consequences (D'Amore and Kalifungwa, 2013). This deficiency needs to be addressed by scientific research, accurate data and public engagement (Fredman et al., 2010;Ziegler et al., 2012;D'Amore and Kalifungwa, 2013). Governments and policymakers require understanding on how the climates are shifting, and how this affects various industries, geographical regions, biodiversity and ecosystems (Turner et al., 2012). ...
Good weather and favourable climate are vital resources for tourism, particularly nature-based tourism (NBT). Weather plays a pivotal role in selecting tourist activities and the overall experience of the trip, while climate influences the timing of the trip, the range of activities offered, and the natural environment experiences which attract tourists. This influence is amplified in countries located in the global South, which have little to no adaptative capacity to ameliorate unfavourable climatic conditions and extreme weather experiences. This study presents the first comprehensive tourism and climate change analysis in Zimbabwe, and used a mixed-methods approach to: (1) assess tourists’ perceptions of climate change; (2) explore tourism stakeholders’ perceptions of climate change and their adaptation strategies; and (3) investigate the climatic suitability of Zimbabwe for tourism at various selected locations across the country. This comprehensive assessment is the first of its kind in Southern African tourism and climate change research which triangulates three different sets of empirical findings in evaluating Zimbabwean climate suitability and climate change perceptions, which enhanced the credibility of the research findings. For the tourists’ perceptions, closed and open-ended questionnaires were used, while semi-structured interviews were conducted with tourism stakeholders to investigate their climate change perceptions and the adaptation strategies they employ. For climate suitability, the Tourism Climate Index (TCI) was calculated. The results from the TCI highlight that the mean annual TCI scores for Zimbabwe range between 75.5-83 (100 being the maximum score), classifying the country as having “very good” to “excellent” climatic conditions for tourism, while the mean monthly TCI scores range from 53.8 “good” to 86 also “excellent” climatic conditions for tourism for the period under study 1989-2014. These results were then triangulated with questionnaire results from tourists and semi-structured interviews with various tourism stakeholders at the selected locations around Zimbabwe. These three sets of results largely complemented each other where thermal comfort is the most important climatic variable considered for tourism climate suitability by the TCI, the tourists and the tourism stakeholders, and hence addressed the knowledge gap in Southern African climate change and tourism.
... 50 En las últimas décadas se ha visto un considerable incremento en este tipo de turismo enfocado hacia entornos marinos, y son cada vez más los interesados en interactuar con la vida silvestre submarina. 50,57 El turismo basado en la observación de tiburones es un fenómeno global que muestra un crecimiento exponencial en aquellos sitios que cuentan con las condiciones para su desarrollo. 40 Refiriéndose específicamente al turismo con tiburones ballena, su belleza, gran tamaño, docilidad y hábitos alimenticios en la superficie, hacen de esta especie un atractivo natural para la observación y nado utilizando únicamente equipo básico para esnorqueleo. ...
... 38 Conocer las expectativas y necesidades de quienes dan soporte a la actividad turística de ONTB, proporciona insumos valiosos para la toma de decisiones hacia un manejo sustentable. 57 Con el objetivo de contar con información actualizada sobre la expectativa de los turistas y su nivel de satisfacción una vez realizada la actividad de ONTB en el Caribe mexicano, entre 2014 y 2016 se aplicaron encuestas (anexo 1) a 655 visitantes en puntos estratégicos de las localidades de Holbox, Cancún e Isla mujeres durante los meses de la temporada de avistamiento, cuando las embarcaciones regresaban a los muelles. Las preguntas estaban dirigidas hacia el conocimiento y cumplimiento de las reglas, los medios por los cuales recibieron información, así como su percepción durante el desarrollo de la actividad, considerando número de embarcaciones, nadadores y tiburones. ...
... Para promover el conocimiento de las normas en las localidades, así como la importancia de los tiburones y su hábitat, deando un mismo tiburón. 57 Respecto al número de nadadores, los turistas parecen no percibir congestionamiento hasta con 5 personas por tiburón ballena. Sin embargo, se han contabilizado hasta 40 nadadores de manera simultánea con un mismo ejemplar, 47,48 hecho que tiene un impacto negativo para los visitantes. ...
... Whale watching represents a popular worldwide wildlife tourism activity (Jacobs & Harms, 2014;Ziegler et al., 2012) that provides both a financial injection to tourism stakeholders (Orams, 2000;Tkaczynski & Rundle-Thiele, 2019) and an opportunity for tourists to learn about conserving the environment (Zeppel, 2008;Zeppel & Muloin, 2008). By providing high quality whale watching services (e.g. the opportunity to see whales in pristine natural surroundings) in addition to following environmental guidelines (e.g. ...
... Whale watching as a tourism activity has grown rapidly since the early 1990s in popularity (Orams, 2013;Ziegler et al., 2012). In addition to the number, activity level and proximity of whales, the quality of the whale watching experience is influenced by context factors (e.g. ...
... DMOs, whale watching operators, environmental authorities), satisfaction determines the quality of a tourist experience as perceived by tourists (Prebensen et al., 2013;Tonge & Moore, 2007). Similar to the service marketing literature (Parasuraman et al., 1985(Parasuraman et al., , 1988, whale watching researchers have measured satisfaction holistically and/or on individual items (Bentz et al., 2016a;Ziegler et al., 2012) based on either expectancy theory or performance only constructs (Bentz et al., 2016a;Bentz et al., 2015). Although satisfaction as a unidimensional construct has determined tourist's overall evaluation of the whale watching experience (Bentz et al., 2015;Valentine et al., 2004), individual items, such as the proximity to whales and trip length, have produced different satisfaction ratings for different elements of the whale watching experience (Bentz et al., 2016b;Ziegler et al., 2012). ...
Satisfying tourists whilst also adhering to environmental regulations represents a continuous challenge for whale watching operators. Satisfaction is often conceptualised differently by academics and practitioners, and both the level of operator whale watching experience and government regulations at destinations can vary. This research seeks to identify how satisfaction significantly influences tourists’ socio-demographics, repurchase intentions and positive word-of-mouth (WOM) communication intentions at two Australian whale watching destinations that differ in their level of expertise in offering whale watching experiences. Multiple regression determined that most tourists were very satisfied with their whale watching experience and exhibited high repurchase and positive WOM communication intentions. At both destinations, individual satisfaction items predicted the most variance in repurchase intentions and positive WOM communication intentions, suggesting a holistic approach to satisfaction is not warranted when evaluating a whale watching experience. T-tests, chi-square tests and analysis of variance determined that tourists at each destination varied significantly in their age, education and origin. To provide a satisfying tourist experience and facilitate environment protection, these personnel must continue to offer high-quality services that guarantee whale sightings within a designated time period whilst also adhering to environmental regulations.
... The IPA technique has been a widely accepted and extensively used method across various fields for many years [70]. This technique is a decision-making tool [40,51] that facilitates the identification of priorities for improved management [40,47], the mobilization and al location of resources where they are needed most for future improvements [51], and the harmonization of quality services to enhance relative competitiveness [40]. In addition the IPA is a well-documented technique that is readily accessible by professionals work ing in protected areas and has the potential to deliver valuable insights to service manag ers in a clear and easily comprehensible format [51]. ...
... The IPA technique has been a widely accepted and extensively used method across various fields for many years [70]. This technique is a decision-making tool [40,51] that facilitates the identification of priorities for improved management [40,47], the mobilization and al location of resources where they are needed most for future improvements [51], and the harmonization of quality services to enhance relative competitiveness [40]. In addition the IPA is a well-documented technique that is readily accessible by professionals work ing in protected areas and has the potential to deliver valuable insights to service manag ers in a clear and easily comprehensible format [51]. ...
... The IPA technique has been a widely accepted and extensively used method across various fields for many years [70]. This technique is a decision-making tool [40,51] that facilitates the identification of priorities for improved management [40,47], the mobilization and al location of resources where they are needed most for future improvements [51], and the harmonization of quality services to enhance relative competitiveness [40]. In addition the IPA is a well-documented technique that is readily accessible by professionals work ing in protected areas and has the potential to deliver valuable insights to service manag ers in a clear and easily comprehensible format [51]. ...
In this paper, we present a conceptual framework of human–elephant conflict (HEC) management embodying community aspects gleaned from the importance–performance analysis (IPA) for a National Park in Vietnam. Nine approaches were proposed to prevent and mitigate HEC (HEC indicators), of which six fell into different quadrants based on the respective estimations of farmer and non-farmer respondents. Both the levels of importance and performance (I-P) of the HEC indicators are evaluated between (I-P) among farmers and non-farmers. Locals perceived the importance of all HEC indicators highly, but they thought its performance is poor. Third, we confirm the factors affecting the locals’ participation behavior towards HEC management based on their demographics, awareness, and behavior in terms of HEC, and their perceptions of HEC. Compared to the non-farmer residents, the farmers recognized that the management strategy of HEC must focus on the aspects of building an insurance scheme and implementing appropriate land use planning. The characteristics that affect the differentiation of the locals’ participation of HEC management are: (1) higher income residents, (2) farmers, (3) residents who would like to participate in an insurance scheme, and (4) the HEC management factors. Theoretical insights and management implications are also addressed in this study.
... IPA assumes that performance and importance evaluations are independent, and that the relationship between performance and importance is symmetrical (Mullins & Schultz Spetich, 1987;Oh, 2001;Bruyere, Rodriguez, & Vaske, 2002). We supplemented the IPA with gap analysis to identify differences between importance and performance ratings for guided and self-guided visitors using a paired t-test (Ryan & Sterling, 2001;Ziegler, Dearden, & Rollins, 2012). As the identification of relative levels of performance and importance is central to IPA (Martilla & James, 1977), scale means were employed to inform the placement of matrix crosshairs (Tonge & Moore, 2007). ...
... Rollins, 2009;Vaske, Kiriakos, Cottrell, & Khuong, 2009;Kwan, Eagles, & Gebhardt, 2010;Ziegler, Dearden, & Rollins, 2012) ...
... The application of Importance -Performance Analysis (IPA) for deriving managerial actions has been used in various fields including tourism (Boley et al., 2017;Lai and Hitchcock, 2016;Pan, 2015;Randall and Rollins, 2009;Ziegler et al., 2012), healthcare (Abalo et al., 2007;Cohen et al., 2016;Hawes and Rao, 1985;Mohebifar et al., 2016), education (Alberty and Mihalik, 1989;Nale et al., 2000;O'Neill and Palmer, 2004;Phadermrod et al., 2019), public administration (Hua and Chen, 2019;Keith and Boley, 2019), banking (Joseph et al., 2005;Matzler et al., 2003), e-business, technology and IT (Chen and Ann, 2016;Magal and Levenburg, 2005;Skok et al., 2001), food services (Tontini and Silveira, 2007), the automotive industry (Matzler et al., 2004), the building industry (Lee, 2019) and sport centres (Rial et al., 2008). Validity and reliability issues associated with IPA have also been reviewed in previous researches (Azzopardi and Nash, 2013;Bacon, 2003;Griffin and Hauser, 1993;Gustafsson and Johnson, 2004;Lai and Hitchcock, 2015;Oh, 2001;Sever, 2015). ...
... The interpretation of the results requires specific precision because the mean (which used to represent the importance and performance of an attribute) does not reflect the variability of a distribution (Randall and Rollins, 2009). For an attribute, 68% of the importance and performance scores are within a greater or lesser standard deviation of the mean, which, given the respective variability, can transfer the attribute of interest to other quadrants (Ziegler et al., 2012). In this research, a Confidence Interval (CI) of 0.1 significance around the mean of importance and performance scores was plotted on the IPA chart. ...
Ensuring a high level of customer satisfaction with public transport is a key objective for transit agencies wishing to maintain and/or increase service uptake. Importance – Performance Analysis (IPA) can be used to identify gaps in the performance of public transport service attributes relative to their importance. However, this approach is often used without adequate consideration of its validity or reliability. Using a case study of bus services in Tehran, Iran, this paper contributes to the literature by improving the validity and reliability of IPA through: incorporating Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to identify key components of bus service attributes, proposing a method for prioritising attributes, introducing confidence intervals around each attribute to aid in the interpretation of results, and dividing the sample using Cluster Analysis (CA) to mitigate the effects of heterogeneity on the results. The performance and importance of 15 different bus service attributes was assessed through a survey of 390 bus passengers conducted at six high-traffic bus terminals in Tehran. EFA results showed that the bus attributes could be represented by four key components: convenience, comfort, reliability and security. CA results classified the sample into three clusters based on socio-demographic and bus travel characteristics. IPA results indicated that transit agencies and policy-makers need to give greater attention to improving comfort related attributes of bus services in Tehran such as ventilation, cleanliness of buses, and providing facilities for elderly/disabled people. The enhanced approach to IPA developed in this paper can be applied to other jursidictions where agencies are seeking to identify areas to improve public transport customer satisfaction.
