Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-149). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Inaug.-Diss. - Basel. / Vita.

The purpose of this study is to critically evaluate the performance of tour guides in Thailand and their impact on the tourist experience. The research objectives include a: review of the literature on service quality and tour guide performance; a survey of tourists’ expectations and satisfaction with tour guides in Thailand; a critical evaluation of tour operators’ and tourists’ perspectives on the variables that constitute a high standard of performance for tour guides; analysing how the performance of tour guides influences the experiences of foreign tourists; and understanding the attributes of tour guides that influence the satisfaction of foreign tourists. The sample in this research comprised 400 tourists in Thailand who were currently on or had previously been on a group package tour in Thailand within the past two years. The survey took place in 2014 between January 1 and July 31and was conducted in the cities of Bangkok and Chiang Mai. A convenience sampling technique was utilised, with respondents being requested to provide a range of demographic variables. Descriptive analyses of these variables were conducted to examine tourists’ demographic profiles in order to understand tourists’ characteristics and their behaviours. The results of the questionnaires were analysed using statistical methods including factor, regression and multivariate analyses. Based on the results, a tour guide service quality evaluating model (TGSQEM) was developed, composed of eight dimensions: reliability (informative); personal traits; empathy1 (service-oriented mind); assurance1 (knowledgeable); professionalism; attitude; assurance2 (able to generate an atmosphere of trust); and empathy. The results identified the various factors that affect tour guide performance whilst enhancing the understanding of the perceptions of tourists’ expectations of tour guide performance and associated service quality. Using quantifiable data, these were then calculated and plotted into a graph utilising the Important Performance Analysis (IPA) technique. This investigation of the variables that influence the service quality performance of tour guides in Thailand has subsequently been used to create a theoretical framework that can be utilized to enhance the service quality of tour guides and contribute to a more successful tourism industry in Thailand. The development of this model represents a furthering of the knowledge about the performance of tour guides and, whilst constituted in a specific cultural context, it is envisaged that it would have generic transferability to tour guiding elsewhere.

Everyone has dreams where they want to go and what they want to experience. We “Dream Life” a private tour company is willing to help our customers achieving their dreams, by offering the most luxury and unique experiences to create unforgettable memories. Travel industry has been growing rapidly in almost everywhere in the world especially in Thailand, the growing rate is over 7% per year. Not only inbound marketing is booming but Thailand domestic and outbound market are also growing rapidly. Economic situation becomes more stable and Thai people has enough money to travel. There are also increasing number of tour companies opening in these few years which show a big opportunity for this tourism industry business. Dream Life will focus in providing customers with unique travel experiences and customize travel products that they can never get it from anywhere else. Our main focus markets will be outbound market and inbound market for rich people who is willing to pay for unique, customized and luxury trips. At the beginning, we plan to start this business by open a home office and target the customers by using personal relationship and connection, as well as word of mouth. This business can be managed by one person during the first year. However, during the second year and third year, we are planning to hire a few employees to accommodate with the growth of the business. We want to provide the best service for our customers. Therefore, we do not plan to organize a big tour group. Our and maximum number of people per tour is 8 people. The start-up cost for this business is approximately 700,000 THB. The main cost is infrastructure which include an office space, furniture and office supplies. An office can be organized in my house area with the cost under 300,000 THB. In addition, we will need to put in 200,000 THB security deposit for the traveling company license. During the first year, we aimed to have at least 6-7 outbound trips and 5-6 inbound trips with the sales of approximately 2,400,000 THB. With our forecast, our profit will be approximately 50% of the sales. According to this calculation, we plan to break-even in the first year and make at least 300,000 THB profit. For the following year, when the business is expanding, we will hire outside sales supports as well as inside sales supports to handle with all of the customer requests. We will also create different platforms for the customers to contact us through internet and social medias. We are not planning to look for partnerships at the beginning stage as we prefer to maintain a simple business model and have our business growing slowly. This business is planned to be operated by part-time management until the business is growing to the point that reach a yearly minimum income of 2,000,000 THB.

This case study research investigates the effects of study tours to Mainland China on Hong Kong students’ identity and motivation to learn Putonghua. It is always assumed that study tours to Mainland China by Hong Kong secondary school students would bring about positive outcomes in terms of development of their sense of belonging to the country and their motivation to learn the language. Despite heavy investment in these tours by the government and many Hong Kong schools, there has been no systematic study conducted to (dis)prove this assumption. Through a combination of research methods such as personal observations, interviews, learning journals and questionnaire surveys, it has been noted that after participating in the school organized study tours, the integrative and instrumental motivation of many Hong Kong students were indeed enhanced. The sense of belonging to the motherland was also enhanced culturally and economically through Mainland study tours. It is interesting to note that the identity of many participants was transformed gradually. The students in general showed greater awareness of the Hong Kong culture as well, which in turn created a new perspective for themselves and their identity orientation. Furthermore, life inspirations were exhibited in their ethnographic learning journals. Although ethnographic interviews proved difficult for most of the incompetent Putonghua speakers, practicable strategies were used by themselves to keep the conversation going. By using ethnographic interviews, the participants began to understand the way of life, were more willing to learn from the people in various Mainland places and their target language competence was also strengthened. Based on the research findings, pedagogical and practical recommendations are made towards the end of the thesis.

