As a result of the rapid growth of tourism without planning and proper management, many island attractions in Thailand have experienced challenges and vulnerability leading to negative impacts. To handle with such effects, sustainability is considered an important notion in relation to tourism planning and development. Importantly, prior to moving tourism towards sustainability, it is essential to resolve existing problems affected by tourism through different stakeholders’ views and their involvements. This thesis is an examination of current tourism situation on the island of Koh Pha-ngan, Thailand. It categorises opportunities for, and constraints to, sustainable tourism development on the island, along with identifying the main variables of tourism sustainability relevant to island situations. Data from key stakeholders including tourists, members of the local community, tourism businesses and representatives of the public sector was collected via the form of between-method triangulation using qualitative and quantitative methods, then analysed through the uses of SPSS and NVIVO. The research indicates benefits and costs in three areas. Firstly, regarding economic characteristics, tourism benefits communities and improves the economy of the island. Simultaneously, the high cost of living on the island is caused by inflation. Secondly, in terms of the environment, although natural resources are partly damaged by members of the local migrant population, it remains largely unspoiled due to environmental conservation measures collaborated in by the stakeholders. Thirdly, for the socio-cultural structure, an improvement of infrastructure creates better living conditions for the residents. However, tourists influence socio-cultural features, particularly in the younger residents. Concerning opportunities for sustainable tourism development, these relate to the conservation of natural resources projects collaborated by all stakeholders on the island, an increase in employment opportunities, and out of season business opportunities on the island. However, a lack of tourism planning and management is considered a major constraint to sustainable development on the island. In addition, tourists, family businesses, migrant workers, and the full-moon parties contribute to sustainable tourism development as the main variables. These outcomes generates recognition on how responsibility in tourism for a destination to fulfil an integrated balance of guidelines for sustainable tourism development with the intention of making satisfaction and distribution of benefit and opportunities for all stakeholders on the island, whilst maintaining the environment and conserving the identity of the indigenous population.

This Ph.D. thesis critically reviews the relationship between activism and academe in the inquiry on fairly traded tourism and the role of reflexivity in assisting with that inquiry. It includes published material, part activist, part academic research outputs, on the concept of Fair Trade in Tourism (FTinT), spanning a time period from 2000 to 2013. From my present academic perspective, it critically engages with some of the personal and socio-political complexities surrounding the organisation, which initiated the investigation into FTinT, and my position within the organisation as a key actor and change agent. Applying reflexivity as a method for deconstruction and dialectical critique of my activist and academic engagement, this thesis uses the FTinT research to explore the interface between activism and academe in tourism research. Accordingly, the writing style is predominantly personal, interwoven with reflections on theoretical currents to inform the analysis. Such personal, reflexive engagement illuminates the underlying mechanisms and processes employed in the quest for developing increased public awareness and tangible, applicable criteria and strategies for fairer trade in tourism at a time when such ideas were entirely original. The analysis in this thesis includes application of several approaches to reflexivity and application of concepts of trustworthiness in qualitative research to accredit the scholarly significance of such activist endeavour. Reflexivity and activism are generally under-researched areas in the tourism academy, even more so in relation to trade justice. In particular, there is no evidence of research on these areas as interconnected entities. This study therefore provides an original contribution to knowledge in tourism research on a number of different levels. In this inquiry, I am arguing the case for a more concentrated, though critical engagement with activist and participatory action research as a way of addressing issues of inequity and injustice in the tourism trade. In that context, reflexivity approaches can provide important insights into researchers’ underlying values and beliefs which inflect their choices and decision-making and their relationships within the research environment. However, my research also reveals some serious challenges, both in the application of reflexivity and in the engagement with the activist/academic interface. Such challenges relate to issues of ethical and political integrity, cultural sensitivity, memory-work, and the acceptance of the value of the reciprocal relationship between activism and academe within tourism scholarship.

This thesis discusses tourism development for the purpose of improvement in the current environment, including financial and socio-cultural conditions of an under crises destination and community. The emphasis of this thesis is to explore factors which have significant impact on a place and local community that is under natural and anthropogenic crises. For this research Chilas- a valley situated on the Silk Road under the control of the Gilgit-Baltistan territory of Pakistan is being used as a case study. The main purpose of this research is to explore the problems relating to tourism and development since the destination and community is facing the situation of crises which have worsened since the September 2011 terrorist attacks and the following involvement of Pakistan in the “war against terrorism”. Chilas- being a remote destination and present in North of Pakistan was known to be a hiding place of terrorists who were assumed to cross the Pak-Afghan border. Due to Chilas’s location access by communication media and law enforcement agencies is not an easy task, However since the opening of the Babusar pass- that connects Islamabad the capital city of Pakistan to Chilas the valley has become less isolated. With the opening of the Babusar pass and efforts by the local authorities in terms of promoting tourism for example opening tourist resorts named Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation there has been a slight increase in tourist arrivals. Though Chilas was always a centre of attention for Archaeologists and Botanists, the destination however at all times lacked basic tourism infrastructure. There have been several internal and external causes for instance: attitudes of local community towards visitors especially women tourists and place image propagated by com-media, which hinder tourism development in the region. Using ethnographic methods to collect data this thesis discusses how tourism development accompanied with NAC and com-media can change the situation of a destination and a community specifically women members of a community in an under crises destination. The last chapter of this thesis makes recommendations for the tourism development in Chilas and for Chilassi community by concluding the findings from the fieldwork.