... First, the data-centric (DC) method uses the actual data average level as the critical point [91]. Second, the scale-centric (SC) method also can provide a simpler description [92]. Others have used diagonal lines (DLs) or isolines (IRLs) [92]. ...
... Second, the scale-centric (SC) method also can provide a simpler description [92]. Others have used diagonal lines (DLs) or isolines (IRLs) [92]. Compared with the previous method, the IRL method is a more suitable method for measuring the difference between the pre-performance and post-importance (satisfaction prediction) levels [93]. ...
Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became significant to study how to improve the customer satisfaction for Japanese tourist accommodations for restart and recovery in the future, and in preparation for the 2021 Japan Olympics. Therefore, the current paper attempts to evaluate ryokans through descriptive statistics from a tourism accommodation survey and customer-satisfaction-related comprehensive assessment system for built environment efficiency (CASBEE) importance–performance analysis (IPA). Through three progressive studies, three findings were obtained: (1) ryokans are more flexible than hotels, have strong anti-risk capabilities, and have received more and more attention from tourists and support from the Japanese government; (2) improvement strategies for customer satisfaction after COVID-19 were provided from IPA; and (3) a dynamic evaluation model of green ryokans was discussed and may be employed in other countries and regions experiencing the same situation.
... WWF-Philippines worked with the Donsol Municipal Tourism Council, local government, and local fishermen to develop a community-based ecotourism program, including the establishment of the marine sanctuary, the setting of fees and regulations, and the training of guides and boatmen (Yaptinchay 1999, as cited by Quiros 2005. Boatmen and guides are selected using an alphabetic list such that everyone has an equal opportunity to work, and economic benefits are equitably distributed within the group (Ziegler, Dearden, and Rollins 2012). At other sites, for example in Holbox, Mexico, local fishermen also work as tour guides but there are several competing tour companies ranging in size from a single boat to a fleet of 10 to 15 boats. ...
... Donsol, Holbox, Honduras, Isla Mujeres). For example, Ziegler et al. (2012) observed over thirty boats around a single shark on a particularly bad day in Holbox, with up to twenty people in the water at one time despite restrictions of one boat per shark and only two swimmers at one time. Operators appear to be more interested in guaranteeing a whale shark sighting than following the rules. ...
... Tourists were very satisfied with their whale shark tour experience overall, although our results suggest a potential problem with misleading advertising setting unrealistic expectations (Ziegler et al., 2012). Despite the fact that most respondents reported seeing (98.4%) and/or swimming with (90.9%) other marine wildlife during their whale shark tour, 11.9% of respondents were dissatisfied with the number of other marine wildlife species seen during the tour. ...
... Although there is no specific season to view manta rays, they are relatively rare to see in Nosy Be waters (i.e., sighted 3-4 times per season, S. Diamant, unpublished data). Advertising for these tours may be at fault if operators are promising a variety of marine wildlife during these tours, but only whale sharks are typically observed (Ziegler et al., 2012). Tour operators in Nosy Be provide pretour briefings highlighting the marine diversity in the region, including the various dolphin species, manta rays, humpback whales, and Omura's whale (Balaenoptera omurai) even if they are out of season or relatively rare to see at the site. ...
Nosy Be in northwestern Madagascar is home to a globally important whale shark (Rhincodon typus) aggregation and a growing whale shark tourism industry. However, whale sharks are not protected in Malagasy waters and are threatened by fisheries bycatch, collisions with vessels, and disturbance from tourism. We used tourist questionnaires (n = 488) to assess the economic value of, and tourist perceptions of, whale shark tourism in Nosy Be from September to December 2019. We also surveyed whale shark tour operators (n = 12) in December 2018 to understand their perceptions of tourism management needs in the region. Results suggest the Nosy Be whale shark tourism industry was worth US$1.5 million for the 3-month 2019 whale shark season. "Dedicated" whale shark divers (i.e., those who came specifically to Nosy Be to swim with whale sharks) spent 55% more money overall and six times the amount individually compared to "casual" whale shark divers. Both tourists and operators supported the protection of whale sharks, with the majority (88.9%) of tourists agreeing that they would choose a tourism destination at which whale sharks are protected. However, tour operators did note significant management issues (e.g., overcrowding, lack of regulations/training), recommending the need to better regulate whale shark tourism and interactions. This study emphasizes the economic rationale for protecting whale sharks in Madagascar to safeguard the emerging marine tourism industry and ensure it is being sustainably managed.
... Appropriate management and marketing can play an important role in sustainable activities. These attributes of protected areas are known to affect the experiences and contribute to visitor satisfaction (Tonge, Moore, & Taplin, 2011;Zhang & Chan, 2016;Ziegler, Dearden, & Rollins, 2012). Tourists assume a key role in promoting sustainability. ...
... Experiences can be influenced by certain aspects of protected areas such as the presence of charismatic species, the uniqueness, and attractiveness of the landscape, quality of the facilities, security, accessibility, behavior of and quality service by the staff (Vespestad & Lindberg, 2011;Zhang & Chan, 2016). These aspects constitute the attributes of protected areas that generally affect the experiences and contribute to visitor satisfaction (Ziegler et al., 2012). Given the popularity of protected areas and the potential impacts of visitor use, protected area managers are often required to document and demonstrate if specific activities and levels of use are sustainable and if management actions are required to minimize impacts (Hadwen, Hill, & Pickering, 2007, Hadwen, Hill, & Pickering, 2008Monz, Cole, Leung, & Marion, 2010;Newsome, Moore, & Dowling, 2012). ...
Protected areas (PAs) achieve recognition and enhanced protection when a sufficient number of tourists visit and appreciate them and influence policy to assure their survival. Despite the growing importance, little attention has been paid to visitor satisfaction in PAs. Visitor experience and satisfaction may be influenced by many attributes of PAs. The present study is an attempt to examine the effect of visitor impact management (VIM) practices on visitor experience and satisfaction concerning eco and wildlife tourism at Eravikulam National Park (ENP). VIM is a component of PA management and is required to ensure a high level of visitor experience, education, facilities, and services. For this purpose, researchers have measured the socio-economic profile of visitors and various attributes viz. tourism activities (TA), environmental impacts (ENI), socio-cultural impacts (SCI), visitor impact management (VIM), visitor education (VE), and overall satisfaction of visitors (OSA).The results of the study show that VIM is significantly and positively correlated with VE, OSA of visitors. (VIM, TA, ENI, SCI, VE) explained partial variation in the criterion variable viz., OSA.
... Appropriate management and marketing can play an important role in sustainable activities. These attributes of protected areas are known to affect the experiences and contribute to visitor satisfaction (Tonge, Moore, & Taplin, 2011;Zhang & Chan, 2016;Ziegler, Dearden, & Rollins, 2012). Tourists assume a key role in promoting sustainability. ...
... Experiences can be influenced by certain aspects of protected areas such as the presence of charismatic species, the uniqueness, and attractiveness of the landscape, quality of the facilities, security, accessibility, behavior of and quality service by the staff (Vespestad & Lindberg, 2011;Zhang & Chan, 2016). These aspects constitute the attributes of protected areas that generally affect the experiences and contribute to visitor satisfaction (Ziegler et al., 2012). Given the popularity of protected areas and the potential impacts of visitor use, protected area managers are often required to document and demonstrate if specific activities and levels of use are sustainable and if management actions are required to minimize impacts (Hadwen, Hill, & Pickering, 2007, Hadwen, Hill, & Pickering, 2008Monz, Cole, Leung, & Marion, 2010;Newsome, Moore, & Dowling, 2012). ...
Protected areas (PA's) achieve recognition and enhanced protection when a sufficient number of tourists visit and appreciate them and influence policy to assure their survival. Despite the growing importance, little attention has been paid to visitor satisfaction in PAs. Visitor experience and satisfaction may be influenced by many attributes of PAs. The present study is an attempt to examine the effect of visitor impact management (VIM) practices on visitor experience and satisfaction concerning eco and wildlife tourism at Eravikulam National Park (ENP). VIM is a component of PA management and is required to ensure a high level of visitor experience, education, facilities, and services. For this purpose, researchers have measured the socio-economic profile of visitors and various attributes viz. Tourism Activities (TA), Environmental Impacts (ENI), Socio-Cultural Impacts (SCI), Visitor Impact Management (VIM), Visitor Education (VE), and overall satisfaction of visitors (OSA).
The results of the study show that VIM is significantly and positively correlated with VE, OSA of visitors. (VIM, TA, ENI, SCI, VE) explained partial variation in the criterion variable viz., OSA.
... Análisis económico de la actividad turística de avistamiento de tiburón ballena en la Bahía de La Paz, Baja California Sur El turismo de apreciación del tiburón ballena es un nicho de mercado creciente en México (Ziegler et al., 2012). No obstante, este ha impactado considerablemente las poblaciones de Isla Holbox, Quintana Roo y La Paz, Baja California Sur. ...
... No obstante, este ha impactado considerablemente las poblaciones de Isla Holbox, Quintana Roo y La Paz, Baja California Sur. Para el caso de Holbox (Ziegler et al., 2012), se encontró que altas tasas de contacto físico pueden causar daños al tiburón ballena, contacto que se incrementa con el número de embarcaciones en el área de avistamiento al favorecer la aglomeración de nadadores. En el caso de La Paz, Ramírez-Macías y colaboradores (2012) mencionan que en el área de agregación del tiburón ballena hasta un 67 % de esta especie marina se ve afectado por los barcos, lo que da muestra de la necesidad de un área de protección que limite y controle los barcos y otras actividades humanas que puedan representar una amenaza. ...
... Most IPA studies inherently have the inconsistent classification of quadrants and indistinguishable priorities within one quadrant. There are different methods to draw the crosshair placement for the four quadrants: the scale-centered method (Oh, 2001;Tonge and Moore, 2007) and the data-centered method (Azzopardi and Nash, 2013;Ryan and Cessford, 2003;Ziegler et al., 2012). And different methods can classify varied attributes into different quadrants. ...
... Traditional IPA analysis can highlight strategic areas by displaying four types of priority through four quadrants, but it cannot reveal the priority of some attributes in the same quadrant. Some research proposed a diagonal or iso-rating line to split the plot into two separate areas (Azzopardi and Nash, 2013;Ziegler et al., 2012), but the interpretation of results based on visual perspective produces less information and offers limited distinction, especially for objects that are visually very close (Sever, 2015). By offering each attribute a specific score, SMII provides more distinctive differences among all attributes. ...
Urban renewal to fulfill the updated needs of urban residents is an inevitable product of urbanization at certain stages. And how to effectively prioritize varied attributes to be renewed across scales is a challenging process for urban governance worldwide. This study aimed to fill the existing gaps by merging the prioritization capacity of importance-performance analysis (IPA) and the scalability potential of social media data. The study pioneered establishing a social-media-based improvement index (SMII) for urban renewal. Based on the framework of importance-performance analysis, SMII takes the most overkilled point (the lowest importance but the highest performance) as the origin and calculates the area between other points and the origin. SMII always has the highest value in the quadrant with high importance but low performance. We demonstrate the usage of SMII taking the landscape services of urban park systems as an example. We used SMII to understand the users' evaluation of parks' services across scales and then clarified the priority sequence for future renewal. Among selected parks, we identified three parks that need immediate renewal. Among all the services, we found that recreational activities and social interactions are in highest priority for renewal in Beijing's park systems. The findings suggest that the history and culture services of the Old Summer Place Park need to be improved first for a wide variety of reasons. The findings also reveal multiple temporal changes of varied services. Our study concludes that SMII can clarify problem prioritization and cost-effective guide decision-making for urban park renewal with high scalability both temporally and spatially. Meanwhile, SMII can extend its applications to analyzing various issues in the urban environment on multiple scales for the effective allocation of resources during urban renewal.
... These results are classified as very good. This is because according to Ziegler et al. (2012), a 60% rate of return is classified as sufficient while 70% is classified as very good. ...
