This study explored stakeholder behaviour during consultation processes for development, implementation, and evaluation of multi-faceted tourism strategies, using the Victorian Alpine Resorts 2020 Strategy as a case study. Stakeholders were classified using six stakeholder types (Government/Semi-government, Alpine Resort Management Board, Industry Group, Ski Club, Community-based Organisation, Individual) and five behaviour groups (allied, cooperative, neutral, competitive, threatening). An examination was made of stakeholder behaviour across the consultation process from engagement in the development of the Strategy to implementation and in attitude toward participating in an evaluation of the Strategy, behaviour recorded and factors contributing to changing behaviour analysed. Stakeholders displayed complex behaviour patterns moving between behaviour classifications during and across the consultation process. Stakeholder behaviour and commitment to strategy implementation changed; neutral, competitive or threatening behaviour often led to less commitment to strategy success and higher levels of cynicism in the consultation process, allied or cooperative behaviour supported strategy development but did not always lead to a commitment to strategy success. Behaviour toward an evaluation of the strategy often reverted to that exhibited during development. The majority of the stakeholders exhibited behaviour changes in both positive and negative directions and key factors in this change were associated with the consultation process itself to varying degrees of disappointment or satisfaction with the content of the final strategy document. However, negative or positive stakeholder behaviour bore no relation to stakeholder commitment to the Strategy. The findings of this study have added the element of behaviour to stakeholder theory and analysis of stakeholders, which is currently limited to describing and identifying stakeholders. Using this understanding a model of stakeholder behaviour has been developed comprising four behaviour groups (allied, disconnected, guarded and neutral), with indicators of behaviour and suggested consultation strategies to overcome negative responses. The model may facilitate the management of stakeholder consultation processes for positive long-term outcomes, the result of which would be the ongoing support and commitment of stakeholders to strategy or policy development and implementation.

Research Project (M.B.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (Faculty of Business Administration) / Simon Fraser University.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores the role of thermal mineral springs in South Africa in the development of the early tourism sector. Their healing qualities enhanced the country’s reputation as a health resort, and therefore they became a national asset and tourist attraction. The ancient history of thermal mineral springs and the belief in their curative abilities are discussed in order to familiarise one with the rich history of thermal springs and to help determine their role in the tourism sector. By looking at the role of thermal mineral springs in the European and especially British contexts provides a foundation for understanding how the thermal water culture was passed on to South Africa through colonialism. With the colonisation of South Africa, thermal mineral springs became host to British invalids who visited the country since they suffered from consumption, and was hoping to be cured by the country’s health giving natural assets. The influx of invalids and tourists ultimately spawned wide tourism and the modernisation of the springs. The three thermal mineral spring resorts near present day Caledon, Montagu and Citrusdal are used as case studies of how thermal springs in the Cape Colony and later the Western Cape developed from primitive sites to splendid resorts and world famous sanatoriums. Their history is traced from their formation to their modernisation, a time period ranging from the 1700s to 2011. This clearly illustrates the phases of development of each of the thermal mineral water establishments. The curative aspects of the thermal mineral spring water are emphasised, concentrating on how the South African thermal water cure culture was used and developed. This study concludes with discussing how the three thermal mineral spring resorts had to navigate the changing tourism sector in South Africa, as well as looking at their development from the 1980s to 2011. