It is a well established fact that visitors to rural destinations in the UK and other parts of Europe are highly car dependent. This car dependency has resulted in a variety of initiatives intended to tackle the associated undesirable consequences. While there are some success stories, the negative impacts of transport still pervade for residents and visitors in many destination areas. Few studies address the social assumptions that underlie travel behaviour decisions. When Moscovici's social representations theory is employed it suggests that we should develop and draw on shared perceptions, or theories, of the world around us in order to interpret our behaviour. Social representations theory offers a dynamic approach to understanding how social conceptions shape our understanding of transport and travel behaviour. This approach brings in a theoretical perspective that has been absent from tourism and local transport literature and is largely absent from the wider transport debate. The aim of the study was to enhance the understanding of tourism and leisure mobility in a rural tourism context by applying social representations theory. A case study approach was employed to provide an in-depth investigation of the transport issues in a fragile tourism destination area: Purbeck, Dorset, UK. The study includes exploratory research to define the important value concepts for the population in the study area relating to transport and tourism, followed by an examination of travel patterns and travel behaviour of visitors to the area through the use of a travel diary. Finally, a questionnaire survey was undertaken with visitors at various attractions in the area. A social representations perspective demonstrates the importance of examining the social reality and the social processes that underlie people's decision making. The findings indicate that there are pervasive representations of tourism and transport forming a socially constructed consensus which shapes views of transport and tourism. While the study shows that people would like public transport to be improved, this is essentially an idealised representation and an idea perpetuated by a public that makes little use of public transport and has little intention of leaving the car behind. Arguably, people have developed a social construction of how to deal with transport problems whereby the failure of public transport reinforces the existing situation of high car use and there is little attempt to restrict car use. This study challenges this strategy and discusses practical implications for managing mobility in sensitive rural destinations.

The subject of this Ph.D. Thesis is Modelling Visitor Experience: A Case Study from World Heritage Sites, Thailand. The research is conducted in three historical parks in Thailand by using an inductive approach of Grounded Theory. This aims to propose a model of visitor experience of heritage. It focuses on experience consumption related to what, why and how visitors consume the heritage experience when they interact with the cultural heritage. The construction of experience, factors affecting experience consumption and patterns of experience consumption are explored in this thesis. It provides theoretical and methodological contribution to the knowledge in both tourism and management fields. The opportunity to collect data for this study stems from the three historical sites in Thailand by which grounded theory approach allows for a wider variety of data collection methods. The research had been conducted in the historical sites for over six months during October 2003 March 2004. The results presented in this thesis are based on a survey of 60 cases of participant observations with ethnographic interview and 180 cases of observation with visitors visiting the historical sites, and 48 unstructured and semi-structured interviews with visitors who visited those sites. The results are also based on a number of supplementary data such as travel journals, visitor books, and interpreted photographs written and taken by visitors who visited to the sites. Survey instruments for this study consist of interview and observation guides that were developed accordingly to emergent concepts during the field survey. The contributions comprise four major themes. Firstly, the development of the 'Visitor Heritage Experience Model' based on multiple sources of data conceptualised by a systematic analysis process. The model provides the insight of visitors' subjective interactions with the heritage when they were engaged in a consumption of experience. This study reveals the multi-dimensional nature of visitor experience which expands what has been reported in the literatures. It also explains the complex attributes of visitors' on-site experience in terms of process and components of experience construction. Secondly, the emergent of 'Interactive Experience Process' as a core of the proposed model, acknowledges the dynamic nature of on-site experience through a multi-phase experience process and multiplicity of visitors' experience consumption practices. Rather than acknowledging the tourist typology, this study explores the extent to which the elements of experience hold in different contexts and types of consumption experiences. The emergent theory can be used as a substantive theory to apply for other case studies involving visitors' experience of place. Thirdly, the findings of this study have significant implications for designing principles and practices of an effective and sustainable visitor management in cultural heritage sites. The development of the, Visitor Experience Management Framework' discusses the creative use of the heritage and visitor empowerment to provide interactive experience of heritage to visitors. It suggests the consideration of a paradigm shift and crucial elements of visitor experience management especially in sensitive cultural heritage sites. Finally, this study provides several conceptual and methodological research perspectives through the use of 'Grounded Theory Approach'. The applications of the grounded theory's systematic analysis process can be adopted by future consumer and management research.