A person may contribute to the conservation of species through donations. The willingness to donate (WTD) to conserve endangered species can depend on many factors. This research aims to determine the willingness of visitors to Indonesia's zoos and safari parks to make a donation for species conservation and identify the determinants of their WTD through preferences toward certain species. This research focused on 12 priority endangered mammals. The study began with a preliminary survey of 110 respondents in January 2020, followed by data collection in February 2020 involving 1011 adult visitors to zoos and safari parks in Java and Bali. Specifically, descriptive statistics in the form of percentages ere used to analyze the influence of preferences toward species conservation and amount of donation while considering individual characteristics such as gender, age, place of residence, occupation, and level of education. Our results confirmed that mammals, mega-herbivores and large carnivores are very popular among young adult visitors. Overall, the results demonstrated that visitors placed rhino, elephant and tiger as the three priority species to be conserved in terms of donation given. It is clear that these three charismatic species have a very high conservation value in the eyes of the people. Furthermore, the characteristics of species and the knowledge and psychological preferences of the visitors can contribute to the determination of the preference for the number of donations to certain wildlife species. Key words: charismatic species, conservation institutions, demographic characteristics, Indonesia, primate
... Wildlife watching as a tourism activity has potential to stimulate the local economy within rural communities and facilitate a stronger awareness of wildlife conservation amongst tourists and stakeholders (Higginbottom, 2004;Sekercioglu, 2002). It also has potential to negatively impact the welfare and ecology of wildlife populations (Granquist and Sigurjonsdottir, 2014;Ziegler et al., 2012). Wildlife tourism managers are tasked with the demands of developing tourism management plans that meet the needs of the local community and tourists, while also minimizing negative impacts on wildlife (Granquist & Nilsson, 2013. ...
This conceptual paper develops a framework that addresses the need to manage human-wildlife interactions in Arctic settings to ensure positive outcomes for wildlife, local people, and visitors. We argue that managers tasked with meeting these needs should do so in a cultural context where ethical frameworks are guided by sustainable and responsible management practices, however, these strategies are often absent in the literature. By reviewing current literature that investigates theoretical and practical understandings of wildlife watching management we build a methodological foundation for approaching wildlife watching management and identify the need for future management actions that include participation of multiple stakeholder groups. Taking a systems thinking approach we build a case for implementation of our Ethical Management Framework (EMF). Application of the framework is exemplified through a case study of seal watching management in Iceland. Our new framework can be applied in a wider range of wildlife tourism settings worldwide.
... While service firms can operationally control a product/service's performance, customers, the direct receivers of a product or service, primarily determine the importance of a product/service's decisive factors [11][12][13]. Hence, several marketing scholars have investigated the importance of key factors in customer decision making across hospitality and tourism backgrounds, such as hotel [14], cruise [15], and destination [16]. ...
This study investigated restaurant customers’ perceived importance of key factors in accordance with dining occasions and restaurant segments. Our investigation into restaurant selection and situational factors present two types of empirical evidence regarding customers’ choice of restaurant. First, menu price was customers’ top priority in restaurant selections for full-service, quick-casual, and quick-service restaurants. Second, restaurant customers rated the importance level of restaurant selection criteria differently according to eating-out occasions. The importance of menu price was greatest for both quick meal/convenience and social occasion, brand reputation was the most important factor for business necessity, and word-of-mouth recommendation was greatest for celebration.
... This can be especially dangerous when the coordinates are not statistically different. Some researchers (Ziegler, Dearden, & Rollins, 2012) have therefore proposed utilizing a 45 o upward-sloping line, which Bacon (2003) refers to as an iso-priority line, which denotes where importance equals performance (I = P). Utilizing the iso-priority line provides more clarity in interpreting results as attributes which are graphed above the line will denote lower performance than importance, and suggest potential dissatisfaction compared to those attributes which fall below the line indicating satisfaction. ...
Increasing demand for water-based recreation comes with the need for recreation site managers to consider how to best satisfy different stakeholder groups. However, much of the previous water-based recreation literature has treated resident users and tourist users as one homogeneous group despite differences in frequency of use, proximity to site, and economic importance of visitation to the local economy. Hence, this study segmented residents from tourists and conducted separate importance performance analyses (IPA) to see if these two distinct groups have different preferences for and perceptions of stream-access sites in southeast Appalachia. Data were collected using an intercept survey method across ten different Tennessee Valley Authority stream-access sites in north Georgia and western North Carolina. Independent samples t-tests reveal significant differences between residents and tourists on 10 of the 23 importance attributes and performance attributes. The IPAs reveal different quadrant placements for 9 of the 23 attributes. Specifically, tourists expressed greater dissatisfaction with information accessibility such as online information and river maps, and residents tended to place higher importance on the boating aspects of stream-access sites with higher levels of importance placed on attributes such as ramps, put in and take out sites, and room to maneuver trailers, illustrating the efficacy of segmenting residents and tourists within the context of IPA. Implications include management aims addressing both residents' and tourists’ preferences for stream-access sites to simultaneously enhance regional tourism for its economic benefits while enriching the experiences of residents.
... All four sections satisfied the criteria for content validity. The statements included in Section B were based on previous studies on travel motives to nature-based destinations including those by Schänzel and McIntosh (2000), Foxlee (2001), Finkler and Higham (2004), Wolf and Croft (2012), Ziegler et al. (2012) and Kruger et al. (2013). These statements ranged from escape, socialisation, novelty, education, well-being and lifestyle. ...
Orientation: Wildlife rehabilitation centres and sanctuaries are experiencing increased pressure from conservationists and animal rights activists to eradicate captive wildlife interactions.
Research purpose: Conservation management is a crucial aspect of these establishments.Research on how to enhance conservation management in these establishments, particularly in a South African context, is scant – a gap that this research fills.
Research design, approach and method: This study was approached from the regulatory
ontological stance, neo-positivism, and was exploratory. Furthermore, it made use of a
quantitative research method in the form of a structured online questionnaire. Through a
convenience snowball sampling method 172 responses were obtained. The data were exported
to Microsoft Excel© and analysed by using SPSS Version 25. The multivariate analyses included factor analyses and a stepwise linear regression analysis.
Main findings: Exploratory factor analyses identified the motives (socialisation and
participation, volunteerism and education, novelty and value, and wellness and interaction), key management aspects (staff, conservation, visitor, accessibility and service management) and interpretation needs of visitors (subjective, objective, interactive and interpersonal interpretation). Because conservation management is a primary objective of sanctuaries and rehabilitation centres, this factor was the dependent variable. The linear regression analyses determined which individual motivations, key management aspects and interpretation factors had the greatest influence in enhancing conservation management.
Practical/managerial implications: The results provided valuable insight regarding
management practices, marketing strategies and interpretation preferences of visitors to
enhance captive wildlife experiences. The findings may help change the negative perceptions surrounding the management of captive wildlife establishments.
Contribution/value-add: Organisations and the public need to realise that the end goal is not to criticise or ridicule the establishments, but rather to provide guidelines on how to manage the visitor experience by emphasising conservation management principles sustainably.
... They form predictable seasonal aggregations in areas linked to high productivity (Colman, 1997;de la Parra Venegas et al., 2011;Fox et al., 2013;Nelson & Eckert, 2007;Rowat & Brooks, 2012;Rowat, Meekan, Engelhardt, Pardigon, & Vely, 2007), making them an ideal candidate for marine wildlife tourism. Tourism industries involving whale sharks are found at many locations around the world, including Australia, Belize, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Mozambique, the Philippines and the Seychelles (Araujo, Vivier, Labaja, Hartley, & Ponzo, 2017;Davis, Banks, Birtles, Valentine, & Cuthil, 1997;Fox et al., 2013;Halid & Abdul, 2018;Pierce, Méndez-Jiménez, Collins, Rosero-Caicedo, & Monadjem, 2010;Rodríguez-Dowdell, Enríquez-Andrade, & Cárdenas-Torres, 2007;Topelko & Dearden, 2005;Ziegler, Dearden, & Rollins, 2012). The methods of tourism vary from site to site, but all focus on direct interactions with the animals through swimming, snorkelling and scuba diving. ...
• Shark‐based tourism continues to be a rapidly growing industry, and thus understanding the impacts of such activities is essential to mitigate the potential negative effects on the target species. The consequences of provisioning on whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are not fully understood, although changes to the local environment, ecology, behaviour, and site visitation patterns have been highlighted. Here, the scarring patterns of whale sharks were investigated at a provisioning site in Oslob, Cebu, Philippines, as an indicator of the physical impacts of tourism activities on individual sharks. Photographic identification was used to attribute scars to individual animals (n = 152) between March 31, 2012 and January 31, 2015.
• Scars were categorized by type and body location, and were compared with non‐provisioned aggregations in Australia, Mozambique, and Seychelles. Oslob whale sharks were more scarred than other studied populations, with 94.7% (n = 144) having at least one scar, and with 90.8% (n = 138) having more than one scar. Scarring incidence was found to be significantly higher in sharks that regularly visited the provisioning site, and analysis of scarring over time in highly resident sharks showed that all individuals gained scars through periods of consistent re‐sightings. A significantly higher incidence of minor scar types was found, most commonly on the dorsal side of the animal, probably resulting from sustained proximity to boats and ropes throughout the provisioning activities. The consequences of interactions with propeller boats were observed, despite a ban on their use in the provisioning site, highlighting the risk to the species beyond the study site.
• We recommend the strict enforcement of a minimum distance between boats and sharks, a zero‐contact policy during interactions, the expansion of the provisioning site, and the implementation of a no‐boat‐access zone around the perimeter of the provisioning site to mitigate potential collisions.
... In addition, commercial whale watching advertising may display whales at close proximity or engaged in particular behaviours (i.e. breaching) [51], which can lead to passenger misperception and dissatisfaction and pressure on captains and crew to deliver these experiences [54,55]. We suggest marketing adjustments could aid in tempering commercial and recreational whale watching passenger expectations (on preferred species, viewing distances and behaviours). ...
To support optimal monitoring and enforcement investment, management aimed at minimizing disturbance to wildlife requires an understanding of how regulatory compliance might vary spatially as well as across species and human-user groups. In the Salish Sea, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and two ecotypes (southern resident and Bigg's) of killer whales (Orcinus orca) now interact with a large and growing number of small commercial and recreational vessels that partake in whale watching. Those vessels often approach close to cetaceans and thus pose risk via collision, marine noise and pollution, exposure to which may result in disturbance, injury and death. The primary management tool for mitigating impacts is minimum distance regulations. Compliance, however, is poorly understood. We examined commercial and recreational small vessel compliance with viewing distances across two seasons (June–September 2018 and 2019) in over ≈404 h of on-water observation. Overall vessel compliance was nearly 80%, but several distinct patterns emerged. Recreational boats were significantly more likely to violate distance regulations and boaters were more likely to be non-compliant around killer whales. Compliance did not vary with day of week or time of day. Spatially, non-compliance was concentrated in waters closer to coastal communities. Collectively, these patterns suggest that optimal enforcement could be targeted to identify areas of high non-compliance, especially for killer whales, with effort spread across days and times. Finally, we discuss how investments in education could target recreational boaters at a time when multiple and interacting stressors are accumulating in the Salish Sea.
... Different authors have indicated that satisfaction can be associated with willingness of tourists to recommend the activity (Mustika 2011). In this sense, participants' motivation and satisfaction experience should be considered for the sustainable development of the industry (Dicken and Hosking 2009;Ziegler et al. 2012). ...
Cabo Pulmo National Park (CPNP) is one of the main tourist destinations in the Gulf of California, especially for recreational diving with bull sharks (Carcharhius leucas). This activity begun in the late 1990s after the National Park was created, the local community changed its main activity from traditional fishing to offer tourist facilities for observation of marine life; as a result, the economic benefits are now greater than ever before. However, these benefits have not been quantified or taken into account in the CPNP management; thus, the objective of this study was to estimate the specific economic value of diving with bull sharks by using a method of revealed preferences (Travel cost) and calculating the consumer surplus (CS) of diving with bull sharks at CPNP as a tourist destination. We deducted the travel cost of each person per day through 250 on-site surveys directed to tourists who visited CPNP to dive with bull sharks. The economic analysis showed that the number of divers who travel specifically to CPNP for bull shark sighting represent 23% of the total tourism visiting the park. The recreational demand function with the econometric treatment of the Poisson model revealed a CS result of $694 USD per person per day with an average of a 4-day stay. This information was useful to promote improvements in management and conservation of bull sharks at CPNP.
... The pre-pandemic rapid increase in marine tourism at manta ray sites in Indonesia (present study;Germanov et al., 2019a;Purwanto et al., 2021), and a greater than five-fold increase in general tourist numbers from 30,000 in 1996 (Pet & Yeager, 2000) to >175,000 in 2018(Komodo National Park Office, 2018), doubling from 2014(80,626) to 2018, underscores the need for effective tourism management to avoid potential negative impacts on manta rays (i.e., reviewed by Stewart et al., 2018a;Trave et al., 2017;Tyne, Loneragan & Bejder, 2014). Further, overcrowding of tourist vessels, viewers and divers can reduce the quality of the experience and tourist satisfaction (Mustika, Ichsan & Booth, 2020;Ziegler, Dearden & Rollins, 2012). Tourism in the Komodo NP has increased greatly since the Dewar et al. (2008) study, which aimed to improve the understanding of the spatial distribution of manta rays residing in the Komodo NP and help establish a viable manta ray tourism industry. ...
