ABSTRACT The tourism industry has been described as one of the world’s highest priority industries and has emerged as a significant sector in many global economies including South Africa. The global fashion industry is also a multi-billion dollar industry and in many parts of the world is a huge draw card for tourists. Cities like Paris, Milan and New York have long been acclaimed for their thriving fashion industries. In recent times non-traditional fashion cities such as Kenya, Beirut, Lyon and Amsterdam have increasingly looked to the fashion industry for economic and tourism development. The South African fashion industry has flourished in recent years with the emergence of a new genre of design houses redefining South African fashion. It is against this background that the focus of this study was to investigate the link between fashion and tourism in the city of Johannesburg. A review of the policy framework surrounding the cultural and tourism industries was conducted to ascertain the role and importance ascribed to the tourism and cultural industries in South African policy with particular emphasis on the city of Johannesburg’s policy environment. The international experience of using fashion in tourism and urban development strategies provided examples and insight into global strategies of linking fashion and tourism. Case studies of the Johannesburg Fashion District and SA Fashion Week revealed their emerging role in the tourism industry. The experience and views of designers and industry officials regarding the role of fashion in the tourism industry was determined through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The study concluded that there is definitely potential for the local fashion industry to make a significant contribution to tourism in the city of Johannesburg but this is dependent on the development of a clear fashion tourism policy framework, greater marketing and promotional efforts and the addressing of critical challenges in the fashion and cultural tourism sectors.

Deaf individuals do not have equal access to participating in sports as their hearing counterparts in the United States. Tennis is one sport to which this lack of access applies. The purpose of this qualitative, narrative research study was to add to the research literature by illuminating the learning experiences of Deaf individuals in tennis in the United States. This study was built on a tripartite conceptual framework consisting of motivation, interaction, and the flow experience. The study explored how tennis influenced other aspects in the lives of Deaf individuals. These other aspects included exposure to the game, learning opportunities, underlying motivations, and social interaction. Participants were 9 Deaf adults who had tennis playing experience. Data were collected from the Deaf Tennis Profile Questionnaire, Deaf Tennis Experience Questionnaire, and a Deaf Tennis Videophone Interview. A priori typological and inductive analyses were used to search for themes and patterns from the data. Findings indicated that learning the game of tennis was relevant to participants' lives. As individuals experienced improvements in their tennis abilities, positive changes in self-perceptions occurred. Participants reported that experiencing the highs and lows while playing tennis increased their motivation and social interaction. Insights from these Deaf tennis participants will give administrators, physical education teachers, coaches, and recreation professionals a better understanding of more effective ways to provide tennis instruction and skills. Self-confident, skillful Deaf tennis players are better contributors to society as a whole. Participation in sports enhances the confidence, self-worth, self-image, and interaction skills of Deaf persons.

The tourism industry (TI) brings substantial resources into New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA); and yet many of its workers continue to experience high levels of poverty and related socio-economic issues. Previous research has adequately addressed how the TI impacts the city on a macroeconomic level, but no studies have yet been conducted on those working within it. This study demonstrates that NOLA TI workers are experiencing multiple dimensions of poverty. For this research the common definition of poverty is expanded beyond income levels and asset holdings to include: quality of life; social and political empowerment; personal and property security; and educational and professional opportunities. This emergent qualitative research study draws upon archival data to garner official and objective descriptive statistics, and in-depth interviews with TI workers. A conceptual framework originally devised by Weibing Zhao and JR Ritchie is augmented using research from the fields of Anti-Poverty Tourism (APT), Satisfaction With Life (SWL) surveys, and Capabilities Approach. This revised framework is then applied to the responses provided by 61 NOLA TI workers that were interviewed. This study finds that levels of income and asset poverty among NOLA TI workers are significantly higher than the rest of the city, state, or country. Additionally, age, race, and gender do not play significant factors in determining levels of poverty among workers, but job category plays a small role. While levels of security, opportunity, empowerment and quality of life (SOEQ) may be demonstrably low among TI workers, they frequently perceive them to be high. The hypothesis of "u201cgeographical capital"u201d is presented which maintains there are non-wage factors keeping workers in their occupations due to their love for the city based on their reasons for moving to it. These factors may enrich workers"' lives in other ways, but they are not correlated to higher levels of SOEQ. This hypothesis is rejected. The hypothesis of "u201crelationships as compensation"u201d is then presented. It suggests there are non-wage factors for which workers are willing to endure higher levels of different kinds of poverty in exchange for developing and maintaining extensive social networks. The evidence supports accepting this hypothesis. International development researchers and policy-makers can design and implement new policies focusing on social networks and personal relationships to decrease nontraditional forms of poverty. In this way the research aims to inform the poverty, labor, and tourism dialogues within the context of international development in New Orleans and elsewhere. / Andrew McLaurin Ward