Visiting. a garden in England is a traditional leisure activity that continues to grow in popularity but curiously this sector of the visitor attraction market has received little attention from academics. The thesis seeks to understand participation in garden visiting from a number of perspectives but principally that of the visitor. It moves beyond the established approach of individual agency with its assumption of free choice to incorporate social and material agency. This movement requires a shift in theoretical perspective from the prevailing theories in the leisure literature (motivational theories) to the emerging theory of affordance. The study consisted of four phases of data collection. Two phases obtained quantitative data from surveys - first, of residents in Dorset and secondly, visitors in a garden. The aim was to identify garden visitors and to establish the importance of various factors in influencing a visit. The other two phases obtained qualitative data from a series of informal conversations with a small number of residents from the survey and a large number of visitors to several different types of horticultural attractions. These sought to establish the participants' explanations for visiting gardens. Analysing the participants' explanatory repertoires reveals the importance of the natural and the social in garden visitation. Their perception of the `natural' environment of the garden is a key element of the attraction for participants as gardens offer opportunities for both relaxation and hedonism. However, inseparable from the `natural' is the `social' environment. The proprietors and gardeners may afford some aspects whilst others are realised through the companionship of family or friends. Similarly, natural environmental features and social influences may prompt a visit or influence where it takes place. The participants also reveal the power of social norms in regard to their activities in a garden and what prompted them to visit. Furthermore they disclose the importance of temporal and spatial considerations. The connections between, on the one hand, having a domestic garden, or an interest in gardening and on the other, participation in garden visiting were perhaps predictable, but the influence of the media and particularly the television on recreational gardening and the indirect consequences this has for garden visiting was less foreseeable. The thesis concludes with a summary and discussion of the major findings and interprets them in the light of affordance theory. Building on this discussion, suggestions are made for future research to explore the issues raised in the thesis. The study therefore offers not only a significant contribution to the literature in leisure and tourism studies but also the analysis of social-material agency.

The tourism sector is relatively competitive, with many destinations competing with each other to attract potential tourists. Destinations,such as urban areas,need to besold with a greater emphasis on marketing activities. In fact, as a bundle of products consumedby a range of tourists with different needs and motives for visiting, urban tourism destinations differ from traditional holiday resorts and require more specific attention from tourism organisations responsible for marketing their cities. This research focuses on the set tourism organisations and their marketing activities ranging from market research to advertising. Attention is also paid to the tourism sector as an initiative to alleviate the urban areas' problems.The concept of an urban tourism destination as a marketable product is assessed with particular reference to the case study cities of London, Amsterdamand Istanbul. Extensive literature review, in-depth interviews with key personnel and field studies were held in the case study cities as the main research methods of the investigation. Information on marketing plans of the cities; structural characteristics of tourism organisations both in the public and private sectors; marketing alliances between these organisations; marketing tools used by city destinations;the competitiveness of urban areas in the both international and domestic tourism markets are sought from the findings of the research methods. In addition, product life cycle analysis,carrying capacity analysis and SWOT analysis are applied to the cities with support of existing data in order to assess the urban tourism products in detail. It is anticipated that such a comparative study will shed some light on the marketing activities of tourism organisations and will help to develop optimal marketing strategies for the urban tourism product of Istanbul.