Background
The reef manta ray ( Mobula alfredi ) is a globally threatened species and an iconic tourist attraction for visitors to Indonesia’s Komodo National Park (NP). In 2013, manta ray fishing was banned in Komodo NP and its surroundings, preceding the nationwide manta ray protection in 2014. Over a decade ago, a previous acoustic telemetry study demonstrated that reef manta rays had high fidelity to sites within the park, while more recent photo-identification data indicated that some individuals move up to 450 km elsewhere. Characterization of manta ray demographics, behavior, and a focused assessment on site use of popular tourism locations within the park is vital to assist the Komodo NP Management Authority formulate appropriate manta ray conservation and management policies.
Methods
This study uses a long-term library ( MantaMatcher.org ) of photo-identification data collected by researchers and citizen scientists to investigate manta ray demographics and habitat use within the park at four sites frequented by tour operators: Cauldron, Karang Makassar, Mawan, and Manta Alley. Residency and movements of manta rays were investigated with maximum likelihood analyses and Markov movement models.
Results
A total of 1,085 individual manta rays were identified from photographs dating from 2013 to 2018. In general, individual manta rays displayed a higher affinity to specific sites than others. The highest re-sighting probabilities came from the remote southern site, Manta Alley. Karang Makassar and Mawan are only ~5 km apart; however, manta rays displayed distinct site affinities. Exchange of individuals between Manta Alley and the two central sites (~35.5 km apart) occurred, particularly seasonally. More manta rays were recorded traveling from the south to the central area than vice versa . Female manta rays were more mobile than males. Similar demographic groups used Karang Makassar, Mawan, and Manta Alley for foraging, cleaning, cruising, or courtship activities. Conversely, a higher proportion of immature manta rays used the northern site, Cauldron, where foraging was commonly observed. Fishing gear-related injuries were noted on 56 individuals (~5%), and predatory injuries were present on 32 individuals (~3%). Tourism within the park increased from 2014 to 2017, with 34% more dive boats per survey at Karang Makassar and Mawan.
Discussion
The Komodo NP contains several distinct critical habitats for manta rays that encompass all demographics and accommodate seasonal manta ray movements. While the present study has not examined population trends, it does provide foundational data for such work. Continued research into manta ray abundance, long-range movements, and identifying and protecting other critical aggregation areas within the region is integral to securing the species’ recovery. We provide management recommendations to limit undue pressure on manta rays and their critical habitats from tourism.
... Different authors have indicated that satisfaction can be associated with willingness of tourists to recommend the activity (Mustika 2011). In this sense, participants' motivation and satisfaction experience should be considered for the sustainable development of the industry (Dicken and Hosking 2009;Ziegler et al. 2012). ...
This study analyzes the current challenges in the science of sustainability, SS, in protected natural areas, particularly the case of a Unit of Environmental Management (UMA—Unidad de Manejo Ambiental) of the Moreletti crocodile in Ría Celestún, Campeche. SS is conceptualized as a holistic approach for identification and resolution of the main problems in sustainable systems with a global, social, and human scope. SS is not a basic or applied science; rather it distinguishes knowledge (scientific and non-scientific) to reach its objective to solve problems in the relationships between society and nature. The results of the analysis revealed intertwining of the activities of biodiversity conservation with sustainable practices in the territories parting from the approach of ecosystem services. This has been a key factor in obtaining advances in proper management of an intensive breeding farm associated with a scheme of productive diversification linked to development of both scientific-technological and social innovation, in which it is sought to conjugate scientific innovation with culture, traditional productive practices, and strengthening of local sociocultural identity of the mangroves to constitute a sustainable civil productive organization.
... Daya tarik obyek wisata merupakan salah satu variabel yang terpenting dalam pariwisata, karena daya tarik wisata merupakan alasan utama bagi wisatawan agar berkunjung ke tempat wisata tersebut (Ziegler, Dearden, & Rollins, 2012). Berikut adalah rekapitulasi hasil penlilaian responden terhadap kepuasan daya tarik wisata Pulau Bokori. ...
Pariwisata daerah merupakan potensi ekonomi yang memiliki multiplier effect bagi pembangunan daerah. Pariwisata Pulau Bokori, Kecamatan Soropia merupakan salah satu destinasi wisata bahari yang menjadi unggulan dan penunjang laju pertumbuhan bagi Provinsi Sulawesi Tenggara. Penelitian ini diarahkan untuk melihat tingkat kepentingan dan tingkat kepuasaan di Objek Bahari di Pulau Bokori berdasarkan komponen sediaan pariwisata terhadap peresepi wisatawan di Obyek Wisata Bahari Pulau Bokori. Metoda yang digunakan adalah dekriptif dengan tools yang digunakan adalah Importance Performance Analysis. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ditemukan beberapa hal yaitu Tingkat kepuasan beberapa aspek yang dibahas di objek wisata di Puau Bokori terdiri dari daya tarik adalah sebanyak 80,00% sangat puas, aksesibilitas 24,25% sangat puas, akomodasi 43,62% sangat puas, aspek fasilitas umum 45,30% responden merasa sangat puas. Ditinjau dari tingkat kepentingan menunjukan bahwa aspek daya tarik sebanyak 85,33% responden sangat puas, aksesibilitas 92,00% responden sangat puas, akomodasi 62,11% responden sangat puas, dan fasilitas umum 77,91% responden sangat puas. Dari hasil analisis CSI didapat nilai sebesar 65,40%, hal ini menyatakan bahwa secara umum responden/wisatawan di obyek wisata Pulau Bokori berdasarkan komponen pariwisata yang dimasukan pada analisis berada pada kriteria Puas
... Its vast biodiversity characterizes Yum Balam, since it has around 400 plant species and different types of fauna, such as amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and other groups (CONANP, 2018). One of the tourist attractions in this area is whale shark sighting, which has had significant growth in recent years (Ziegler et al., 2012); in fact, it has acquired great international recognition, which has triggered accelerated growth in tourism and population. Thus, Holbox went from being a small fishing village to an international tourist destination (Medina-Argueta and Palafox-Muñoz, 2020). 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f Journal Pre-proof 2.2 Selection of the study zones in the urban area A walk was made through the entire beach zone located in the urban area, characterized by hotels, bars, restaurants, boats, the sale of handicrafts, and the practice of recreational activities. ...
Solid waste (SW) and microplastics (MP) are present in different parts of the marine and coastal environment, including remote areas such as islands. In the Mexican Caribbean, there are around 87 islands that are characterized by their white sand beaches, blue sea, and vast diversity of flora and fauna; protected natural areas have been established in some of these islands to preserve ecosystems and their integral functions. This research aimed to study the presence of MP, SW, and plastic containers (PC) on the Mexican island “Holbox”, which is part of the Yum Balam protected area. The MP were studied in three beach areas of the urban area with different tourist influx, SW was studied in a beach area with high tourist influx, and the PC were studied in a virgin beach. The mean concentration of MP and SW was 49.37 ± 45.55 MP/m2 and 0.116 ± 0.023 pieces/m2, respectively. On the virgin beach of the island, 72 plastic containers were found, 28 of which came from other countries, mainly from the Caribbean islands. The results provide information on marine pollution by SW, MP, and PC on Holbox island; all these kinds of waste can come from unsuitable waste management in the island (in the dumpsite) or be transported to the island by marine currents.
... In addition, the division would be the same for all the studies regardless of the data recorded and for the same study different interpretations can be obtained depending on the chosen scale (Araña and León 2013). Azzopardi and Nash (2013) and Ziegler et al. (2012) use an iso-valuation line dividing the plan into two. Above the line there are the attributes that have a higher performance than importance and those below the line require improvement. ...
Following the United States, China is the second largest trade partner of the European Union (EU). In turn, the EU is China’s biggest partner in general trade. The prospects for the development of mutual trade relations are promising. Citizens of the EU and China constitute a quarter of the entire population of the world. The rapidly developing trade exchange between these two entities is subject of the analysis in this dissertation. The main objective of the dissertation is to assess
the importance of agri-food products in trade turnover between the EU and China and to identify the main determinants of mutual trading. Three main factors determining the dynamic development of mutual turnover in the field of agri-food products were identified: (1) dynamic growth of GDP and demand for food products in China, (2) admission of China to the WTO, (3) Chinese policy of “New opening” in trade cooperation with the EU countries.
... En esa diversidad de empresas, es probable que algunas cuenten con un mercado definido, un servicio más personalizado y un nivel de profesionales acorde a ese mercado, mientras que otras sólo aprovechen la oportunidad de ofrecer esta actividad a un público variado y general. De todas maneras, es importante destacar que la actividad de NTB en la Bahía de La Paz, regulada a través de su primer código de conducta (Ramírez-Macías y Saad, 2016), así como el reciente Plan de Manejo del Tiburón Ballena (SEMARNAT, 2019) va camino a ser ejemplo de acción para llevar a cabo una actividad de naturaleza enfocada a una especie carismática, en comparación con otros sitios donde se realiza la actividad(Ziegler et al., 2012(Ziegler et al., , 2016.Los resultados de este trabajo sugieren que estas actividades no deben considerarse -ecoturismo‖ en sí mismas, dado que la generación de CA a corto plazo dependió de la empresa y localidad donde se realiza, y esto está relacionado tanto con el servicio como con la información que se le da al turista; contrastando con los lineamientos internacionales de calidad para el caso de avistamiento de ballenas(Hoyt, 2007). Esta diferencia podría resolverse con capacitación sobre biología y ecología de las especies observadas a capitanes y guías, pero también en técnicas de interpretación ambiental, cursos de inglés, realización de carteles o infografías bilingües colocadas en sitios clave como los muelles donde embarcan las personas, etc. Los resultados pueden apoyar a las instituciones gubernamentales para establecer planes de manejo acorde a los objetivos educativos y de conservación(Orams, 1996;CONANP, 2016).En conclusión, dado que no se evaluó a cada empresa en particular sino a los turistas que reciben diversas empresas, como futuras líneas de investigación se podría realizar la evaluación de cambios de CA en una empresa en particular para comprobar ...
Summary
Benefits of ecotourism activities are normally measured through economic profit or social
improvements for the community, but the indirect benefits of education and awareness are not being considered. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effect of tourism activities with charismatic species in tourists‘ Environmental Awareness (EA) at Baja California Sur. To achieve this, surveys were carried out in two main activities: swimming with whale sharks and gray whale watching at three stages: 1) one before the activity where socio-demographic, circumstantial variables, and initial EA and pro-environmental behavior (PEB) were measured; 2) one immediately after, evaluating the experience and EA again, and, 3) 2-4 months after the activity via e-mail to re-evaluate EA and PEB as well as factors that promoted or hindered any change. The aspects of the experience evaluated were Reflective Engagement, Cognitive and Affective Learning Outcomes, Satisfaction and Quality of Interpretation. Descriptive, factorial, cluster segmentation, and a Structural Equation Model analysis were performed to test causal relationships between the experience and EA. 542 surveys were obtained, of which 200 people participated in all three stages. Tourist were mostly from México or United States of America, all ages represented, professionals, married or single with high levels of education and income. Their main purpose of visit was ecotourism or rest. Most did the activity for the first time, with family, friends or their partner. Tourists arrived with two initial profiles: one with a lower EA and the other with a higher EA, and this influenced their experience. The experience with a charismatic species had a shortterm positive effect in the EA of tourists. The relationship between EA and BEP was positive but weak. The effect of the experience was not seen in their long term EA, nor were there observable changes in the frequency of PEB of tourists. Other positive outcomes of the experience were high levels of Satisfaction, Reflective Engagement, an increased interest in the activities, and they mentioned that seeing the animals in their natural habitat was what
they liked most. The satisfaction with the experience and service was very high, but lower in relation with the information received. Regarding the experience, Cognitive and Affective Learning Outcome had the lowest values of the scales measured. The generation of EA in the short term seems to be related to the place visited and to the chosen company, which in turn is related to the quality of interpretation. This study showed the necessity of qualifying service providers in environmental interpretation techniques to generate EA in the long term, as well as incorporate bilingual infographics at key sites such as piers.