This study was concerned with developing a strategy for the Ethiopian Tourism Industry. The literature review attempted to show the significance of tourism to any country, and more appropriately to developing countries. Field research was conducted in Ethiopia to obtain secondary data applicable to the study and to conduct interviews with various officials. Survey questionnaires were administered in Ethiopia, in Sub Saharan African countries and in Australia to elicit perceptions of Ethiopia as a tourist destination. The study contributes in various ways. First, it is the first of its kind to thoroughly investigate Ethiopia's tourism development process. Second, it has looked into the concept of tourism from many angles - strategic, marketing, promotional, infrastructure, environmental, etc. Finally, the strategic models developed for the Ethiopian Tourism industry by incorporating a strategic planning process at various levels can also be used by other less developed countries in their efforts to develop tourism.

Empirical studies have established that tourism is a major determinant of economic growth and that international air services have a beneficial effect on the growth and development of an economy. It has also been argued that trade and public enterprise reforms in the service sectors, undertaken to a greater extent in high income countries, have had a positive impact on the sectors performances. This study analyses several hypotheses relating to Fiji’s tourism and air transport service industries. First the study examines the contribution of tourism exports to economic growth in the case of Fiji. Second, the study analyses whether the tourism reform adopted by Fiji in 1999 under the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has impacted on total tourism export performance. Third, the aviation-service growth nexus is investigated. Lastly, the effect of the aviation public enterprise reform activities on the export performance of air services is evaluated. Using time series annual data from 1968 to 2006, the Auto Regressive Distributed Lag. methodology has been utilized to estimate the contribution of each service sector to Fiji’s total service output. The results show that the tourism is a major determinant of growth in Fiji and that the aviation service-growth hypothesis is also valid for Fiji. The empirical results show that both the trade reforms in tourism and the pro-competitive measures undertaken in the airline industry, amongst other determinants, have not significantly created an impact on the respective export performance of tourism and air services. These findings provide key policy implications in the light of capitalizing on services exports as a major source of growth, particularly in developing island countries such as Fiji and the need to facilitate the strengthening of the market to boost the export performance of tourism and air services.

Abstract not available

The thesis focuses on documentation regarding the historical growth of tourism at Te Wairoa, Rotorua, New Zealand. Te Wairoa acted as a gateway to Otukapuarangi and Te Tarata of Rotomahana which represented an iconic tourism landscape in the nineteenth century. A theoretical engagement with tourism studies and the utilisation of history as an analytical device reveals that the consumption of the tourism landscape is an ongoing, contested, and negotiated cultural construction of place.The history of tourism development at Te Wairoa exhibits the entrenchment of European colonial power in New Zealand. However, within the structures of colonial authority, strategies of survival for the colonised are employed. In this particular case, the strategies include the engagement with Western ethics of capitalism, the manipulation and appropriation of symbols of the 'other', and the control of access through land ownership. The economic and social development of Te Wairoa, based on a tourism economy, also highlights the existent tensions in both a colonial and post-colonial relationship in New Zealand.The research further argues that individual tourism sites reflect culturally ascribed values associated with place. As the combination of exogenous and endogenous social, cultural, political and economic forces evolve so to does the production and consumption of the tourism landscape. Evidence for these considerations is provided by publicly available historical material including archival documents, historical literature, contemporary accounts, newspapers, and government records. The result is an in-depth study which provides an original and thematic interpretation of the history of Te Wairoa as well as supporting a model for investigating change in the cultural construction of place.