Apart from the obvious and visible effects on the economy and the physical environment, tourism can contribute to social and cultural changes in host societies. Many host communities put their hopes on tourism as an economic driver and development tool. However, it is still unclear whether tourism is more useful or harmful towards host destinations. It is obvious that international tourism would be a short pathway to make the transition from a traditional way of life to a modem form of society. Many studies show that destinations consider these changes positively in terms of modernisation and affluence. However, the interaction between two different cultures creates change processes over time, especially in an Eastern context where the modernisation process is Western in orientation. Prior studies on residents' attitudes and perceptions toward socio-cultural impacts of tourism identify various relationships. However, much less analysis has focused on the influence of cultural factors. Additionally, most previous studies focus on residents' attitudes and perceptions towards tourism development through quantitative surveys with cluster or factor analysis based on a limited range of predetermined attributes. Few studies explore the changes from an indigenous culture perspective. The aim of this research is to develop a better understanding of the residents of a Thai beach resort's attitudes towards tourism, in particular their perceptions of the socio-cultural impacts of tourism development and the associated behavioural changes in their society. Koh Samui was chosen for this investigation as it is a self-contained model of a beach resort development where there are sociocultural impacts. A constructivist paradigm approach was adopted. Consideration is given in the literature review and the methodology chapters to issues related to conducting research in the Thai context. Choosing qualitative research serves as a bridge, which can link theory, practice and deeper findings. This research employed participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The background of the local residents and local context in Koh Samui were explored as well as local residents' behaviour patterns and the interaction between them and tourists on a day to day basis. Following a period of immersion in the community, residents' and local authorities' perceptions and attitudes toward the socio-cultural impacts of tourism development in Koh Samui were investigated through semi-structured interviews. Isan migrant workers emerged from the data analysis as a key issue due to the fact that local people believed these migrant workers were responsible for the majority of socio-cultural impacts in Koh Samui including demographic changes, rise in crime, drug abuse, prostitution and AIDS infection, demonstration effects, and increased poverty and slums. Consequently, local people were offended by and fearful of Isan migrant workers. In addition, the analysis suggests that Isan migrant workers had adapted to more readily to tourist culture. Acculturation and social identity theory are explored to explain this situation. Social identity suggests that Isan migrant workers were out-group of Koh Samui as well as sense of belongingness as a self-esteem was a key answer to this adaptation in Isan migrant workers. Buddha's teaching and the Thai avoidance of confrontation are the main players in order to reflect on how Thai people cope with socio-cultural changes. The majority of local residents in Koh Samui are Buddhist and this has taught them to accept problems and learn how to live with them. A fundamental factor is an Eastern world view. In Koh Samui, it was necessary for local people to accept tourism and cope with socio-cultural changes in their community so as not to reject the apparent benefits of tourism. The findings illustrate many contexts in which local people are led by their cultural background to accept tourism. Following a crisis in local agriculture which was dependent on coconuts, tourism seemed to be the only way for local people to survive. It is, therefore, difficult for them to blame tourism as a cause of the main socio-cultural problems in their community. Therefore, they try to apportion blame elsewhere, in this case on the Isan migrants. Buddhism is followed by ninety-five percent of Thai people. It is undoubted that Buddhism has a strong influence on everyday life of Thai people, their society and culture. The implications of Thai cultural conditions and responses in the everyday life that were emerged from the analysis are discussed including Thai loose social structure, cool heart behaviour, the concept of Choei, face-saving and avoidance of confrontation, Boonkhun relationships, Kreng-jai value, Num-jai value, and brotherhood or helpful relationships. The importance of exploring an indigenous cultural perspective is discussed together with lessons that can be learned for tourism development and its socio-cultural impacts.

Tourism image is critical to the success of any destination, but few image studies to date have focused specifically on either Jordan or the UK and Sweden; furthermore, none has analysed the image of Jordan as a tourist destination in either the UK or Sweden or the influence of religious beliefs as a constituent of that image. The aim of this thesis, therefore, was to examine the image of Jordan as a tourist destination, as it exists in the British and Swedish markets, and to explore the influence of religious beliefs upon the formation of that image. The images of Jordan perceived by the British and Swedish publics were evaluated through quantitative primary research, including open-ended questions in two stages in the form of an organic/experiential questionnaire. In particular, it focussed on the effect of visitation on the image of Jordan held by British and Swedish tourists as well as the influence of religious beliefs as a constituent of that image. Nine hundred and ten questionnaires were filled and were valid for analysis ip both stages (496 Britons and 414 Swedes). The findings of the thesis showed a number of differences between British and Swedish organic and experiential images of Jordan as a tourism destination. From the marketing point of view, the results reveal a strong awareness of the Jordan destination brand. There was also a favourable attitude towards the brand 'Jordan' and most respondents showed good comprehension of the brand's attributes and values. It is encouraging that 65.5% could give a specific image of the country and less than 40% could name one of its unique attractions. Perceptions of Jordan were more positive in Britain than in Sweden. This would be due to the closer historical links between Jordan and Britain; however, a large majority of respondents in both countries rated Jordan highly in all the attributes in the survey. The results showed the influence of religious belief and practice on how Jordan is perceived by potential and actual British and Swedish tourists. Those who admitted higher levels of belief and practice were more likely to rate Jordan highly as a tourist destination across a range of attributes, including historical sites, religious sites, beaches, scenery, nightlife, tourist information, accommodation, quality of service, price levels, airport facilities, adventure and cleanliness. The results showed significant positive image modifications in terms of safety, people and atmosphere; whilst, they revealed other significant negative image modification towards beaches, cleanliness, tourist information, shopping and nightlife, which may have serious consequences in terms of repeat visits and word-of-mouth recommendations. Religion appears to be a more significant factor than the other cultural allegiances used as a control. The literature and primary research identified religious tourism as an important niche for future development. The findings of this thesis have contributed to the literature regarding Jordan's image and marketing a country as a tourism destination.