Inbound tour operators play a key role in sustainable tourism development, as they are centrally positioned in the distribution chain and provide the link between the supply and demand of tourism products and services. Embedded in this position, inbound tour operators can put pressure on their suppliers to operate more sustainably, while educating their customers on sustainable tourism practices, and influencing consumers’ decision-making before the purchasing of tourism products and services. Inbound tour operators can further implement sustainable tourism practices as part of their business operations. To date, little research has focussed on inbound tour operators’ contribution to sustainable tourism development, especially in a developing country context. Sustainable inbound tour operators can also become certified by a sustainable tourism certification programme to showcase their commitment to sustainability. Various studies have highlighted the history, benefits and issues related to certification programmes, but few studies have investigated the perspective that inbound tour operators have towards sustainable tourism certification programmes. Making use of a qualitative research approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 22 South African inbound tour operators to investigate and identify the sustainable tourism practices currently being adopted within their organisations. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings produced a list of sustainable tourism practices currently being adopted by inbound tour operators in South Africa. This study proposes that sustainable tourism organisations should become certified by a national or global sustainable tourism certification programme, to prove that they are truly operating sustainably, thus decreasing the effects of greenwashing. In addition, the certification of tourism organisations can assist inbound tour operators in identifying truly sustainable suppliers, fostering the development of a sustainable supply chain management strategy. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Tourism Management / MCom / Unrestricted

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Alors que le tourisme urbain est aujourd'hui est un phénomène dont les dynamiques sont largement étudiées et que ses flux sont considérables dans certaines destinations, on sait paradoxalement assez peu de choses sur ce que font précisément les touristes dans les métropoles. Même dans une ville mondialement médiatisée comme Paris, les pratiques urbaines et les combinaisons d'activités des touristes dans le temps et l'espace sont peu connues. Cette recherche, qui se base sur une méthodologie qualitative d'entretiens semi-directifs avec des touristes étrangers, est conduite en deux temps. Le premier temps pose le projet de voyage qui guide les touristes comme cadre d'analyse de leurs pratiques urbaines. Deux types de projets touristiques sont analysés, différenciés selon les relations qu'ils entretiennent avec les pratiques dominantes et les médiations de la sphère du tourisme dans la métropole parisienne (le tourisme autonome et économe du backpacking versus le tourisme encadré et organisé d'un tour-opérateur). Le second temps confronte cette analyse à la force de l'empirie. Trois enseignements généraux sont tirés : d'abord, les configurations de voyage a priori différentes résistent mal aux polarisations symboliques et spatiales de l'espace parisien ; ensuite, la durée et/ou le nombre de voyage participent à spécialiser les pratiques de la ville ; enfin, c'est le rôle des mobilités « adhérentes » et des espaces publics comme opérateurs d'urbanité et agents actifs de la découverte du territoire visité / Although the dynamics of the urban tourism phenomenon are widely studied and tourism flows toward certain destinations are considerable, we paradoxically know rather little about what precisely tourists do in cities. Even in a city like Paris which receives much media coverage worldwide, tourists' urban practices and the ways in which they combine activities in time and space are not well known. This research is based on qualitative methods employing semi-structured interviews with foreign tourists, and was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, tourists' travel plans are used as an analytical framework for urban practices. We distinguish between two types of touristic plans according to the relationships they maintain with the tourism sector's dominant practices and mediators, as well as those of the Paris metropolis itself. Specifically, autonomous and thrifty backpacking practices are contrasted with organized tourism managed by tour-operators. In a second phase, this analysis is confronted with more rigorous empiricism. First we demonstrate that these supposedly different travel configurations cannot resist the symbolic and spatial polarization Paris itself. Next, we stress the importance of the duration and/or number of trips in the specialization of urban practices. Finally, we highlight the active role of pedestrian mobility and of public space in the discovery of the city

Les Témoins de Jéhovah, un groupe religieux à forte tendance traditionnelle, ont vu le jour il y a près de 150 ans. Il s’agit d’un mouvement plusieurs fois étudié par les chercheur(e)s. Toutefois, peu d’information sur le statut des femmes chez les Témoins de Jéhovah nous est parvenue. Ce mémoire a pour but de faire découvrir quels sont les fonctions, rôles, obligations, droits et devoirs sur le plan de la vie privée et de la vie publique des femmes dans ce groupe. Nous avons tout d’abord, présenté l’histoire des femmes Témoins de Jéhovah au sein du mouvement. Ensuite, nous avons fait ressortir les représentations sociales de deux revues du mouvement, soit La Tour de Garde et La Tour de Garde (édition d’étude). Ces représentations sociales nous permettent de définir le statut des femmes chez les Témoins de Jéhovah. Nous avons fait une enquête de terrain sous forme de questionnaire dans une congrégation québécoise. Les réponses de ce questionnaire servent à déterminer si les femmes Témoins de Jéhovah au Québec se retrouvent dans les représentations sociales véhiculées par la Société de La Tour de Garde (Watchtower Society). Cela nous permet de voir comment elles intègrent (ou non) les publications dans leur vie privée et publique et si leur statut ressemble à celui que l'organisation religieuse privilégie pour ses membres féminins. Les informations disponibles dans chacun des chapitres nous permettent de faire certains constats et de voir l’évolution du statut des femmes chez les Témoins de Jéhovah.

Self-guided tours for museums require authors to define a learning objective, research content, design graphics, and implement inclusive interpretive methods. However, museum education literature does not provide clear, comprehensive direction for these complex projects. By recounting the development of a self-guided tour of Judiciary Square for the National Building Museum in Washington, DC, this thesis assesses the value and limitations of theoretical literature in practice. It introduces additional research methods and approaches to address project components that museum education literature overlooks.