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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 11:57 pm
Time: 11:57 pm
Results for tourism
3 results foundAuthor: Kazmierow, Bronek J. Title: Vehicle Crime at Outdoor Recreation and Tourist Destinations: Prevalence, Impact and Solutions Summary: Vehicle crime in car parks at outdoor recreation and tourist destinations poses an unwelcome problem for visitors and destination managers in New Zealand. Some tourists and recreationists may avoid some outdoor recreation sites and activities because of perceived threats. Currently, no public agencies are fully addressing the problem, and the impact of vehicle crime in these settings is poorly understood. We set out to identify the prevalence and impact of this problem and, where possible, solutions, using a collaborative multiple-method approach that involved quantitative data collection from crime records; surveys of the New Zealand population, and domestic and international tourists; and five targeted recreationist surveys. In addition, qualitative data were gathered through focus groups of recreation participants and non-participants; media content analysis; an assessment of victim accounts; interviews with 30 convicted vehicle crime offenders; and three regional case studies. We found that, in contrast to vehicle crime recorded elsewhere in New Zealand, the incidence of vehicle crime at car parks managed by the Department of Conservation is low and predominately focused at a small number of car parks. Recreationists and the public considered the problem to be somewhat larger than official records suggested it was and, correspondingly, their reported levels of concern were disproportionately large. International tourists, however, were less concerned. Vehicle crime was a significant issue for outdoor recreationists, as this group experienced the highest levels of victimisation. However, international tourists falling victim to this crime appear to suffer the most severe consequences. Solutions uncovered as part of this study are presented, along with a summary of a planning and evaluation framework constructed for destination managers and associated agencies grappling with vehicle crime. Details: Wellington, NZ: Publishing Team, New Zealand Department of Conservation, 2009. 86p. Source: Internet Resource: Science for Conservation 298: Accessed August 31, 2011 at: http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/science-and-technical/sfc298.pdf Year: 2009 Country: New Zealand URL: http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/science-and-technical/sfc298.pdf Shelf Number: 122564 Keywords: Automobile TheftCar TheftMotor Vehicle TheftRecreationTourism |
Author: Calafat, Amador Title: Tourism, Nightlife and Violence: A Cross Cultural Analysis and Preventive Recommendations Summary: At first glance, violence and tourism do not seem closely related. Holidays are that time in which we get away from our daily routines in search of fun and rest, somewhere different, spending leisure time with family and friends, or even alone. So people’s spirits and expectations should be high in anticipation of their trip. But why do we frequently hear news about young people dying in tourist resorts after falling from the balconies of their hotels? Why do we read about fights in discotheques, in which somebody can end up having a bottle smashed over their head? Why are the emergency services saturated in some resorts, especially in summer, attending to hundreds of cases of young people poisoned by alcohol or other substances? It would seem, indeed, that the panorama is not the idyllic one we might expect. A first response, simple and somewhat conjectural, is that the kinds of problems described above are caused by the typical behaviour of young tourists from central and northern Europe who visit Mediterranean resorts. But this cannot be the case: neither is it the majority who behave violently, nor do they normally behave like that in their countries of origin. What is it, then, that triggers such inappropriate, sometimes vandalistic, aggressive and frenzied behaviour? This is the question to which we try and respond in this report. Over a period of four years (2007-2010) we have collected data from young tourists visiting the Balearic Islands (Spain), as well as other destinations, such as Algarve (Portugal), Venice (Italy), Crete (Greece) or Cyprus. In these studies and in others there is a constant factor, which is the abusive consumption of alcohol. We know that alcohol is a powerful disinhibitor of executive control. This control is exercised in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, telling us what it is appropriate to do and what it is not, and helping us to weigh up the consequences and make decisions accordingly. In states of intoxication this control disappears. Thus, a large part of such inappropriate behaviours could be attributed to the abuse of alcohol and drunkenness. But this is only the first part of the explanation. The next step is to ask ourselves how these contexts facilitate such behaviours. In many tourist destinations alcoholic drinks are offered at giveaway prices. Indeed, it is sometimes as cheap (or as expensive) to buy a beer as it is to buy a bottle of water. The nightlife scene is frequently livened up with images and promotions with recreational-sexual content, creating an atmosphere of “anything goes”. This strategy can often be seen in offers from tour operators and local businesses targeting young holidaymakers in particular. It is hardly surprising, then, that tourists arrive with pre-programmed expectations of wild parties and a culture of excess, which act as facilitators of these inappropriate behaviours. But the health-risk behaviours associated with the abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs extend beyond violence to cover, for example, sex-related behaviours – promiscuity, sex without condom, sexual harassment; moreover, being under the effects of alcohol or other substances makes it more likely for one to be the victim of theft, road accidents and accidents of other types (e.g., falls). We can see, then, a whole range of problems deriving from this holidaymaking style revolving around the nightlife context, though naturally it also involves positive aspects of socialization. Why do we not create the global conditions for this type of tourism to give way to a more high-quality kind of tourism, without involving financial losses for the sector? In the countries of origin of these young tourists, many companies in the nightlife leisure sector have opted to promote a high-quality type of nightlife recreational context, based on the latest criteria developed in the field. However, it is not common for such measures to be applied in holiday resorts. On the contrary, there seems to be a certain reluctance to adopt new measures for fear of losing markets; there is a view that some of the changes mooted would increase costs and lead to a loss of competitiveness; permissiveness has become a selling point. The tourist industry itself will not take the matter seriously until there is a global and synergic initiative that forces the different groups involved to seek consensus-based solutions. Such efforts should be supported by a law or by local regulations providing the conditions for achieving standards of quality in our tourism, and by the application of prevention programs of proven efficacy. Equally essential is the cooperation of the consulates and tourist ministries from the tourists’ country of origin. Without an awareness of the need for change at an international level and common goals in the medium and long term with benefits for all the parties involved, it will be difficult to produce a robust response to this problem. This report sets out, on the one hand, to offer a detailed analysis of the situation, but at the same time to serve as a resource of concrete and viable ideas and proposals for better practice in all those sectors involved in the tourist industry. Details: Palma de Mallorca: IREFREA, 2010. 