Thesis (MTech (Marketing))-- Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2006 / With a population of 1.3 billion and a rapidly growing economy, China has the potential to exert a greater influence on the development of tourism worldwide. In particular, the China outbound tourism market is expanding at a fast rate. Along with the Approved Destination Status, which was granted to South Africa in 2001, South African Tourism has already set its sights on targeting this emerging market. The purpose ofthis research was to establish the perspectives oftravel agencies in China with regard to promoting South Africa as a leisure tourist destination. The study attempted to survey travel agencies in China, in order to understand Chinese travel agents and their clients' dislikes and preferences, which assisted the researcher to identify the attractive points and drawbacks ofSouth African tours, as viewed by travel agencies. In this study, 90 international travel agencies were surveyed with the use of self-completion questionnaires, while 6 in-depth interviews were conducted. The research results provided the perceptions and attitudes of South Africa, as viewed by Chinese travel agencies and revealed that shopping and entertainment, scenic beauty, different people and their lifestyles, cultural experiences and wildlife experiences were the top five of the attractions of South Africa as a tourist destination. The main factors, which prevent Chinese tourists from visiting South Africa, were unfamiliarity, affordability and negative perceptions with regard to crime and HIV/AIDS.

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No / Surprisingly, the field of leisure economics is not, thus far, a particularly integrated or coherent one. In this Handbook a wide ranging body of international scholars get to grips with the core issues, taking in the traditional income/leisure choice model of textbook microeconomics and Becker’s allocation of time model along the way. They expertly apply economics to some usually neglected topics, such as boredom and sleeping, work–life balance, dating, tourism, health and fitness, sport, video games, social networking, music festivals and sex. Contributions from further afield by Veblen, Sctivosky and Bourdieu also feature prominently.

by Li Yuk Fung. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-64). / ABSTRACT --- p.i / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.ii / LIST OF EXHIBITS --- p.iv / PREFACE --- p.v / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Objectives --- p.1 / Scope of Study --- p.1 / Methodology --- p.2 / Secondary Data Collection --- p.2 / Observations --- p.3 / Primary Data Collection --- p.3 / Literature Review --- p.4 / Limitations --- p.4 / Chapter II. --- THE COMPANY --- p.5 / History and Background --- p.5 / Organizational Structure --- p.6 / Business Strategies --- p.8 / Marketing Mix --- p.8 / Market Segmentation --- p.14 / Competitiveness --- p.17 / Chapter III. --- INDUSTRIAL ANALYSIS --- p.21 / Environmental Analysis --- p.21 / Economic Environment --- p.22 / Socio/Cultural Factors --- p.23 / Demographic Factors --- p.23 / Technological Environment --- p.24 / Legal Environment --- p.24 / Customers --- p.25 / Government Sector --- p.25 / Private Sector --- p.27 / Institutional Sector --- p.28 / Suppliers --- p.30 / Competitors --- p.33 / Entry Barriers --- p.34 / Critical Success Factors for the Industry --- p.34 / Chapter IV. --- SWOT ANALYSIS --- p.35 / Internal Strengths --- p.35 / Internal Weaknesses --- p.37 / Future Opportunities --- p.41 / Environmental Threats --- p.44 / Problem Identifications --- p.45 / Chapter V. --- CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.48 / Recommendations --- p.48 / Implications and Evaluations --- p.53 / Conclusions --- p.57 / APPENDIX --- p.58 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.63

Work process knowledge (WPK) is a concept for systems-level knowledge of the workplace and has been shown to be most important in organisations requiring multi-functional working. Most of the previous body of knowledge on WPK has focussed mainly on manufacturing industries; there has been less investigation of WPK in the service sector and none in the visitor attraction (VA) industry, an important employer in Scotland. The VA industry is extremely dynamic and many businesses are rapidly moving towards multi-functional team working, driven by an urgent need to develop quality, customer-focussed strategies to survive in an over-supplied and very competitive market. This study identifies the nature of WPK in Scottish VAs, what relationship WPK has to customer service, how WPK in this service sector differs from selected published studies in manufacturing and other service sector contexts and what factors affect the development of WPK in VAs. Following recruitment of a number of VAs using an online questionnaire and subsequent site visits, six sites were selected for case study, on the basis that they demonstrated most evidence of multi-functional working and staff with developed WPK. The research design was comparative case studies of the work processes and knowledge within these six VAs, based on a social constructivist framework, using the methods of key informant interviews and shadowing. Although these six sites represent a cross-spread of attractions in terms of types, location and size, they nonetheless show strong similarities in their basic business structure. The data show that WPK is an essential element of workers’ roles and a vital requirement in providing good customer service. Although VA managers do not use the term ‘work process knowledge’, they nonetheless recognise the importance of having staff with a wider view of their business and are actively encouraging its rapid development. Multi-functionality and job rotation are main ways of developing WPK but sites also use key workers with job roles that help develop high levels of WPK, who are then used as a staff resource. The main factor contributing to the development of WPK is communication, especially of systems-level information. Cultural information-sharing is an essential pre-condition for the development of WPK in this context. Other determining factors are flexibility, employee biographies, seasonality issues, how weddings and functions are handled on-site and the size and complexity of the site. WPK is the foundation on which good customer service is based and elements of it deliver customer service. It is the closely integrated nature of the employee-customer relationship that has such a profound effect on WPK development in this service sector industry and is essentially what differentiates it from previously published studies. The identification of the customer as a hitherto unrecognised key driver of WPK is the most important contribution to knowledge made by this work.