Key words: surveys, nature-based ecotourism turismo de naturaleza, gray whale, whale
shark
Resumen
La manera en que normalmente se mide los beneficios de las actividades ecoturísticas es a través de su derrama económica o aportes a las comunidades receptoras, pero en general no se consideran los beneficios indirectos de educación y concientización. El objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar si se producen cambios en la conciencia ambiental (CA) en
turistas que realizan actividades con especies carismáticas en Baja California Sur. Para ello
se aplicaron encuestas en las actividades de nado con tiburón ballena y avistamiento de
ballena gris en tres etapas: 1) una previa a la actividad donde se midieron variables sociodemográficas,
circunstanciales, y la CA y comportamiento pro-ambiental (CPA) inicial; 2)
una inmediatamente después de la actividad donde se evaluó la experiencia y la CA
nuevamente y, 3) cuatro meses después de la actividad vía correo electrónico para evaluar
la CA y el CPA a largo plazo, así como factores que promovieron o dificultaron algún
cambio. Se obtuvieron 542 encuestas, de las cuales 200 personas participaron en las tres
etapas. Los aspectos de la experiencia medidos fueron el compromiso reflexivo, el
aprendizaje cognitivo y afectivo, la satisfacción y la calidad de la interpretación. Se
realizaron análisis descriptivos, factoriales, segmentación por clúster y un modelo de
ecuaciones estructurales para probar las relaciones causales entre la experiencia y la CA.
Los turistas que realizaron estas actividades fueron en su mayoría mexicanos o
estadounidenses, de todas las edades, profesionistas, casados o solteros con un nivel
educativo y económico alto. El motivo principal de visita fue el ecoturismo o el descanso. La
mayoría realizaron la actividad por primera vez, con familia, amigos o pareja. La
segmentación arrojó dos perfiles iniciales: uno de menor y otro de mayor CA. La experiencia
con una especie carismática tuvo un efecto positivo a corto plazo en la CA de los turistas. La
relación entre la CA y el CPA fue positiva pero débil. El efecto de la experiencia en la CA a
largo plazo no se mantuvo ni se observaron cambios en la frecuencia de los CPA de las
personas. Otros efectos positivos fueron elevada satisfacción y compromiso reflexivo, mayor
interés en las actividades luego de realizarlas, y lo que más les gustó fue observar a los
animales en su hábitat natural. En la evaluación de la experiencia, el aprendizaje cognitivo y
afectivo fue el de menor puntaje. Fue mayor la satisfacción con la experiencia y el servicio
que con la información recibida. La generación de CA a corto plazo parece estar relacionada
con la localidad visitada y con la empresa elegida, que a su vez se relaciona con la calidad
de la interpretación. El estudio mostró la necesidad de capacitar a los prestadores de
servicios en técnicas de interpretación ambiental para generar y sostener un efecto a largo
plazo en la CA, así como incorporar infografías bilingües en sitios clave como los
embarcaderos.
Palabras clave: encuestas, turismo de naturaleza, ballena gris, tiburón ballena
... In this case, consumers attach little importance to the attribute, so marketers are unlikely to gain a competitive advantage by efforts to improve this attribute (hence, this is considered "Satisfied Needs"). Not many studied used this model; however, it is still utilized as Ziegler et al. (2012). Abalo et al. (2007) further the diagonal line model into four quadrants. ...
Two types of importance-performance analysis (IPA), quadrant model and diagonal line model, are applied widely. Some studies have described the advantages of the diagonal line model, but multiple studies have reported disadvantages of direct measures of importance, as used in the traditional diagonal line model. In addition, there is no clear rationale for the use of a 45-degree diagonal line as a distinguishing line in the diagonal line model. This study used the partial correlation coefficient-base of attributes corresponding to overall satisfaction to measure a new importance value to replace direct importance in the traditional method. The new diagonal line reflects the average of the slope formed by the impact of various attributes on overall satisfaction, rather than a 45-degree diagonal line. The new approach was successfully applied to determine a management strategy of tourist satisfaction, and the results confirm the rationality of the studied case and were considered reasonable by appropriate managers.
... Importance-performance analysis (IPA), introduced by Martilla and James (1977), has been widely used in tourism research for assessing the importance and performance of destination attributes. It has gained attention from many tourism scholars because of its simplicity in projecting results and suggesting policy implications for improving the competitiveness of different destination attributes (Moyle et al., 2013;Sörensson & von Friedrichs, 2013), such as the presence of a hot spring hotel (Chen, 2014;Deng, 2007), a theme park (Cheng et al., 2016), reef tourism (Coghlan, 2012), certain hotels and lodging (Beldona & Cobanoglu, 2007;Mueller & Kaufmann, 2001), and guided tours (Zhang & Chow, 2004;Ziegler et al., 2012). The idea of IPA is to compare the importance and performance of such attributes in either a two-dimensional grid or a four-quadrant matrix. ...
This paper explores the role of mining heritage tourism attributes on a destination’s overall performance, and examines its competitiveness with other cities within the same regional boundary. Relevance‐determinance analysis (RDA) and competitive‐performance analysis (CPA) were used to achieve these objectives. The data were obtained from a simple random sampling questionnaire survey of tourists visiting the Sawahlunto old coal mining town, an UNESCO World Heritage Site in Indonesia. The study results indicate that mining heritage and natural beauty were not major determinants in the overall performance of the destination. Although these core attributes were considered very important in destination choice, they each had a relatively low influence on overall experience offered by the destination. Instead, the study found that three attributes, namely sport and recreational opportunities, shopping, and cuisine, were higher‐impact drivers of competitiveness. Because Sawahlunto’s performance is below average, policies to enhance these three attributes while retaining the unique experience offered by the post‐mining context should be at the forefront of planning by local decision‐makers and destination managers.
... The IPA results were graphically displayed on the two-dimensional grid and clustered into Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 labels based on the values of the discriminating thresholds after which a diagonal or iso-rating line was drawn 450 upward to distinguish the plot into separate areas [32,33]. This iso-rating line represents elements of products or services with an equality rating among importance and performance attributes. ...
Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) is a common approach usually applied in examining public satisfaction and has been adopted in the transportation sector to measure the quality of service provided by the public transport system. This study, therefore, investigated the relative important service quality attributes of bus systems among both public and private modes of transportation users in Banda Aceh in Indonesia. An urban bus system known as the “Trans Koetardja” was used as a case study and a questionnaire designed based on preference survey was applied. A total of 200 samples comprising of 100 bus users and 100 private mode users including cars and motorcycles were used for the preliminary study. Moreover, the IPA approach was used to evaluate the Trans Koetaradja service quality attributes based on importance and performance classification. The quadrant grid plot showed the need for the operators to allocate their resources towards improving their services by considering (a) an improvement in bus stop facilities, (b) enhancement in the route and accurate timetable, and (c) shortening bus travel time and waiting time in the bus stop.
... The IPA is designed to compare average scores on the 'perceived importance' of various features with 'satisfaction ratings' that correspond to using a two-dimensional grid [20]- [23]. This grid will classify mean scores into four categories to aid data interpretation and assess priority management: 'maintain good work', 'concentration here', 'low priority', and 'excessive likelihood', allowing management to identify areas of highest concern that warrant limited use of funds [22]- [24]. The elements of student satisfaction studied in the use of e-learning include peers (2 questions) [9], [15], content design (2 questions) [9], [10], [12], [15], interaction and flexibility (4 questions) [16], [19], assessment (3 questions) [10], students (7 questions) [15], technology (2 questions) [15], [19], lecturers (3 questions) [6], [9], [12], [14], [16], and learning process (2 questions) [6], [9], [12], [14]. ...
p>The COVID-19 pandemic caused learning to be done with an online system, one of which is by using e-learning. The use of e-learning received a lot of reactions, both from the student and lecturer side. Lecturers should be able to make the best preparation, both in terms of materials, media, content, interaction and flexibility in the use of e-learning, so that students do not have difficulty in distance learning done. While students should prepare themselves as best as possible, both in terms of technology, ability, interaction with colleagues and lecturers, as well as motivation in conducting distance learning using e-learning. This study aimed to investigate student satisfaction in using e-learning as a method of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, using Importance Performance Analysis (IPA). The number of respondents in this study was 132 students. The results showed that there are several factors that need to be improved, such as materials presented in e-learning, interaction with lecturers, availability of facilities, and lecturers. Factors that should be maintained included flexibility, assessment in e-learning that is felt to be appropriate, the benefits of e-learning, and students' ability to allocate time. Meanwhile, factors that are considered less important and do not obtain priorities include peers, easy-to-understand materials, ability to learn independently and understand tasks. In addition, students consider there are several factors that are considered too excessive, namely self-motivation, ability to understand the use of e-learning, independent learning process.</p
... Rapid growth in marine tourism is associated with boat crowding and other negative human impacts (Catlin & Jones, 2010;Ziegler, Dearden & Rollins, 2012;Conaghan, Hanrahan & McLoughlin, 2015). This is a concern for Ireland, as recent research in County Clare has found that hotel and tourism operators value sustainability, but lack clear codes of conduct and formalized policies (Conaghan, Hanrahan & McLoughlin, 2015;McLoughlin & Hanrahan, 2016 (Rawles & Parsons, 2005;Draheim et al., 2010;Bentz et al., 2016a;Sitar et al., 2017). ...
Basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) visit the coastal waters of Ireland annually, and while protected in Northern Ireland, they are not protected by domestic legislation in Ireland. In Ireland, basking shark conservation relies heavily on publicly reported sightings to assess population size and migration patterns. While basking shark tourism is popular in nearby Scotland, Irish tourism materials rarely feature basking sharks. In order to determine public awareness about basking sharks, public support for basking shark conservation and interest in shark tourism, 173 residents and visitors in Buncrana, Ireland were surveyed in July 2018. The results indicated that public knowledge of basking sharks is low, whilst support for basking shark conservation and interest in tourism are high. Despite the fact that conservation groups rely on publicly reported sightings as a cost-effective research tool that is important for conservation policy, only 7% of survey respondents were aware that they could report a basking shark sighting to local research organizations (Irish Whale and Dolphin Group or Irish Basking Shark Group). Individuals who support conservation were significantly more likely to believe that others would be willing to pay to view basking sharks, indicating a link between tourism potential and support for conservation. This study showed that there may be an untapped tourism market for basking shark viewing in Donegal as well as public support for shark conservation.
... The frequency of fin amputations and propeller scars on sharks at Nosy Be emphasizes the importance of applying and maintaining best-practice standards with regards to boat approach distances and speeds (Ziegler & Dearden, 2021). A code of conduct for whale shark tourism, based on previous work in Mexico (Ziegler, Dearden & Rollins, 2012) and ...
• Between September and December, whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) aggregate in the coastal waters off Nosy Be, an island in north-western Madagascar. Swimming with these sharks has become an important tourism activity, but no formal protection is in place in Madagascar to protect this endangered species from the potential negative effects of tourism or other human impacts.
• Boat-based surveys (n = 405) were conducted from tourism vessels from September to December, 2015–2019. For most sightings (98%), whale sharks were sighted while foraging for bait fish at the surface, in association with mackerel tuna (Euthynnus affinis) and seabirds (Sternidae). A total of 408 individual whale sharks were individually photo-identified over this period. All individuals were immature, and 82% of sexed sharks were male. Sharks ranged from 3.0 to 8.0 m in total length (TL), with a mean TL of 5.65 ± 0.94 m (n = 66) for females and 5.46 ± 1.09 m for males (n = 295).
• Most sharks (72% of the identified individuals) were only identified once within the study period. Movement modelling showed an open population with a short mean residence time of 7.2 days. Resightings were recorded from up to 12 years apart (2007–2019). Ten sharks were seen in all five seasons during 2015–2019. A basic POPAN mark–recapture model estimated a total population size of 681 (608–763) sharks over the 2015–2019 period.
• Nosy Be waters are an important foraging ground for juvenile whale sharks. Sighting data demonstrate that a high proportion of the sharks’ preferred habitat lies outside existing protected areas, but within an identified Key Biodiversity Area. National species-level protection and increased spatial management is warranted to secure the continued presence of whale sharks in this region.
... Introduced by Martilla and James (2019), IPA has been applied in a range of contexts in tourism marketing, including perceptions, satisfaction, service quality, preferences, customer management and online reviews (Bi, Liu, Fan, & Zhang, 2019;Deng, 2007;DiPietro, Levitt, Taylor, & Nierop, 2019;Lee, 2015;Wang, Li, Zhen, & Zhang, 2016;Yuan, Deng, Pierskalla, & King, 2018;Zhang & Chow, 2004;Ziegler, Dearden, & Rollins, 2012;Garbin Praničević & Mandić, 2020), and management, e.g. sustainable tourism, destination competitiveness, planning, job satisfaction and hospitality (Albayrak, Caber, Rosario González-Rodríguez, & Aksu, 2018;Coghlan, 2012;Frauman & Banks, 2011;Lai & Hitchcock, 2016;Murdy & Pike, 2012;Pan, 2015;Sörensson & von Friedrichs, 2013;Zhang & Chan, 2016). ...