The amount of research on service innovation rapidly increased since the start of the third millennium, likely due to the continuous diversification of manufacturing companies into the service sector and the decline of manufacturing in the traditional industrial western countries compared to the World’s emerging economies. Service innovation, furthermore, has received significant attention from academics and practitioners alike and has been increasingly perceived as a means of creating competitive advantage. Arguably, this is due to the growing competition between service companies to reach unconventional levels which led to higher customer expectations of continuous improvement of services. This study investigated the nature and impact of service employees’ innovative behaviour leading to initiating innovation within the sub-sector of personal-interactive services, where the hotel sector was investigated respectively. In doing so, the study also critically reviewed the established literature relevant to service innovation and added further insight to previous research underpinning service employees’ role in initiating innovation. A qualitative case-study research strategy, which compared between three cases, was applied to achieve the objectives of the study. The application of qualitative case-study research allowed closer assessment and observation while the researcher was directly present within the service delivery environment. The combining of qualitative research methods, such as semi-structured interviews, focus groups and direct observation, was applied to congregate evidence of employees’ innovative behaviour patterns from multiple perspectives. The expected limitations of the applied research methods are classically associated with qualitative case-study research such as access barriers, high volume of data outcome and also the complications associated with data collection and analysis. The research findings contributed to the general body of knowledge by highlighting the nature and impact of service employees’ innovative behaviour. A novel classification of six innovative behaviour patterns was established under the three main categories of mandatory, quasi-mandatory and voluntary conduct. The research findings further revealed the significant impact of service employees’ innovative behaviour in initiating innovation, where 49 out of 70 innovative ideas were realised as innovations through employees’ innovative behaviour. The research also added further insight by identifying management procedures and motivation as contextual determinants that enable or inhibit service employees’ innovative behaviour.

This research investigates the emerging phenomenon of medical tourism in the context of South Korea. In particular it explores the key success factors of South Korean medical tourism by an investigation into the key elements of customer-perceived value associated with benefits and sacrifices. The new proposed model provides a holistic view of medical tourism in terms of the decision-making processes influenced by beneficial and sacrificial customer perceptions, as well as the interaction between the two perspectives of industry and consumers. The interpretive case study within the thematic units of analysis is employed to achieve the aim of this study. Multiple methods of document reviews, in-depth interviews and qualitative surveys are employed to illuminate the case. The unit investigation and unit of analysis through iterative hermeneutic circles is conducted to generate insight into this phenomenon of medical tourism within the industry and its consumers in a deep perspective. The key findings of this study reveal that there is some degree of confusion in using the term ‘medical tourism’ in today’s society from the points of view of both providers and consumers, and this suggests the need for a tight definition for the increasingly globalised and industrialised medical tourism industry as it develops in the future. South Korean medical tourism industry stakeholders highlight their ‘high-quality medical services’ but point out the need for improvements in ‘promotions’, ‘medical tourism infrastructure’, ‘human resources’, as well as the significance of ‘government support’. On the other hand, the prospective medical tourists perceive ‘medical quality’, ‘cost’ and ‘travel’ as the main beneficial elements of medical tourism, and ‘cost’, ‘distance’ and ‘language’ as the main sacrificial elements. More importantly, this study reveals ‘medical quality’, ‘cost’, ‘reputation’ and ‘safety’ as the most important key factors to be considered in choosing a medical tourism destination. However, in the South Korean context, it appears that ‘information’ and ‘familiarity’ are of greater importance than ‘distance’ with regard to the destination. The new model supported by empirical evidence can provide a good example for any emerging medical tourism stakeholders or government that desire to develop this industry.