Apparently, gambling seems to be valued as a leisure activity and a form of entertainment in many parts of the world. Public attitudes toward gambling have shifted from viewing it as a vice to treating it as an opportunity to exploit (Eadington 1997, 2000). Relaxation of constraints on existing commercial gaming activities and legislative change in authorising gambling has occurred extensively. The proliferation of casinos makes people perceive gambling as a legitimate activity and as an economic hope. According to Pizam and Pokela (1985), casino gambling however is a controversial tourism development strategy. Eadington (1986) also points out that legalised gambling causes economic and social changes in communities and changes their image. Thus, both the character and reputation of the community may be altered as a result of initiating casinos as a tourist attraction. The legalisation of gambling has been a subject of considerable debates in Thailand for a decade and it has been brought into the cabinet�s meeting from time to time. Some politicians and academic scholars suggest that casinos should be introduced as a tourism development strategy to combat the country�s economic and financial crisis. Many people are attached to strong belief that gambling is a sinful activity. It is inherently immoral and contrary to accepted family and social values. It is a voluntary regressive tax in which its effects fall most heavily on lower-income groups. It is morally wrong, and can cause an addiction that is often linked to personal and family tragedies. It also attracts criminal activities and political corruption (Piriyarangsan et al. 2003; Cornwel-Smith 2005). As social acceptance of casino gambling has globally increased, this research aims to gauge hospitality management perspectives on gambling and casino tourism. The focus of the paper is to investigate hospitality executives� attitudes towards relationship between Thai tourism and casino gambling; to explore their views on casino legalisation and regulation; as well as to examine their opinions about casino impacts, operation and management if casinos are legalised in Thailand. Mail questionnaires were carried out during September 2003 - February 2004, resulting in 212 returns of respondents. Then, 18 semi-structured interviews with hotel and tour executives, politicians, policemen, government officials, directors of social service organisations and religious leaders were undertaken in May - July 2005 to acquire more insights into the issues. A combination of quantitative and qualitative data indicates that Thai people have mixed feelings about casino tourism. Although quantitative findings show hospitality group welcome the idea, but they do not want it in their own backyard. Qualitative results are more in opposition. Majority of interviewees hold the differing views. The study concludes that casinos gambling may function simply as a value added or an enhancement to a destination in Thailand, not a main tourism attraction. It is strongly suggested that casino gambling and Thai tourism industry should not be connected. Instead, �Thai� hospitality and cultures should be promoted as a unique tourism product of Thailand.