58p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 17, 2014 at: http://www.irefrea.org/uploads/PDF/Calafatetal_2010.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Europe URL: http://www.irefrea.org/uploads/PDF/Calafatetal_2010.pdf Shelf Number: 131950 Keywords: Alcohol AbuseAlcohol-Related Crime, DisorderDisorderly ConductDrunk and DisorderlyTourismVandalism |
Author: Bhati, Abhishek Dalip Singh. Title: Stakeholder responses to vandalism at visitor attractions: a Singapore and Bangkok comparisons Summary: his PhD project considered specific tourist behaviours designated as acts of tourist vandalism. The study sought to understand stakeholder responses to the tourist linked vandalism. The context of this work was the tropics - specifically the popular tourism destinations of Singapore and Bangkok in South East Asia. Stakeholders considered were the community, managers of tourist facilities and government agency personnel responsible for policy matters related to attraction management. Each group of stakeholders held potentially different perspectives and likely responses to deviant behaviours. Component parts of the study considered the responses which aim to reduce or eliminate deviant behaviors. The research employed a post-positivist methodology to investigate the extent of vandalism, stakeholder attitudes, levels of community participation, nature of intervention strategies and future intentions related to visitor vandalism and its control. By applying the defensible space and crime prevention through environment design (CPTED) constructs from environmental design and management, the extent and nature of vandalism at visitor attractions was initially explored. In the subsequent parts of the work, the community, site managers and government officers’ responses were all investigated through surveys and structured interviews. Building on the major themes in the background literature reported in Chapters One and Two, Chapter Three specifically reported on a physical audit of 22 matched sites and discussed the prevalence of acts of property damage/vandalism at visitor attractions in the two countries. The visitor attractions were grouped into clusters with the help of the SPSS cluster analysis program. The cluster analysis revealed that sites under the sustainable cluster employed effective vandalism prevention and control practices in their operations. In comparison, the vandalised cluster evidenced mismanagement and lack of stakeholder participation resulting in widespread property damage. The other clusters were characterised by poor management practices, lack of ownership and participation or poor enforcement. Chapter Four evaluated community responses, their involvement with other stakeholder groups in joint action to address vandalism and desired levels of involvement to arrive at a better understanding of community’s role in addressing property damage. The study found that there was a widespread view that vandalism was a serious issue but there was also optimism in both locations, especially Bangkok, that the problem would be reduced in the future, although willingness to be involved in active intervention was not high. The third and final study in Chapter Five concentrated on the attitudes and responses of stakeholder groups such as site managers and government officers to property damage at visitor attraction under their supervision. This particular chapter explicitly highlighted the differences between responses of key stakeholder groups. Four key stakeholder groups were identified for the study: site managers in Bangkok (BSM), site managers in Singapore (SSM), government officers in Bangkok (BGO) and government offices in Singapore (SGO). The interview transcripts of the four groups were analysed with the help of relatively new and powerful content analysis software, Leximancer. The findings showed significant differences in the attitudes of the four stakeholder groups in terms of seriousness of property damage as a problem at the visitor attractions under their supervision. The concluding Chapter Six linked the findings and conclusions to the overall research problem. The chapter described the contributions of this research as a novel comparative study involving tropical tourism destinations in the Asia Pacific region. The limitations and challenges of the work were presented, and then the future directions of this area of inquiry identified. The research undertaken in this thesis has expanded upon the existing body of scientific knowledge and understanding in five main ways. First, it employed existing theoretical frameworks such as defensible space and the CPTED approach to crime prevention within a different context, that is, visitor behaviour at visitor attractions, and from a different conceptual focus of behaviour intervention instead of motivations to behaviour. Second, the physical audit study identified important site characteristics of the attraction property's design and management relevant to managing the tropical Asian context. Third, for the first time, arguably, it compared attitudes towards vandalism within the local community, in different countries and across a wide range of attraction sites. Fourth, the study evaluated the differing perspectives of key stakeholders – the site managers and government officials groups. Finally, it proposed a framework of property damage control and prevention at visitor attractions. This integrative model was based on the core premise that a systematic and coordinated effort is required to address the complex problem of vandalism at tourist attractions. Details: Cairns City, AUS: James Cook University, 2014. 395p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed March 3, 2017 at: http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/1899/1/1899-bhati-2014-thesis.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia URL: http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/1899/1/1899-bhati-2014-thesis.pdf Shelf Number: 141316 Keywords: GraffitiTourismVandalism |