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A growing literature base is identifying high levels of substance use and sexual risk taking among young tourists in holiday destinations. However, studies have predominantly focused on the behaviours of tourists visiting Mediterranean package holiday resorts or college students visiting spring break destinations. Limited research has focused on other types of tourists that exist in holiday destinations, or on types of holiday destination. Similarly, the health related behaviours of young tourists during their time in holiday locations have yet to be explored in any detail. This PhD study seeks to address these gaps by firstly examining the risk and health related behaviours of young British casual workers in Ibiza, Spain, using both quantitative and ethnographic methods. Secondly, the research measures the changes in individual tourist’s behaviours that take place pre and post-travel across a range of holiday destinations, using a novel three-stage longitudinal method. Thirdly, the research quantitatively measures the behaviours of tourists visiting the city break destination of Liverpool, UK. The primary contribution of all three studies is towards an evidence base for tailored health literature and services that take into consideration the differing behaviours of tourist groups that exist within varied contexts. The study of casual workers in Ibiza provides a comprehensive understanding of how they exist in a complex environment where they must negotiate risk, and the importance of targeting this group with appropriate and relatable harm reduction messages. The longitudinal study of holidaymakers contributes towards an understanding of the full tourist pathway and how three-stage studies may be appropriate for future research. Finally, the study of tourists in Liverpool is the first of its kind in both offering a glimpse of risk behaviours in the UK, and in providing data on risky sexual behaviour and substance use in a UK city break holiday destination.

Developed, maturing, and emerging market countries are making considerable progress in the legal and institutional reforms necessary to allow and facilitate real estate and tourism (specifically hotel) foreign direct investment (FDI). From a political perspective, countries used to view real estate as one of the "crown jewels" of an economy (Lynn, 2007). No longer does this view hold consistently across countries as countries have recently recognised that real estate and hotel FDI is a way to encourage fixed capital investment, create jobs, and to introduce best practices from multinational corporations. The purpose of this research is to identify the main determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the commercial real estate (CRE) as well as hotel sectors, in selected Middle Eastern countries. Utilising existing theories of FDI, a set of determinants (drivers and barriers) were selected to be empirically tested, utilising Dunning's (Ownership-Location- Internalisation-OLI) eclectic paradigm. As Dunning consider FDI for all industries with a special focus on the manufacturing industry, this research enlarges the scope by commercial real estate and hotels specific considerations. This research utilises the Location dimension of Dunning framework as a basis to explain the determinants of FDI in the CRE and hotel sectors. The literature on both real estate and hotel FDI relies heavily on collecting primary data through surveys; recently however, very few studies (including He & Zhu (2010); He, Wang, & Cheng (2009); Anop (2010) and Rodriguez & Bustillo (2008)) have utilised the availability of data in real estate and started constructing econometric models with the aim of testing set hypotheses. This research fills a gap in the literature by utilising secondary data to develop and test different econometric models, using data from various sources. The empirical work of this research therefore consists of two parts: the first is an econometric analysis of FDI in commercial real estate for eight Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) markets namely, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Tunisia and the UAE during 2003-2009; the second part is an econometric analysis of FDI in hotels for the same countries for the same time period. The econometric analysis is carried out using the pooled Tobin model technique, for panel data, which uses both time-series and cross-sectional data. The findings for the econometric analysis of FDI in commercial real estate shows that country specific factors (i. e. economic health, standards of living and levels human development as well as political stability and absence of violence) as well I as real estate sector-specific variables (size of institutional real estate market), are significant variables and consistently support their hypotheses as explanations for commercial real estate related FDI for the selected MENA countries. The second part of the econometric analysis related to determinants of FDI in hotel greenfield projects, reveals that country specific factors (i. e. taxation environment, human development level and real growth of economy and political stability and absence of violence and terrorism) as well as hotel sector-specific variables (i. e. real visitor expenditure and level of investment freedom); are significant and consistently support their hypotheses as explanations for hotel FDI. These indicators are found to provide -a good explanation of location decision-making in both commercial real estate and hotel sectors.

This research investigated the use of language in the texts of the promotional brochures created for the tourist industry. The selected printed materials for the study were used in advertising the five countries most severely affected by the Asian Tsunami in 2004 (Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and the Maldives). The focus of the analysis was on the two sets of brochures of the five selected countries published by the UK’s leading travel agencies – Thomas Cook, Thomson and Kuoni before and after the disaster. The contrastive discourse analysis was applied in order to investigate the similarities and differences of linguistic features within the texts both between the two sets for each country as well as between the five selected countries. The overall results of the text analysis from the five selected countries have shown significant changes in language use. The investigation revealed that in the post-disaster set of brochures the number of destinations was broadened and their descriptions were made more vivid. The post-disaster texts represented more efforts in developing a wider range of tourism attractions and activities in order to expand the markets and increase the number as well as type of potential future tourists. The information derived from the questionnaire has revealed the potential tourists’ sensitivity to language used in promotional brochures. The results demonstrated that most respondents were aware of the change of language used before and after the Tsunami. The findings validated the hypothesis that the role of language within tourism advertising is as significant as the role of images. This has a major impact on individuals’ choosing their next holiday destination since many potential tourists still base their holiday decision-making on holiday brochures. The research has found that the role of language plays a significant role in tourism advertising representations and also has a major part as one of the marketing tools in tourism promotional strategy.