When major incidents occur, whether in the form of natural disasters (for example, Tsunamis, hurricanes) or man-made incidents (such as acts of terrorism or war), there is an impact on travel flows and patterns. These impacts can be in the form of the volume of tourists that flow to a particular area, the characteristics of those tourists and/or the expenditure they make whilst there. The time required for destinations to recover from such incidents and the loss of tourism receipts depends upon a variety of factors such as the nature of the incident, the response of the destination to the incident and the impact that such events have on the travel risk perceptions of tourists. The purpose of this research is to examine the nature,magnitude and direct impacts of a selection of incidents and the time recovery period. Case studies of high profile events such as those that occurred in Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Spain, the UK and the USA have been selected because of the relative importance of the events and, to include a broad range of destination types. The incidents that have occurred will be examined through secondary data drawing heavily on related journal articles and the analyses of data that are published by the UNWTO, the World Bank and the relevant national governments. The literature analyses will look at the research that academics have undertaken when looking at specific incidents that occurred in the case study areas and in terms of their effects on tourism in general and to the areas involved. Data from published statistics will be used to examine tourist arrival trends prior to the incidents, immediately following. the incidents and the time period needed for the level of tourism activity to be restored to where it was likely to have been if the incident had not happened. Although the incidents are examined as individual case studies the analyses will also take a chronological approach to examine whether the impacts of major incidents diminishes with exposure to such events. That is, did the earlier terrorist attacks have a greater impact because of their novelty and therefore enhanced shock effect compared with later events even though the latter may have been of greater magnitude? The secondary analyses will also examine aspects such as whether there is a difference in impact if the incidents are specifically targeted at tourists in general rather than tourists of a particular nationality. Whenever events occur they may influence the perception of travellers in terms of the potential risks they face, related risks and how they may impact on the travel decisions of tourists, particularly non-business or discretionary tourists. There is a variety of risks that may influence the travel decisions of tourists including those relating to physical harm, financial loss and also the risk of dissatisfaction from their travel experience. The different types of risks that may influence travel decisions will be examined together with demographic characteristics of the travellers in order to explore whether there are differences in risk averseness between travellers from different countries of origin, age groups, gender, education and occupation. This aspect of the analysis will be driven by primary data analysis in the form of a questionnaire (physical and on-line) that uses both quantitative and qualitative instruments to determine travellers' travel-related risk perceptions and identify regions and countries that are felt to be high risk destinations by type of risk. The perceived risks will also be compared with actual risks as identified by insurance company claims data. Although limited in scope, this aspect of analysis will seek to identify whether travel-related risk perceptions mirror actual risks or whether they are driven by other factors such as media coverage of events. Using the man-made risks as the identifier, the regional aspects of travel-related risk will then be focused to one region of the planet in particular. This region is the Middle East plus some selected countries that share the same issues in relation to tourism development. Countries in this area have been beset by man-made incidents that have deterred the development of tourism in spite of the attractiveness of the region in terms of climate, heritage and culture. A comparative analysis is undertaken to look for commonalities and factors that explain the lack of tourism development in some countries. Using the findings from the secondary and primary data analyses the potential future of the region in general and Iran in particular will be examined using the Delphi technique by drawing upon the collective wisdom of some experts in tourism who have an understanding of tourism development in difficult political areas. Finally the research will attempt to pull all of these strands together to see if there are any identifiable guidelines that may help our understanding of travel related risks and whether there are any lessons that can be learned to inform the policy makers in troubled areas.

The main aim of this research study was to explore the participation of Thai women in domestic health tours, more specifically the 'preventative' type of health tour. The aim of this kind of tour is to encourage the participants to change their lifestyle to healthier ones, in part so that they can prevent illness or, in some cases, lessen the effects of an existing illness. The research investigated the respondents' participation in these tours both in relation to their leisure patterns and lifestyles and to their adoption of a healthy lifestyle. In order to achieve the overall aim and objectives of this research, an extensive review of the literature supported the primary research study which involved a participant observation study of a commercially-organised preventative health tour. Subsequently, two sets of interviews were undertaken with Thai female health tour participants with the second set being undertaken three years after the first series. The primary data obtained were rigorously analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively to determine the range of socio-demographic and other factors which determine the leisure patterns and practices of Thai women, their participation in health tours, and their adoption of healthy lifestyles. The results clearly demonstrated that age was the most important determinant of leisure choices, practices and patterns of the respondents the majority of whom were drawn from the upper middle and upper classes of Thai society. In terms of their adoption of a healthy lifestyle experience, age was also the key determinant. In addition, the data obtained from the first series of interviews were analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively to investigate the existence of demonstrable groupings of health tour participants. According to the qualitative data analysis, it suggested the existence of five such groups while the quantitatively-based cluster analysis indicated the existence of three groupings. The comparability and credibility of these groups are discussed and a random sample of the five qualitatively-determined groups were interviewed a second time, primarily to investigate their adherence to, adoption or rejection of a healthy lifestyle. The results of the first and second series of the interviews demonstrated that health tour participation led to the adoption of a healthy lifestyle for slightly less than half of the respondents. The results of this study indicate that, contrary to what may have been anticipated, the factors that influence and determine the leisure and lifestyle practices and choices of Thai women living in major urban environments show many similarities with those in Western society although the underlying cultural milieu is founded on different cultural foundations.