In this research we explore smart governance (SG) elements, strategies and outcomes using a sample of small cities located in two Croatian regions, coastal and continental. These differ from one another not only in terms of their history and administrative culture but also the intensity of their tourism development, significantly affecting the way the city is governed with regard to the main SG categories. Historic city status was chosen as a common denominator for the cities in the sample. Building on an extensive literature review, an extended version of the smart governance model inaugurated by Bolivar and Meijer (2016) was suggested, to encompass contextual factors (size – referring mostly to small cities; location - associated with different administrative cultures; tourism development intensity - measured by the set of intensity indicators; the status of the historic city as a specific local condition) and end with some policy measure proposals. A mixed-method approach was employed to address these issues. Firstly, an importance-performance analysis was conducted to evaluate the cities' mayors or deputies' perception of each of the proposed smart governance categories. Subsequently, a qualitative analysis exploring the cities' strategic documents was conducted to determine progress on smart governance and their development orientation. The research results have demonstrated the existence of an importance-performance gap between smart governance categories, with a few of them proving to yield significant impact. The findings are discussed in the light of contextual factors. The conclusions facilitate further understanding of this phenomenon and shed light on the specifics of governance in historic urban destinations within a given context. The major limitation of this study is the relatively small sample (42 out of 94 historic cities) and its focus on just one country (Croatia). Nevertheless, the findings may be valuable in the sense that they broaden the understanding of smart governance in historic cities. Furthermore, implications may be derived from the results obtained for both researchers and practitioners. There is a lack of studies on smart governance taking into account specific contextual factors, and we hope this research may help fill that gap.
... Consequently, many small islands face burgeoning tourism economies, triggering a social transformation of fishing communities into popularly global touristic sites [2,6,14]. Tourism is growing especially on small islands such as Holbox with attractive landscapes and outdoor activities for international tourists such as snorkeling tours with whale sharks [15,16]. For example, in November 2021, Idelfonso Cetina Alcocer, an authority of Holbox, said that many islanders left fishing given the fall in catches. ...
Knowledge gaps exist in the socio-ecological systems of small touristic islands in Latin America. Understanding tourists’ perceptions of their environmental knowledge can help plan actions to prevent natural capital loss necessary for local economies. Tourists’ perceptions of a touristic hotspot, Holbox Island, were documented. Surveys demonstrated that tourists are aware of their environmental impacts and are interested in minimizing these. Results were compared with results on Bocas del Toro, Panama. Tourists’ perceptions had similarities among sites driven by similarities in tourists’ populations with a common geographic origin. Tourists lack site-specific knowledge to steer them towards environmentally conscious decisions in both regions. Findings suggest the need to promote local actions to gain tourists’ understanding about their destination and support education programs on island conservation. Addressing these needs can help build resilience to overcome the adverse socio-environmental effects of tourism, environmental disasters, and health crises as COVID-19 on small islands.
... Introduced by Martilla and James (2019), IPA has been applied in a range of contexts in tourism marketing, including perceptions, satisfaction, service quality, preferences, customer management and online reviews (Bi, Liu, Fan, & Zhang, 2019;Deng, 2007;DiPietro, Levitt, Taylor, & Nierop, 2019;Lee, 2015;Wang, Li, Zhen, & Zhang, 2016;Yuan, Deng, Pierskalla, & King, 2018;Zhang & Chow, 2004;Ziegler, Dearden, & Rollins, 2012;Garbin Praničević & Mandić, 2020), and management, e.g. sustainable tourism, destination competitiveness, planning, job satisfaction and hospitality (Albayrak, Caber, Rosario González-Rodríguez, & Aksu, 2018;Coghlan, 2012;Frauman & Banks, 2011;Lai & Hitchcock, 2016;Murdy & Pike, 2012;Pan, 2015;Sörensson & von Friedrichs, 2013;Zhang & Chan, 2016). ...
The sustainable development of tourism is a major concern for destination management organisations (DMOs) in heritage tourism. Smart tourism advocates claim that technologically-driven innovations can help DMOs to optimise tourism development by addressing issues such as carrying capacity, stakeholder management and community involvement. This study enhances the understanding of smart tourism governance (SG), showing how contextual factors affect DMO perspectives of SG. A mixed-methods approach was used to investigate heritage tourism destinations in the United Kingdom. The results demonstrate that well-established DMOs do not perceive SG as potentially beneficial, as they already perform well in many areas in which SG promises improvements, such as citizen engagement, decision-making, and stakeholder engagement. Despite this, this research highlights the aspects of SG that these destinations can take advantage of as social inclusion, environmental performance and the provision of citizen-centric services. All of these can help heritage tourism destinations to optimise their tourism development. This research additionally demonstrates the effect of contextual factors, such as the level of public-sector support for tourism and the growing influence of non-tourism stakeholders in destination management, on DMO perceptions of SG and makes recommendations for how developments in the use of SG by DMOs can be made, in light of these.
... Parks and protected areas [64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77] Destination [36,57,[78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87] Meetings and exhibitions [35,[88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95] Tour services and travel agents [96][97][98][99][100][101] Tourism policy and development [65,[102][103][104][105][106] Tourism Accommodation Sector ...
Tourism has a key role in the global economy, and it is a significant contributor to environmental degradation and climate change. Concurrently, it is one of the most exposed businesses to the deterioration of environmental quality. Inside the tourism sector, the hospitality industry accounts for nearly 30% of emissions and in recent years has begun to introduce voluntary tools to manage the environmental impacts of its operations. Among these instruments, ecolabels ensure compliance with specific environmental performance criteria and reliable communication. In Italy, Legambiente Turismo is the most widespread tourism ecolabel that awards over 300 hotels. Previous investigations have shown that firms implementing environmental sustainability practices may gain economic advantages in terms of savings thanks to increased efficiency and reduced waste. At the same time, when evaluating firms’ performance, it is relevant to explore how customers perceive the actions implemented by the accommodation industry to minimize the environmental impact of its activities. Through a survey addressed to the customers of an eco-labeled hotel, this paper investigates if green practices form a specific dimension of service quality and if these green practices are considered by hotel guests as excitement factors among hotel service quality attributes. Results show that customers identify environmental practices as a specific dimension of eco-labeled hotels. Moreover, applying the three-factors theory of customer satisfaction, findings identify hotel green practices as delighting guests if properly delivered and communicated. Findings have significant implications both from a theoretical and managerial viewpoint, as they show that customers positively recognize the hotel’s commitment toward the natural environment, representing a significant differentiation strategy on the market.
... Also the YU triggers the phytoplankton bloom and consequently the energy flow of the pelagic ecosystem (Enriquez et al., 2013;Furnas and Smayda, 1987;Merino, 1997;Okolodkov, 2003;Reyes-Mendoza et al., 2019). In fact, several ecosystem goods and services from the Yucatan Peninsula coast rely on the YU (Angeles- Gonzalez et al., 2017;Cárdenas-Palomo et al., 2015;Juárez et al., 2018;Ziegler et al., 2012Ziegler et al., , 2015. However, it has been reported long-term thermal variability over the whole region, warming the sea surface of oceanic locations of the north of the Yucatan Shelf, and cooling the coastal zone around May-September. ...
Since the historic marine temperature has been changing and consequently the ecological processes, this work studies the presence and magnitude of anomalous events at the sea surface temperature (SST) from a climate change perspective in a Non-eastern upwelling system. Concepts and metrics for Marine Heatwaves (MHW) and Marine Cold–Spell (MCS) were applied over the marine region of the Yucatan continental shelf and Yucatan Channel. To calculate the MHW/MCS and climatology between 1982 to 2019, a remote historic dataset of SST was used. Temporal differences of MHW/MCS events were calculated to assess the increase of MHW reported at a global scale in the last 10–20 years, splitting the resulting metrics of the study period. Furthermore, a frequency-domain cross-correlation analysis between SST and Chlorophyll-a was conducted to analyze a temporal relationship among those anomalies and the Red tide that struck the coastal region, in the year 2011. Results indicate that MHW/MCS have varied spatially and temporarily over the marine region of the Yucatan shelf, and have become more frequent and longer in the last twenty-years, tending to keep increasing in some sub-regions. MCS events are of equal or greater significance than MHW, mainly in the inner–shelf sub-region, where more than 110 days of MCS were recorded in 2011. The extreme biological event reported that year could be explained by MCS. Variability of the Yucatan current and upwelling, as well as large-scale synoptic atmospheric events are discussed as possible drivers for MHW/MCS.
... Respondents, thus, may have maximum of '25' to minimum of '5' for the index. Environmental satisfaction measures the ability of the current state of the environment of Iowa to meet the needs and expectations of the public (Ziegler et al., 2012). It assesses the performance of a farmland-related environment in Iowa. ...
This dissertation analyzes the policy designs and economic benefits of a land conservation practice called prairie strips. The first chapter investigates the impact of policy designs on individual household preferences. The study measures the value that Iowa residents place on the ecosystem services of prairie strips and determines if that value changes under different policy designs. The policy design treatment varies in who runs the program and who has enrollment priority. The willingness to pay (WTP) for ecosystem services is estimated using stated preferences from a choice experiment. Results indicate significant public support for expanding and funding the prairie strips program under all policy designs. WTP for the program is highest for the management by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and enrollment priority to the landowners with good environmental stewardship in the past. The second chapter analyzes the role of farming experiences, conservation experiences, and satisfaction of the existing status of the environment in explaining variation in preferences of prairie strips. The results suggest that those with farm experiences prefer new conservation alternatives significantly more than without farm experiences. Similarly, individuals who have past experience with conservation activities or education have substantially higher preference for water quality-related attributes. There is a significant inverse relationship between environmental satisfaction and preferences for all the ecosystem services. The last chapter examines the role of spatial variability of profit and crop insurance premium on site-specific land retirement decisions for a land retirement program such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). It uses site-specific input and output data from a precision agriculture experimental plot in Illinois. The study introduces a decision framework to include site-specific yield and insurance premium cost in land retirement decisions. The findings indicate that using site-specific insurance premium costs benefits farmers by creating a different optimal land retirement plan with higher net profit. It also reduces the expense of insurance premiums. The new decision framework, thus, advises farmers on the best location and amount of farmland to enroll in CRP for a higher overall benefit. Adviser: Karina Schoengold
Feeding wildlife for the purpose of tourism is a contentious issue with for and against arguments being raised by tour operators, non‐governmental organisations, researchers, and managers. Despite this situation, there is a growing trend in the feeding of marine wildlife to guarantee visitors an exciting up‐close experience. This review investigates the scope and key findings of research conducted on the impacts and social aspects of tourism related wild fish feeding. This systematic quantitative literature review identified 58 peer‐reviewed articles on feeding wild fish for tourism. Of those articles, 35 (60%) reported on ecological impacts on the fish. Only 14 articles explored fish feeding tourism from a social perspective, and of those only 9 (15%) investigated the perspectives of visitors. This review highlights that the impacts and management of complex human‐wildlife interactions, such as feeding wild fish, are case and species specific. The impacts of feeding wild fish for tourism include changes in species distribution and behaviour, negative health effects, increased predation of some fish species, and risk of injury to tourists. There is less research on social aspects such as visitor attitudes and satisfaction with fish feeding operations. Further studies are required on visitor demand and interests, and the ecological implications of provisioning to ensure the scenarios in which fish feeding occur are sustainable, maximizing the tourism experience while minimizing negative impacts on fish populations. It is important that progress is made towards developing appropriate codes of conduct and nationally and internationally accredited standards of practice.
Desde el marco de la ecología política se analizan conflictos socioambientales producidos por el desarrollo del mercado turístico de avistamiento y nado con el tiburón ballena en la Bahía de La Paz. Se trata de entender un proceso de despojo legitimado dentro de un marco legal que beneficia a ciertos actores y vulnera a otros, así como analizar los mecanismos de resistencia oculta de pescadores ribereños frente a este proceso. La existencia de un plan de manejo vigente ha sido un detonante que legitima el despojo por la restricción de acceso a un espacio de uso común, afectando la pesca ribereña y al esparcimiento de habitantes locales; y lejos de ayudar a mejorar las condiciones ecológicas y de conservación del tiburón, este ha sido un instrumento que beneficia al sector turístico al construir un espacio exclusivo para su efectiva operación, a costa de impactos negativos directos hacia esta especie.
