Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-108).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Also available in print.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman, has undertaken massive construction projects to develop its airports. Such development has taken place over a very short span of time and has involved particularly heavy investments. These projects were, and still are, funded by the governments. The financial return of these projects was not their prime objective, but they were implemented to satisfy the air transport demand and to gain prestige. Some of these projects were a success and some were not, due to a lack of proper and efficient planning and implementation. One could say that this is a natural situation considering the very short time frame in which they were completed after the independence of the GCC in the early 1970s coupled with the good financial situation of these countries. However, this situation will not continue forever; indeed, many of these countries have reviewed their implementation of projects, including airport development plans, positively. Nevertheless, there is a lack of strategic planning practices in many GCC airports, where an airport master plan (AMP) is used in isolation without a strategic plan. Generally, airport projects have not received adequate attention in terms of research on project implementation or strategic planning. Such projects cannot be considered as normal projects, as airports are unique, complicated and demanding due to their complexity, security and safety requirements, international regulations, operations, high cost and high versatility. Therefore, it is essential for any airport to introduce and implement a strategic plan before the enacting development plans to minimise the risk of failure. The competitive environment between the GCC members and the demand for ground and air transportation are factors that led airport management to implement new strategic policies and identify the way forward. This research explains the theory of strategic management and relates it to airports and the airport industry. It also uses Bahrain International Airport as a case study. The case study included the collection of qualitative data through interviews with airport authorities and companies. The collected data were applied to business tools. The new management, the Bahrain Airport Company (BAC), has created a plan for the implementation of a strategic plan, and the research found that strategic planning has been initiated at Bahrain International Airport (BIA) but that there are differences between its implementation and the general strategic planning theories. BIA has very special characteristics and is unique in terms of its patterns of traffic and geographical location. These should be considered to be success factors and must be used to compete with other airports and enable BIA to be one of the leading airports in the provision of effective and quality services.

Market research is becoming an increasingly important part of an airport's operational strategies as airport managers try to increase customer service and reach operational goals. This research applies conjoint analysis to investigate customer preferences for parking facilities and services at a major Canadian airport. This research will define and determine the relative importance of a set of attributes which influence business travelers' parking choice at the Vancouver International Airport. In addition, market segments for parking services will be identified. Sawtooth Software's Adaptive Conjoint Analysis and Ci2 were used in this study. A questionnaire was administered to a 36 employees among three local companies selected for data collection. Employees of these three companies represented potential local business travelers. This study was limited to the investigation of a subset of traveler (i.e. business traveler) preferences for parking at the Vancouver International Airport. More complete analysis would have to replicate the data collection procedures and target different users under different conditions (i.e. time of day, time of year, duration of stay). Results of the conjoint analysis indicated that price and distance to the terminal building account about equally for the majority of business travelers parking preference ratings (approximately two-thirds). The provision of video camera security was also an important determinant of customer preference. The provision of electronic signage providing guidance to available parking spaces did not contribute significantly to customer preference. In addition, the provision of a parkade rather than a surface lot contributed little to customer preference. Market share estimates were calculated for YVR's proposed Parkade, Main and Economy parking lots. Estimates of market shares suggested that a majority of business travelers taking an overnight journey in August preferred to park in the YVR Parkade. Market share estimates were also calculated for various service alternatives in the parkade. Comparing these additional estimates with the base service option revealed the trade-offs that business travelers were likely to make. Results anticipated approximately a 60 percent market share for the proposed parkade service despite charging a higher price ($6 per day higher than the alternative parking lots). Market share estimates predicted that the provision of video camera security and electronic signage in the parkade was significant in enabling a higher price. The predicted market share falls substantially to 28 percent if security and signage are not provided. Results also suggested that more travelers were willing to pay extra for the provision of video camera security than electronic signage in the parkade. / Business, Sauder School of / Operations and Logistics (OPLOG), Division of / Graduate

There has been very little research in the area of air cargo demand analysis and forecasting. This thesis attempts to investigate the application of gravity models to air cargo. Using international export volumes from Vancouver International Airport in 1998, a gravity model was built. The inclusion of tariffs as an impedance factor allowed testing of the effect of tariffs as predicted by gravity models. The results were consistent with international trade theory that tariffs provide a barrier to international trade. Further, a comparison is made between aggregate and disaggregate models (across commodities). It was found that aggregation eliminates commodity specific characteristics. In using the gravity model, there are two adjustments which need to be made to reduce the bias in the model: firstly, adjustment is necessary to the bias inherent in the constant term of a log-linear model; and a further adjustment is required when forecasting actual levels rather than log levels. Even after adjustments for both types of bias, the gravity model did not produce accurate forecasts. The aggregate model produced better forecasts than the disaggregate model, but both sets of forecasts did not accurately predict the actual volumes transported. This could be as a result of the stable nature of the variables included in the model, which tend to change very slowly over time. Further, it is apparent that other additional explanatory variables should be included in the models to better capture the short-term changes in air cargo. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

Since its opening in 1931, the Vancouver International Airport has been a site where significant representations of the city, its geography and its population have been made. Instead of being utilitarian structures the airport terminals have been purposefully designed and decorated with art chosen specifically to communicate Vancouver's distinct qualities and culture to travelers. As culture is never static and changes continuously, the representations have also shifted over time. By considering the specific history of Vancouver's airport in conjunction with the wider history of Canadian and international airport development, patterns (such as the continuous use of symbols from native cultures to represent aspects of the colonizer's culture) and tensions (such as Vancouver's relative position as a major Canadian urban centre and the growth of visible immigrant populations) which accompany the representation of locality at the airport become apparent. Henri Lefevbre's understanding of space as an active social product, David Harvey's assessment of the impact of globalization upon the local and Siegfried Kracauer's interpretation of architecture as illustrative of broad social trends underpin my analysis. The adoption,of an historical and theoretical framework within this thesis is directed at developing an interpretation of the current art program at the Vancouver International Airport which can move beyond the point where debate regarding "authenticity" and the agency of the native artists or their communities constricts the discussion. Through an examination of airport design, both theoretical and actual, the genesis of and reactions to art programs executed at the airport since the 1960s, as well as aspects of the city's social history, I illustrate that the current art program is representative of more than a superficial thematic strategy. Instead, it points to a complex and ongoing struggle to define and represent Vancouver both to its residents and the rest of the world. / Arts, Faculty of / Art History, Visual Art and Theory, Department of / Graduate