This research study relates to knowledge management within the tourism sector and makes a contribution to the subject matter of inter-organisational knowledge sharing. The tourism sector has been slow to adopt the principles of knowledge management (Cooper, 2006; Cooper and Sheldon, 2010) and there has been focus on knowledge transfer (Shaw and Williams, 2009) rather than on knowledge sharing. Knowledge sharing is a social practice. This research study makes a contribution towards understanding the motives, information content and networking practices of inter-organisational knowledge sharing in the tourism sector. Theoretical contributions have been made which include: (1) the choice of a model which can be used to show knowledge sharing activities, the knowledge creation theory (Nonaka and Toyama, 2003) and relating the concept of information richness with the I-Space concept (Boisot, 1998); (2) a review and synthesis of a body of social network related theories in regard to embeddedness, structural influence and the innovative characteristics of social networks; (3) an explanation of the systemic features of shared knowledge through social networks as supported by systems, social systems and structuration theories; (4) the integration of theories and concepts regarding knowledge sharing and social networks with a view to better understanding the inter-organisational knowledge sharing practices of tourism businesses. The research approach combined both attribute and relational data in the same piece of work. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and survey method. Interorganisational knowledge sharing relationships were mapped using social network analytical techniques (Wasserman and Faust, 1994). Data were analysed using frequencies, central tendency, inferential, Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and social network measurements.Empirical contributions were revealed through the discovery of why, how and what business people benefited from, overall and differently, and the examination of the different types of networking practices. As a result, the initial conceptual framework was revised and highlights several knowledge management concepts including: knowledge domain, knowledge specialists, knowledge diffusion, knowledge scanning, knowledge acquisition and knowledge dissemination. Motives were associated with two constructs: Cl) social network; and (2) knowledge sharing, and these components enable and facilitate interorganisational knowledge sharing practices within tourism destinations. Information content and networking were distinguished, network outcomes determined and structural processes measured in terms of embeddedness, structural influence and innovation regarding their potential knowledge sharing capability.

The Peneda Geres National Park situated in northern Portugal has many characteristics associated with remote locations: rural depopulation, low population density, homogeneous lifestyles, little economic diversity, high quality natural environment, and communities structured on a feudal or hierarchical set-up, with the church, traditionally, as the centre of influence. Traditionally, cooperation within and between communities revolved around agricultural activities that required a joint effort. Agricultural activities that required a high level of coordination resulted in the practically single form of association between residents. Residents still have strong cultural ties to nature, partially because of their reliance on sources of food and some income. There is evidence to suggest that community development with a significant emphasis on tourism may be an important element in the survival and revival of the economy of this region as traditional subsistence agriculture continues to decline. The promotion of small-scale tourism is intuitively perceived as a suitable form of economic development for rural areas. However, as communities turn to tourism as the means to raising income, employment and living standards the diverse impacts from tourism and its associated development affect the local population. A lack of community capacity and a lack of community understanding of tourism and its impacts have been identified as barriers to effective tourism development in this remote rural region. The overall purpose of this study is twofold. First, to critically examme and compare the attitudes to involvement, in and perceptions of, local associations of the residents of selected rural communities in the Peneda Geres National Park. Secondly, to determine resident perceptions of the contribution of local associations and the National Park Authority to the tourism development process. A survey in the form of a structured face-to-face interview was undertaken to analyse the perceptions of members of the communities toward tourism development by identifying the obstacles and impediments to community participation. A total of 346 usable questionnaires were collected using a randomly selected sample of residents in the parishes of Castro de Laboreiro, Entre-Ambosos- Rios and Vilar da Veiga. These three selected parishes illustrate the variety of experiences faced by communities involved with tourism. Findings from the interviews were identified which serve to illustrate participatory development as a complex and difficult though essential for community development in remote rural areas. Based on the findings, several recommendations on structural policies and advice on approach and issues in terms of research are made.