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie verken die rol wat warmwaterbronne in die ontwikkeling van die vroëe toerisme sektor in Suid-Afrika gespeel het. Die genesende kragte van hierdie warm water bronne het die land se reputasie as ‘n gesondheidsoord versterk en van hul ‘n nasionale bate asook ‘n toeriste aantreklikheid gemaak. Die antieke geskiedenis van warmwaterbronne en die geloof in hul genesende kragte word bespreek om bekend te raak met hul ryk geskiedenis en om hul rol in die toerisme sektor te bepaal. Deur te kyk na die rol wat warm water bronne in die Europeuse sowel as die Britse konteks gehad het, dien as ‘n platform om te verstaan hoe die gebruik van die warm water kultuur na Suid-Afrika deur middel van kolonialisme oorgedra is. Met die kolonialisasie van Suid-Afrika het die warmwaterbronne gasheer gespeel vir Britse invalides wat aan tuberkulose gelei het en daarom die land besoek het om deur die land se helende natuurlike bates geneesing te word. Die instroming van invalides en toeriste het wyd verspreide toersime tot gevolg gehad asook die vermoderniseering van die warmwaterbronne. Die drie warm waterbronoorde naby die hedendaagse Caledon, Montagu en Citrusdal is gebruik as gevallestudies om die ontwikkeling van warmwaterbronne in die destydse Kaap Kolonie asook die hedendaagse Wes-Kaap, vanaf primatiewe bronne na pragtige oorde en wêreld bekende sanatoriums te illustreer. Die geskiedenis van die warmwaterbron oorde word bespreek in die tydperk van die 1700’s tot 2011 om so hul ontstaan tot hul vermoderniseering te illustreer. As gevolg van hierdie verlengde tydperk kan die verskillende ontwikkelings fases van die warmwaterbron oorde waargeneem word. Daar word ook gefokus op die genesende aspekte van die warmwaterbron water en hoe die Suid-Afrikaanse warmwaterbron kultuur ontwikkel en gebruik is. Die studie sluit af met ‘n bespreking van hoe die driewarm waterwaterbron oorde by die veranderende toerisme sektor in Suid-Afrika moes aanpas en dek ook hul ontwikkeling vanaf die 1980’s tot 2011.

Confrontées tout à la fois à l’évolution des attentes des clientèles, aux prévisions largement médiatisées et parfois alarmistes d’évolutions climatiques, qu’à la rationalisation des dépenses publiques, les stations de sports d’hiver se trouvent aujourd’hui devant un impératif d’adaptation. Phénomène touchant l’ensemble des stations, celui-ci vise tout particulièrement les stations qualifiées de « stations de moyenne montagne ». Implantées le plus souvent à des altitudes ne leur permettant pas de disposer d’une fiabilité d’enneigement, leur avenir apparaît en effet, à moyen voire court terme, particulièrement menacé. Pourtant, eu égard à leur vocation originelle d’aménagement du territoire, leur maintien est fondamental : pour cela, la diversification apparaît comme la solution d’adaptation privilégiée. Cependant, des interrogations persistent : comment préserver la dynamique économique des communes et territoires concernés, pour l’heure polarisés par l’économie hivernale des sports d’hiver ? Angle d’approche privilégié de la diversification, les interrogations liées à sa nature ont été au cœur de nombreux travaux, conduisant à l’élaboration de véritables guides de bonnes pratiques de la diversification. Moins traitée, la question de sa mise en œuvre n’en est pas moins essentielle. En effet, par l’élargissement du cercle des acteurs concernés et le bouleversement des échelles territoriales, la gouvernance en place est amenée à évoluer. Cependant, bien loin de constituer un processus uniforme, nous supposons que ces différents facteurs entraînent une spécification des trajectoires des stations, à laquelle participent tout autant des facteurs endogènes qu’exogènes au territoire. S’inscrivant dans une optique de recherche finalisée, cette thèse s’attache ainsi à analyser les modalités de renouvellement de la gouvernance territoriale, conduisant à passer d’une gouvernance station à une gouvernance de la diversification. Pour cela, nous privilégions un double niveau d’analyse : le niveau méso, nous amenant à mobiliser un corpus théorique rattaché aux sciences politiques et à questionner les différents dispositifs d’accompagnement dédié mis en œuvre par l’acteur supra-local. Le niveau micro, quant à lui nous conduit à nous focaliser sur la nature des relations liant les différents acteurs d’un même territoire en faisant ici appel aux travaux réalisés en économie des proximités. Le croisement de ces deux approches a enrichi notre compréhension des mécanismes au cœur de l’évolution de la trajectoire touristique des stations. Cela nous a permis d’identifier les leviers à même d’impulser une évolution de la gouvernance et notamment de mettre en lumière le rôle primordial des acteurs supra-locaux dans cette dynamique. Conformément à un objectif d’opérationnalisation des résultats de la recherche, nous avons également constitué une grille de lecture de la gouvernance de la diversification, à destination des acteurs de terrains comme des décideurs publics. / Ski resorts have to adapt themselves because of the evolution of customers’ expectations, the widely publicized alarmist predictions of climate change, and the reduction of public funding help. Mid-elevation ski resorts, or usually those located at an elevation where snow is not guaranteed, are the most concerned with this adaptation. Their future seems to be, at short or mid-term objective, particularly threatened. Their existence is essential for maintaining the mountain economy: for that, diversification emerges as the