Reaching beneath the market surface of backpacker culture, this doctoral research probes uncomfortable politics, excluded voices and global inequalities. It questions why, in a context of economic inequality, environmental crisis, terrorism and war, the tourism industry continues to grow, unhampered by politically fractured and uneasy mediations of the world. Arguing that tourist modalities are defined in a popular memory matrix where the rules and norms for becoming a tourist are negotiated through conversation, television, popular literature, travel guides and the Internet, this research project critiques both popular and academic tourist pedagogy. In forging an interdisciplinary dialogue between Cultural Studies and Tourism Studies, this doctoral research seeks new ways of theorising depost-globalisation. Market-driven renditions of the tourable world displace, marginalise and exclude oppositional, negative, violent and discriminatory narratives. Placing a spotlight on the discomforts found in backpacker discourse requires the application of progressive meta-theoretical discourses, alongside postcolonial and poststructuralist analysis. A serious study of touristic popular culture implicates tourism in terrorism, backpacking in poverty, imperialism in globalisation, mobility in power and backpacker discourse in the re-writing of a contemporary subaltern. The original contribution to knowledge emerging from this doctorate is via the application of Bauman and Said’s late work to independent tourist discourses. The innovation is formed through disciplinary connections and popular cultural applications. There is also a re-theorisation of Spivak’s most famous study, applying metaphors of the pyre to sites of backpacker tourism, with the aim of developing ‘listening literacies.’ My research justifies the introduction of two new theoretical trajectories for the Tourism Studies academy. The first new approach encourages and frames a listening literacy amongst tourist cultures so they can acknowledge silenced and displaced agents in host – guest interaction. The second new approach aims to infuse touristic popular culture with a powerful and political pedagogy that teaches mobile citizens to read difference and diversity. A pleasure filter obscures the costs and consequences of global markets, often at the expense of local communities and individuals. This thesis focuses on the inequalities disseminated in and through backpacker tourism. It posits that it is not only important to change the way the tourist industry operates but also that it is necessary to change the way tourists tour. Moving off the beaten track in approaches to the study of tourism, this research project forges a new path for Tourism Studies that merges cultural theory and everyday life to develop a critical academic literacy for backpacker discourse.

Communal land values can, on the one hand, be an integral part of the socio-cultural experience which tourists seek and enjoy while visiting Fiji. Partly inherited from the land, such values are still vital as basis of survival in rural Fiji. They are passive so they do not command a price and therefore largely considered free however, indigenous Fijian landowners tend to perceive that such values are an inseparable part of their land and may often expect that these ought to be paid for when land is taken up for development such as in tourism. This dilemma within the tourism system could underpin land conflicts between traditional landowners and tourism entrepreneurs. As tourists ultimately bear costs, the problem can be partially addressed by focusing on their willingness to pay for communal use of land. This research assesses the backpackers� willingness to pay (WTP) for communal values of land in Fiji, including their opinions, feelings, attitudes and perceptions. It uses a social, psychological-economic theoretical framework which postulates firstly, that backpackers will pay in order to maximise satisfaction and, that utilities from passive values can be derived and measured. Secondly, as backpackers search for authenticity, adventure and meeting local people they would tend to be self actualised and therefore willing to pay. A contingent valuation study was undertaken in Fiji from February to June 2003 with a relatively high participation and response rate. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from February to March, 2005 to elicit backpackers� knowledge, feelings, perceptions and attitudes regarding their willingness to pay for the communal use of land. A great majority of respondents were willing to pay. CV respondents were willing to pay an average of F$6.50 for the communal value of land but the younger, highly educated and long haulers would pay less. Though a high proportion of respondents were willing to pay because they valued the communal use of land, for the majority the main reason was financial. Interviewees were willing to pay for economic, psychological and egocentric reasons. The latter two were particularly based on their motivational satisfaction and understanding of the traditional land-based survival skills. Respondents� perceptions of communal values of land, incomes and psychological attitude were also major factors underlying why they were not willing to pay. In light of the study�s findings, it was suggested that the backpacker concept may need to be re-examined as they tended not to be necessarily as budget-minded and exploitative as generally depicted to be. Similarly, they tended to be self-actualising and also espousing motivations similar to those of mass tourists. It was also proposed that WTP can provide a basis for economically analysing the use of passive values of environmental tourism resources, such as land, which can facilitate the industry�s ability in decision making, and management. As an incentive, WTP for communal values of land can be crucial in enhancing and sustaining tourism in a land-scarce economy such as Fiji. In the interim, WTP for communal land use could also provide informed decisions to address current issues such as the Customary Fisheries Bill. Indeed, this pioneering study examines the very issues of passive values for traditionally owned resources which can be applied more broadly; not only in Fiji, but also in other parts of the Pacific.