Whale shark (Rhincodon typus) tourism is increasingly popular wherever the species occur, including a fledgling industry on the South Atlantic island of St. Helena. We interviewed 154 people to elicit the social and economic value of whale shark tourism on the island. Additionally, 77 survey participants were queried about their willingness to pay, 32% of those responding indicated that they would be willing to pay at least £10 more, a 20% increase from existing charges. Tourists also supported the concept that the local population should pay less for whale shark snorkel tours. Perceptions among visitors and locals were that the marine environment was well managed on St. Helena and that protecting it was important. Results from this study could help inform St. Helena Government policy and support MWT operators on the island to further develop a sustainable and equitable whale shark tourism industry.
Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis panjang total dan kondisi luka hiu paus (Rhincodon typus) di Taman Nasional Teluk Cendrawasih (TNTC), Papua-Indonesia. Identifikasi foto digunakan untuk menentukan identitas individu hiu paus berdasarkan pola bintik di balik celah insang terakhir masing-masing individu. Identifikasi juga menggunakan foto berdasarkan luka hiu paus. Panjang tubuh total hiu paus diperkirakan berdasarkan panjang seorang perenang snorkel (diasumsikan 1,6 m) yang berenang bersama hiu paus. Kami mengidentifikasi 21 individu hiu paus, 14 individu diantaranya adalah hiu paus baru, sedangkan tujuh individu lainnya merupakan hiu paus yang pernah tercatat dalam database koleksi foto sebelumnya. Hiu paus berukuran panjang total 2 sampai 5 m (rata-rata 3,78 m, ± 0,86, N = 21). Berdasarkan ukurannya, semua individu hiu paus termasuk dalam kategori yuwana. Sebanyak 52% dari hiu paus yang diidentifikasi memiliki luka, 38% tidak memiliki luka dan 10% tidak teridentifikasi. Mayoritas hiu paus memiliki bekas luka potong (12 individu) dan luka lecet (tujuh individu). Lokasi luka paling sering terjadi pada sirip ekor dan sirip punggung, masing-masing lima dan empat individu. Informasi ini berguna untuk memahami potensi ancaman dan untuk merancang program pengelolaan yang lebih baik untuk konservasi R. typus di TNTC.
Abstract
This study aims to determine the total length and scar condition of the body of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in Cendrawasih Bay National Park (TNTC), Papua-Indonesia. Photo-identification was used to identify individuals of the whale shark R. typus based on spot patterns behind the last gill slit of each individual. Photo-identification was also used to determine the scar of the whale shark. The total length of whale sharks were estimated based on the length of a snorkeller (assumed to be 1.6 m) swimming alongside the whale shark. We identified 21 individuals of R. typus. Of these 21 individuals, 14 were new sightings and seven were re-sightings that have been recorded in the previous photo collection database. R. typus ranged in size from 2 to 5 m total length (average 3.78 m, ±0,86, N= 21). Based on their size, all individuals of whale shark were categorized as juvenile. 52% of R. typus identified had scars and 38 % were not and 10% were unknown. The majority of whale sharks had amputation (12 individuals) and abrasion (7 individuals) scars. Scars occurred most often on the caudal fin and dorsal fin, five and four individuals respectively. This information is useful for understanding potential threats and designing better management programmes for R. typus conservation in TNTC.
Cabo Pulmo National Park (CPNP) is one of the main tourist destinations in the Gulf of California, especially for recreational diving with bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas). This activity begun in the late 1990s after the National Park was created, the local community changed its main activity from traditional shing to offer tourist facilities for observation of marine life; as a result, the economic ben-e ts are now greater than ever before. However, these bene ts have not been quanti-ed or taken into account in the CPNP management; thus, the objective of this study was to estimate the speci c economic value of diving with bull sharks by using a method of revealed preferences (travel cost) and calculating the consumer surplus (CS) of diving with bull sharks at CPNP as a tourist destination. We deducted the travel cost of each person per day through 250 on-site surveys directed to tourists who visited CPNP to dive with bull sharks. The economic analysis showed that the number of divers who travel speci cally to CPNP for bull shark sighting represents 23% of the total tourists visiting the park. The recreational demand function with the econometric treatment of the Poisson model revealed a CS result of $694 USD per person per day with an average of a 4-day stay. This information was useful to promote improvements in management and conservation of bull sharks at CPNP.
This study adopts a novel mix of scientometrics, theme-based, citation-based systematic review and interpretative aggregation approach (STCSR-IA) with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. It presents a macro-level scientometric analysis of tourism research in coastal, marine and maritime (blue tourism) environments by using 986 research articles published in 130 Scopus-indexed journals from 2000 to 2019. The thematic evolution of research in five time periods of four years each (2000–2003, 2004–2007, 2008–2011, 2012–2015, 2016–2019) was analysed using the authors’ keywords and classified as (a) preliminary (b) transversal stage I (c) transversal stage II and (d) growth stage. The massive evolution of research areas in the growth stage and their themes along with the growing nexus of conceptual relationship within blue tourism is systematically reviewed and presented as a thematic research framework.
Resumo | O presente trabalho corresponde a uma revisão sistemática da literatura sobre a satisfação e insatisfação turísticas no âmbito insular. A (in)satisfação turística geral apresenta muitos estudos um pouco por todo o mundo e revelam que este tema da (in)satisfação turística, a nível insular ou continental , pode ser investigada a partir de várias áreas como são exemplos as caraterísticas gerais do destino (atrativos culturais e naturais, equipamentos e infraestruturas), a capacidade tecnológica do destino e as instituições ou agentes da oferta turística. Este trabalho pretende identificar research gaps nesta área que compreendem aspetos da (in)satisfação turística pouco estudados nos destinos insulares. A meto-dologia aplicada nesta investigação corresponde a uma análise qualitativa bibliométrica e de conteúdo de artigos identificados a partir das bases de dados Scopus e a Web of Science. Palavras-chave | Satisfação turística insular, insatisfação turística insular, marketing e turismo insula-res, turistas, revisão da literatura Abstract | This work corresponds to a systematic review of the literature on tourist satisfaction and dissatisfaction in the insular context. The overall tourist satisfaction presents many studies all over the world and reveals that this topic, at an island or continental levels can be investigated from several areas such as examples the general characteristics of the destination (cultural and natural attractions, equipment and infrastructure), a technological capacity of the destination and the institutions or agents of the tourist oer. This work aims to identify research gaps in this area that comprise aspects of tourist (dis)satisfaction scarcely studied in island destinations. The methodology applied in this investigation corresponds to a qualitative bibliometric and content analysis of identied articles from the Scopus and Web of Science databases.
This study aims to determine the total length and scar condition of the body of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in Cendrawasih Bay National Park (TNTC), Papua-Indonesia. Photo-identification was used to identify individuals of the whale shark R. typus based on spot patterns behind the last gill slit of each individual. Photo-identification was also used to determine the scar of the whale shark. The total length of whale sharks were estimated based on the length of a snorkeller (assumed to be 1.6 m) swimming alongside the whale shark. We identified 21 individuals of R. typus. Of these 21 individuals, 14 were new sightings and seven were re-sightings that have been recorded in the previous photo collection database. R. typus ranged in size from 2 to 5 m total length (average 3.78 m, ±0,86, N= 21). Based on their size, all individuals of whale shark were categorized as juvenile. 52% of R. typus identified had scars and 38 % were not and 10% were unknown. The majority of whale sharks had amputation (12 individuals) and abrasion (7 individuals) scars. Scars occurred most often on the caudal fin and dorsal fin, five and four individuals respectively. This information is useful for understanding potential threats and designing better management programmes for R. typus conservation in TNTC.
Park and protected area visitors are important. They have political, economic, social and ecological impacts. Much of a reserve’s staff time and operational funds are dedicated to assisting, supporting and managing human use. Much of a reserve’s planning and development activities are centered on human factors. The same information needed by managers is also often important to residents and business people from local communities. All of the people living on the routes traveled by park visitors will be influenced by the flow of people to and from the park.
All management is dependent upon information. The better the quality of information; the better the opportunity for good management. Information about the visitors and their activities enables managers to deal with the challenge of increasing volumes of tourism.
This manual describes terms, approaches and techniques for gathering information about public use of parks and protected areas. The goal of the manual is to supply the information necessary to meet the needs of park and protected area management in this rapidly changing field.
This paper discusses one example of alternative tourism, trekking in Northern Thailand, to assess the nature of the interaction between the changes in the attraction and the motivations of the client group. Visitation does reduce the authenticity of the villagers, yet several adaptive strategies are successfully employed by the companies to counteract this. A survey of trekkers revealed high satisfactions, yet motivations are changing to emphasize the authenticity of the entire experience rather than the ethnic authenticity of the hilltribes. A transformation is taking place from primary ethnic tourism to cultural tourism with a strong recreational emphasis. While this bodes well for future sustainability, hilltribe response and involvement remain minimal.RésuméTourisme parallèle et mesures d'adaptation. Cet article aborde les voyages-randonnées au Nord de la Thaĩlande, afin d'évaluer l'interdépendance des changements caractérisant les goûts et les motivations du groupe-client. Le tourisme affecte l'authenticité ethnique des tribus visitées; néanmoins, les compagnies ont mis en oeuvre des movens d'adaptation pour contrebalancer cette situation. Une enquête a révélé un taux de satisfaction élevé, même si les motivations changent: le caractère authentique de l'expérience l'emporte sur l'authenticité ethnique des tribus. Le tourisme ayant comme but unique des destinations exotiques cède progressivement la place au tourisme culturel avec un fort accent sur la détente. Quoique cela augure bien de la viabilité du tourisme, la réponse et la participation des tribus demeurent minimales.
Although grey seals are relatively common in Britain, their numbers elsewhere are believed to be decreasing, and some populations in Europe are listed as endangered by the IUCN. This case study focuses on the impacts of seal tourism on a colony of seals on the South Devon coast in the United Kingdom, the effectiveness of current management policies and tourists’ perceptions of the voluntary controls adhered to by tour operators. To monitor impacts, covert observations of the site were undertaken on 60 designated survey days in the summer of 2006, while a survey of tourists taking part in wildlife cruises to the site was conducted during the same period. The observations found that the voluntary codes had reduced disturbance from operators; however, there were still disturbances, mainly from private vessels. The results of the survey showed that tourists were aware of their potential impacts upon the wildlife, and were generally supportive of the voluntary codes in place. Therefore if an honest explanation and interpretation of the potential impacts of seal tourism are provided, it may encourage a protectionist predisposition in wildlife tourists and render the compliance of voluntary codes a highly satisfactory tourist experience rather than a negative one.
Proponents of ecotourism within protected areas believe that tour design and interpretation can help mitigate the negative impacts of tourism, human and environmental, and build an educated and motivated constituency that supports environmental conservation and social improvements. However, ecotourism's claims to achieve those objectives are largely untested, and linkages between tourism's operational characteristics and positive changes in tourists” environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviours are largely unexplored. This exploratory research investigated the efforts of one Galapagos National Park tour operator to explore whether a well-conceived interpretation/ecotourism product could influence tourists” educational outcomes and support of environmental conservation. Results suggest that well-designed and delivered interpretation during the ecotourism experience can increase knowledge of the host-protected area, supportive attitudes towards resource management issues facing the host-protected area, general environmental behavioural intentions and philanthropic support of conservation.
Predictable and long-term whale shark (Rhincodon typus) aggregations can be observed in few locations around the world. In some places where this occurs the use of the species through ecotourism has become an important economic activity. Bahia de los Angeles, Mexico is an important habitat for whale sharks for up to 7 months per year. Based on their presence, ecotourism activities with the species have become more popular among the local community in recent years. Whale sharks and their habitat represent an important form of natural capital with high potential to produce economic value; however this has not translated in an improvement of the local communities’ quality of life due to several limitations that the activity, resource and users confront. The most evident threat is free access, carrying with it a potential loss of economic benefits due to resource saturation and when external groups use the resource or tourists observe the species without having to hire local tour operators. It is recognized that property right regimes are fundamental because they define the rights and obligations for the use of natural resources and the rules by which these rights and obligations are implemented. The present study recommends the implementation of a strategy for the sustainable management of whale sharks based on property rights; taking into account both the characteristics of the resource and the social context where it is used. Through the opinion of a consultant panel comprised of representatives from federal, state and municipal governments, as well as academics, non-governmental organizations and local users of the resource, three different options are analysed – free access; a limited number of permits for local users; a concession of the area in favour of the group of local users – by means of four qualitative criteria (efficiency, equity, transaction costs and acceptance) and a quantitative criterion (duration), using multicriteria analysis. The evaluation concludes that the scenario which is the most efficient, equitable, with lower transaction costs and more acceptable is a concession of the area in favour of the group of local users.