preferred solution of adaptation. However, questions still exist today such as how to preserve the dynamic of the mountain economy depending of winter activity.Until now, interrogations about nature of diversification have been undertaken, and numerous good practice guides have been created. Nevertheless, the question of implementation is essential. An evolution of the governance is necessary due to both the inclusion of other activities that involve more professionals and an increased tourism area. We suppose that more than being a uniform process, these different factors lead to a specification of resorts’ trajectories which are impacted both by endogenous and exogenous factors.Constituting a finalized research, this thesis aims to analyze the evolution of the spatial governance and thechange of ski resort governance into diversification governance. For that, we focus on two levels of analyses: an intermediate level has enabled us to question the politics adopted by the different local governments thanks to the mobilization of a theoretical corpus attached to political science. The other led us to focus us on a local level the nature of relationships between actors inside the same territory, based on the work done in Economics proximities.The intersection of these two approaches enriches our understanding of the mechanisms at the heart of the evolution of the tourism trajectory of resorts. This allowed us to identify the options to stimulate such a renewal of the governance, and in particular to highlight the central role of political action in this dynamic.In accordance with an objective of operationalization of the research results, we have also established a framework to analyze the diversification governance, for land actors such as policy makers.

Cette thèse a pour objet l’analyse des processus organisationnels liés à la communication web des entreprises et de leur influence sur la construction de leur identité numérique. Nous nous sommes intéressée au secteur du tourisme dans les Hautes-Pyrénées, et plus spécifiquement, aux centres thermoludiques, qui ont, au cours des quinze dernières années, redessiné le paysage économique et social des vallées de montagne. L’évolution du web dans ces entreprises a influencé leur organisation au point de faire émerger des stratégies d’investissement du web parallèles aux préconisations des agences web et de communication. Les objectifs de cette recherche se sont concentrés sur les stratégies officielles et non officielles d’investissement du web des entreprises observées. Ce questionnement lié aux stratégies nous a menée vers l’analyse du réseau d’acteurs dans lequel les entreprises observées sont impliquées, et dont les intérêts ou thématiques communicationnelles convergent. Nous avons ainsi procédé à la mise en relation de l’ensemble des discours produits sur et à propos du web par les centres thermoludiques et les acteurs de leur environnement institutionnel et concurrentiel. Notre méthodologie s’articule entre analyses sémiotiques des sites web des centres thermoludiques, entretiens semi-directifs menés avec les concepteurs-réalisateurs de ces sites web, et observations de terrain en situation professionnelle dans le secteur du tourisme de montagne. Nos résultats nous ont amenée à la constitution d’une méthodologie d’analyse de la présence et de l’identité des entreprises sur le web à l’heure du 2.0 en tenant compte du réseau d’acteurs humains et non humains dans lequel elles se situent. / This PhD thesis aims at analysing the organisational procedures used when companies communicate via the web, and their influence on the building up of their digital identity. We focused on tourism in Hautes-Pyrénées, and more specifically on hot spring resorts (spa or recreational and wellness centres). These resorts have changed the economic and social aspects of life in these valleys, which are located in the mountain range of the Pyrenees. The evolution of the web usage in these companies has so much influenced their organisation that investment strategies have emerged, following the recommendations of web and communication agencies. This research work focused on official and non-official web investment strategies of some of these companies. This questioning on the strategies leads to the analysis of the broader network of stakeholders in which these companies are involved, with similar focuses and interests. Therefore, we studied the connections between all the data collected (speeches) from these companies and their institutional and competing environment, on and about the web. Our methodology included semiotic analysis, semi-structured interviews conducted with the web and communication agencies, the CEOs of hot spring resorts, and field observations in a professional context in the field of mountain tourism. Our results have led to the design of a methodology to analyse the presence and identity of companies on the web, taking into account the network of human and material stakeholders in which they are involved in our web 2.0 world.

The objective of this study was to develop turnaround strategies for the Calitzdorp Spa Tourism Resort (herein after referred to as Calitzdorp Spa) to stop the performance decline and put it back on the road of recovery again. The development of turnaround strategies are dependent on establishing the cause of the performance decline and to enable management to plan effective and optimal strategies for the tourism resort focused on the recovery response. An analysis of various sources on strategic management models were undertaken to find a theoretical framework for the development of a strategic management model that could be applied to a tourism resort. The following model for the strategic management of a tourism resort was consequently developed and consists of the following main components: • Mission, objectives and stakeholders; • Strategic position; • Strategic choice; and • Strategic implementation. A second model for the Turnaround Process of a tourism resort was proposed to assist management in guiding the resort to recovery, consisting of two main phases, namely: • Turnaround situation; and the • Turnaround response. The research methodology followed included: • a literature survey to define the important concepts of tourism, resorts, strategic management and turnaround strategies; • a questionnaire survey to determine customer satisfaction at the Calitzdorp Spa; • telephone interviews to determine the marketing and positioning strategies of the Calitzdorp Spa; and • a focus group discussion session to determine the current situation at the resort and to plan future management strategies of the Calitzdorp Spa. Specific conclusions were made and specific actions recommended based on the results obtained.

Whistler Blackcomb Resort experiences the highest skier visits of any resort in North America and consequently demand at the ski school is high. Due to various factors, the daily number of lesson participants is highly variable and the best number of instructors to staff each day is correspondingly difficult to estimate. The consequences of scheduling incorrectly could lead to either overstaffing or understaffing. Overstaffing results in unnecessary costs; understaffing results in lost sales and customer dissatisfaction. A scheduling tool that can assist the Ski School in staffing decisions, therefore, is developed to minimize excess costs. Daily demand predictions are made using a forecasting model and a staffing policy is applied to it to obtain a recommended staffing level. The demand forecasting model is a regression model that takes into account pre-bookings, day of the week, holidays, and yesterday's demand. The staffing rules are determined through a Newsvendor-type model derived from a marginal cost analysis of the trade-off between overstaffing and understaffing applied to the daily demand forecasts. The project is intended to formalize a systematic approach to staffing for certain lesson types (pods) one day in advance. It will assist the Whistler Blackcomb Ski and Snowboard School, as a decision support tool, in the development of daily instructor schedules that rninimize any unnecessary costs. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

Tourism contributes more and more to the economy of the states, which confirms also his 9% contribution to world GDP. Significant part of the tourism is also winter tourism represented by ski resorts. The main aim of this diploma thesis is to define relations of winter tourism in Slovakia, concretely in Zarnovica district and to determine its exact impacts on district. The nuance of the diploma thesis is to evaluate impact of winter tourism on business subjects and also population. The partial aim is to evaluate operational effectiveness of ski resorts in district, which contribute to development of the region and to offer a relevant recommendations. The thesis is based on a combination of quality and quantity approaches. Comparison analysis with foreign countries is also used. Data are acquired from statistics of Statistical office of Slovak republic and from surveys, which are helpful in accomplishing set goal. In methodological point of view, there are going to be applied basic statistical approaches.