Over 100 million sharks are killed annually, putting enormous pressure on shark populations worldwide. Sharks have traditionally been considered a detriment to coastal tourism, but since the early 1990s, shifts in attitudes amongst divers have led to growth in the popularity of shark watching as a tourist activity. An estimated 500,000 divers a year find, photograph, feed, and swim with sharks, contributing millions of dollars to local and regional economies. This paper examines whether the economic value attached to shark watching can provide enough incentive to reduce consumptive exploitation levels. Although the economic value attached to shark watching has led to greater protection of sharks in some locations, analysis of available data suggests that incentives do not appear large enough to encourage a significant reduction in fishing pressure appropriate to the scale of threat facing sharks. Growth of the shark watching industry is constrained by a number of factors including perceived risks and benefits, declining shark populations, and government regulations. However, conservation strategies for sharks involving tourism can be envisaged, involving varying levels of non-consumptive and consumptive uses of sharks. Three kinds of interaction between the non-consumptive and consumptive use of sharks are outlined along with implications for shark conservation.
One activity with potential to provide a direct incentive for reef conservation is scuba diving. In the absence of effective management, diving can also have negative impacts. This study shows how an understanding of diver specialization can be used to help manage diving and increase its effectiveness as an incentive-driven conservation activity. Surveys were used to assess motivations, satisfactions and dive history of divers in Phuket (Thailand) and categorize divers by degree of specialization. Highly specialized divers were more likely to be on a live-aboard trip than less specialized divers and placed greater importance on the characteristics of the dive itself rather than the trip. Less specialized divers put more emphasis on non-dive characteristics. Satisfaction levels differed significantly among specialization groups in terms of overall satisfaction with the dive experience, satisfactions compared with motivations and satisfactions with specific trip characteristics. Overall there was a decline in satisfaction levels with increasing specialization. These finding are compared to a wildlife tourism model that links impacts with client characteristics and suggests a displacement of specialists by generalists and changes in the limits of acceptable change (LAC) over time. The dive data supported this progression leading to increased industry competition and reduced opportunities to sustain a broad-based dive industry that will act as an incentive-driven mechanism for reef conservation. Specific actions related to reef access and zoning according to a diver opportunity spectrum (DOS), establishing LAC and monitoring programmes, enforcing safety and environmental regulations are suggested to promote a more sustainable approach to dive management. Social science insights can be used to aid reef management strategies and increase the potential for diving to contribute towards reef conservation.
Marine wildlife tours provide a range of education and conservation benefits for visitors. These benefits derive from interpretation programs and close personal encounters with marine wildlife. Interpretive information covers the biology, ecology and behaviors of marine species, best practice guidelines, and human threats to marine life. There has been limited assessment of interpretation on marine wildlife tours to identify whether these increase tourist knowledge and promote changes in environmental attitudes. This article reviews the educational benefits of guided marine wildlife experiences with dolphins, whales, and marine turtles using Oram's (1999)64.
Orams , M. 1999. Marine tourism: Development, impacts and management, London: Routledge. View all references framework of outcome indicators to manage marine tourism. The key indicators assessed in this article are education/learning and attitude/belief changes in visitors that benefit marine wildlife. This analysis found tourist learning during mediated encounters with marine wildlife contributes to pro-environmental attitudes and on-site behavior changes, with some longer-term intentions to support and engage in marine conservation actions. Areas of research are suggested to examine the causal links between wildlife interpretation and pro-environmental outcomes.
1. The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a popular focal species within the global marine tourism industry. Although this has contributed to increased protection being granted to the species in several countries, tourism itself can be detrimental to the sharks in the absence of appropriate management. Potential impacts can be mitigated, at least in the short term, by adherence to well-designed interaction guidelines. 2. A burgeoning marine tourism industry based on swimming with whale sharks has developed at Tofo Beach in Mozambique. However, no formal management is currently in place at this site. 3. The behaviour of whale sharks during interactions with boats and swimmers were recorded during 137 commercial snorkelling trips run from Tofo Beach over a 20 month period. Whale sharks were encountered on 87% of trips, which operated year-round. 4. Boat proximity and shark size were significant predictors of avoidance behaviour. No avoidance responses were recorded at 420 m boat distance. 5. The mean in-water interaction time between sharks and swimmers was 8 min 48 s overall. There was a significant decrease in interaction times during encounters where sharks expressed avoidance behaviours, and also in cases where sharks had expressed boat avoidance behaviour before swimmers entered the water. 6. It is suggested that mean encounter times can be extended through adherence to a basic Code of Conduct for operators and swimmers that enforces minimum distances between the sharks, boats and swimmers. Using encounter time as a measure of the 'success' of interactions holds promise, as longer encounters appear to be indicative of lower impacts on sharks while also providing higher customer satisfaction for swimmers.
The information available on the biology and ecology of the whale shark is reviewed, and is updated from material published since 1986. Research work carried out on the seasonal aggregation of whale sharks at the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia is summarized. Future research studies on whale sharks in the Ningaloo Marine Park are discussed in the context of management of sustainable whale shark interaction tourism.
This paper presents an application of the IPA technique, coupled with market segmentation, to a sample of visitors to Tanzania's National Parks. The utility of the technique in a protected area context is highlighted, by comparing it with the results from three programme perspectives – non-segmented data (a homogeneous IPA programme), segmented data that look at performance measurements only (a segmented performance-only programme), and segmented data (a segmented IPA programme). A few examples of non-parametric statistical analysis are presented to highlight the flexibility of the technique. When combined with market segmen-tation, IPA is a superior technique to that of a non-segmented approach, which views the sample as homogeneous and can lead to the displacement of visitors. It is also superior to that of a performance-only approach. The technique is achievable for a protected area agency with limited resources and expertise and is also a good starting point for agencies with suitable resources and expertise.
This study examines tourist compliance to the Code of Conduct for whale shark (Rhincodon typus) interactions and assesses impacts of tourists on whale sharks in Donsol, Philippines. Whale sharks feed in Donsol's nutrient rich waters between November and June, drawing up to 7100 visitors annually. Tourist, tour operator, and whale shark behavior were examined during human–whale shark interactions (n = 777) on 117 boat trips (March, April and May) in 2004, and on 76 boat trips in 2005 (n = 620). Average compliance to Code of Conduct regulations in 2004 and 2005 was 44% for the minimum distance kept; 82% for no touching, no path obstruction and a maximum of six swimmers per whale shark; 89% for a maximum of one boat per shark, 99% for no flash photography and no SCUBA, scooters, and jet-skis. Significant predictors of whale shark's directional changes were path obstruction and proximity of swimmer to whale shark, while for whale shark's dive response it was first-time sighting and whale shark feeding. The significant predictor of a violent shudder behavior was touching. Generalized linear modeling evaluated change in direction, dive response and violent shuddering variables, and found that touching, flash photography, and swimmer diving towards the whale shark significantly affected the magnitude of disturbance. Tourism impacts on whale sharks can be minimized through adaptive management that monitors tourism and alters interaction regulations to reflect tourist and tour operator actions that have detrimental effects on whale sharks.
Recreational non-consumptive use of wildlife has been attracting increasing numbers of people and generating growing economic benefits from tourism activity. More importantly this type of wildlife interaction has potential benefits to conservation from the long-term effect of changing attitudes towards wild animals and natural habitats. It does not, however, fit well into the existing wildlife management paradigm due to the nature of the final product, a recreation experience. This paper aims to provide an integrated framework that illustrates the major components of non-consumptive wildlife recreation and links between research areas in ecology, animal behaviour, recreation, tourism and existing wildlife management institutions. The fundamental purpose of this paper is to cast wildlife conservation in a new light that recognizes the need to formulate management plans in both a social and biological context.
This study offers an integrated approach to understanding tourist motivation and attempts to extend the theoretical and empirical evidence on the causal relationships among the push and pull motivations, satisfaction, and destination loyalty. The research model investigates the relevant relationships among the constructs by using a structural equation modeling approach. Consequently, destination managers should establish a higher tourist satisfaction level to create positive post-purchase tourist behavior, in order to improve and sustain destination competitiveness.
The planning of sound and substantial outdoor recreational programs is dependent upon an understanding of the valuative process of satisfaction which is largely a result of user judgments. This study describes overall satisfaction as a function of instrumental and expressive factors, expectations, and past-use. The study revealed that expressive and instrumental factors may be stronger predictors of overall satisfaction than are the expectation factors or past-use. However, the relative importance of instrumental and expressive factors reveals site-specific variation.
The planet's most fascinating and yet tantalisingly under-researched component is now a rapidly growing tourism frontier. The sea attracts millions of tourists annually with its diverse array of exclusive activities, but its sheer size brings with it considerable problems for management. Within the context of other economic activities that may compromise the success, if not the very existence of marine ecotourism, this text examines the wide range of marine ecotourism resources, not only natural, but also cultural and man-made. Covering economic, marketing planning and regulation issues, this book also considers the vital role of marine ecotourism in raising awareness of the significance of the seas and oceans to sustainable coastal livelihoods. At a time of great concern over the effects of climate change and high profile issues such as depletion of fish stocks and oil spillages, the insights this book provides are essential reading.
This chapter critically reviews travel motivation research which represents the development of the travel motivation concept over the years. The chapter applies Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory to travel motivational theory. Implicit and explicit applications of the Maslow hierarchy to tourism studies are discussed. Among those studies, the chapter highlights the approaches of the travel career ladder (TCL) and travel career pattern (TCP). The chapter examines the push and pull concept as another line of travel motivation studies. Mannell and Iso-Ahola's model of escaping and seeking dimensions, though developed as a framework of leisure motivation, informs the discussion leading to general implications and applicability in tourism studies. Also, the chapter discusses the merits of Plog's allocentrism/psychocentrism model. Plog's model helps explain the phenomenal rise and fall of travel destinations. In addition, the chapter discusses methodological issues in tourist motivation research. Building from the review the chapter closes with managerial implications.
Importance-Performance analysis is a technique for relating the measurement of attribute importance and performance to the development of marketing programs.
This study examines whether survey results profiling homogeneous recreation populations can be valid at lower response rates. Four similar, but separate national park visitor surveys using on-site interviews, mail-back questionnaires and follow-ups were conducted in 1988. The results at four different response rates (35, 50, 65 percent; and the final total response) were analyzed and compared. No substantive reason was found to reject results with a response rate of 65 percent compared to the final response rates of, on average, 86 percent. Rejecting study results with response rates in the range of 35 to 50 percent may be justifiable.
Several different approaches have been used to undertake Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA), aka quadrant analysis or gap analysis. This study compares methods across 15 datasets and finds that the traditional 2×2 grid approach can be misleading. Using indirect (e.g. multiple regression) methods for determining importances may also be misleading. The most valid method of performing IPA is identified, and a method for confirming its validity is provided.
A sample of 617 student respondents was drawn from 12 universities, in different parts of the United States. Semantic differential instruments were used to measure respondents' descriptive and importance dimensions of thei.- image of Mexico.
The analysis indicated major differences between the two image dimensions. Those image attributes which respondents considered to be important when considering a vacation in Mexico were related primarily to sanitation and safety. The most positive attributes respondents reported about Mexico related to climate and low costs.
Measurement of respondents' descriptive image of Mexico indicated that the farther away respondents resided from Mexico, the more favorable was their image of that country as a vacation destination. Analysis indicated that the regional differences were not significant. However, significant differences were found on 12 of the 30 individual attributes which were used to measure image.
Despite an extensive literature on novelty-seeking and the intuitive appeal of vacation behavior as a setting for its observation, the significance of a pleasure trip that is familiar or "commonplace" as opposed to one that is "novel" has not been investigated. The purpose of this study is to describe novel versus commonplace trips and to explore behavioral and demographic differences between travelers who experience different levels of novelty.
The present paper attempts to provide an answer to the much neglected sociological treatment of tourist motivation, with specific reference to the question, “What makes tourists travel?” A theoretical case is suggested for concentration on “push” factors, and, in particular, those stemming from “anomie” and “ego-enhancement” in the tourist himself. It is further argued that the presence of such factors is conducive to the creation of a fantasy world, one to which he plans a periodic escape. At the empirical level, the study evaluates the above two concepts in the light of a recent investigation of visitors' attitudes to Barbados. Thecomponents of the typology are also briefly examined.
Practical Surveys. Cornerstones of a Quality Survey. Deciding What Information You Need. Choosing a Survey Method. When and How to Select a Sample. Writing Good Questions. Questionnaire Design. Setting Your Survey in Motion and Getting It Done. From Questionnaires to Survey Results. Reporting Survey Results. Advice, Resources, and Maintaining Perspective. References. Index.
This paper explores the potential of tour guides to contribute to the protection of natural areas by educating their customers through interpr