Eritrea is a young state and a developing country faced with major problems and constraints, one of which is a shortage of professional, skilled and semi-skilled human resources. With the country's considerable and diverse attractions, tourism is a promising option for economic development in Eritrea. The objective of this research paper is to examine the role of human resource development in contributing to the creation of a modem and internationally competitive tourism sector in Eritrea, as well as increasing tourism 's contribution to ecenomic growth and sustainable develepment. Tourism is one of the major socio-economic sectors of the world and is also a rapidly growing sector. However, it has both positive and negative impacts. In order to maximize the positive and minimize the negative impacts, most countries now are opting for responsible tourism or sustainable tourism development. Not all countries and regions have benefited equally from tourism, and competition in the tourism market is fierce, especially for small countries and new entrants like Eritrea. One of the factors for optirnising the contribution made by tourism is human resource development (HRD) in the tourism industry. This paper investigates how the economic contribution of tourism can be increased, and suggests approaches to revitalizing the human resources of the tourism sector, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The study shows how HRD can play a vital role in supporting tourism development and ensuring the continuous supply of quality human resources to meet the industry's growing requirements. Based on human capital theory in relation to the tourism industry, and considering the sector's special employment characteristics, it presents a comprehensive analysis and assessment of current tourism human resources in Eritrea in terms of various HRD variables such as education, training, experience, and foreign language competence. The results indicate that significant gaps exist between the supply of and demand for human resources as the tourism industry grows in Eritrea. The findings reveal that all-round training is required across the spectrum of tourism occupations, places, levels of management and stakeholders including the public at large. The lack of trainers and training infrastructure is identified as a key factor responsible for inadequate professionalism in the Eritrean tourism industry. As a result, the study identifies specific policies, strategies and recommendations to be adopted if Eritrea is to be in a position to face the challenges posed by international tourism competition. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

The purpose of this study was to answer the question: how do children influence attraction choice while on vacation? A cross-sectional, self-administered, web-based survey of 99 adult facilitators visiting one of three tourist attractions in Winnipeg, Canada with at least one child between the ages of six and 17 was used to: 1) gain insight on how groups with a child/children prefer to travel; 2) understand the reasons why groups with a child/children choose to visit a select type of attraction; 3) examine the views of adult facilitators who travel with a child/children on the child/children’s participation with regards to the selection of tourist attractions; and 4) investigate which attraction characteristics adult facilitators believe provide their entire group with the most satisfying experience. Results indicate that children have relatively little direct influence within the family or group unit on attraction choice.

This dissertation is concerned with the spatial dimensions of tourism and related physical planning issues, focusing on Greece. It explores relevant research in this area, analyses the structure of tourism at different spatial levels, and relates tourism's spatial structure to planning parameters. Within the W.European context, tourism's growth and spatial structure reflects a process of leisure division (tourism demand and consumption differentiation) attributed to (i) marked inter-country differences regarding socioeconomic, supply-attraction and accessibility factors, and (ii) the international organization of the tourist industry: the influential role of tour operators and airlines in controlling market size, price of the tourist product (TP), and transport links. Tourism's spatial structure in Greece is influenced by both endogenous and exogenous factors: (i) the country's socioeconomic development process, territorial structure and regional accessibility, and the organizational mode of the Greek tourist industry and relevant government policies (investments), and (ii) the way Greek regions are connected with the international travel system, and are affected by tour operations; the latter, building on existing locational advantages, and reinforcing development in "established" places. Physical planning, confined within a legalistic frame of restrictive measures, is weakly related to economic and sectoral planning; negatively affected by administrative-institutional constraints (inadequate planning system, legal-statutory frame, planning organization); ineffectively integrated into a planning process characterized by limited political commitment to, and social awareness and acceptability of planning action. The ineffectiveness of tourism and physical planning to influence endogenous or exogenous factors, underlying tourism's spatial structure, is evidenced by the absence of any substantial rapport between the kind of physical development taking place, and concurrent planning practices. The advanced "territorial profiles" and tourist policy proposals provide: (i) a methodological frame, conceptualizing tourism's organization on a territorial basis, for interrelating and integrating economic, sociocultural and physical dimensions in tourist development planning, and (ii) a planning guidelines-frame suggesting the main policy directions for TP and market restructuring, and for improving physical and tourism planning practice in Greece.

No description available.

Tourism industry in Sri Lanka shares a substantial amount of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and predicts an immense expansion within a short time frame. Owing to its energy intensiveness and competitiveness, a scrutiny in the energy utilization and the related impact on the environment is crucial. Furthermore, trend towards ecotourism forces the requirement of foreseeing a green energy supply to meet the ever rising demand.   In this study, utilization of energy in the graded hotels in the country was modeled through LEAP (Long Range Energy Alternatives Planning System) software to predict the future energy demand. Monthly energy consumption data for three consecutive years for a sample of hotels covering classified and unclassified hotel establishments were used for modeling. Four scenarios were then analyzed based on the baseline scenario representing the country’s tourism industry profile of year 2010.  It is shown that the energy intensiveness of the tourism industry will be overwhelming unless the DSM (Demand Side Management) tools are properly amalgamated for mitigation. Further the results of the study revealed that the existing electricity generation plan does not accommodate fuel diversification and energy mix, and needs revisions to induct renewable sources for greening energy supply of the country. The study provides an insight in identifying socially acceptable policy scenarios in energy supply and use of the tourism industry.

The purpose of this study was to answer the question: how do children influence attraction choice while on vacation? A cross-sectional, self-administered, web-based survey of 99 adult facilitators visiting one of three tourist attractions in Winnipeg, Canada with at least one child between the ages of six and 17 was used to: 1) gain insight on how groups with a child/children prefer to travel; 2) understand the reasons why groups with a child/children choose to visit a select type of attraction; 3) examine the views of adult facilitators who travel with a child/children on the child/children’s participation with regards to the selection of tourist attractions; and 4) investigate which attraction characteristics adult facilitators believe provide their entire group with the most satisfying experience. Results indicate that children have relatively little direct influence within the family or group unit on attraction choice.

No description available.

Crises are inevitable. There is no way to prevent all crises from happening. In fact, in today's business environment crises are an integral part of organizational life. Crisis situations are by nature novel, unstructured, frameworks. Crises are sudden, acute, and demand a timely response. Most man-made crises are in principle preventable. Crisis management is a new field of research that addresses the problems of dealing with crises, and the stress that accompanies crises. Crisis management involves efforts to prevent crises from occurring; to prepare for a better protection against the impact of a crisis agent; to make for an effective response to an actual crisis; and to provide plans and resources for recovery and rehabilitation in the aftermath of a crisis. It is no longer enough to consider "if" a crisis will happen but rather "when" a crisis will occur, "which type", and "how". There is no doubt that the travel and tourism industry is especially susceptible and vulnerable to crises. It is argued that the hotel industry, given its operational characteristics, management practices (which is strongly influenced by long established traditions), and its operating environment, is even more prone to crises. However, very little has been done to understand crisis (that is, how a crisis evolves, crisis typology, anatomy, and management of crisis). This study describes and discusses all major relevant elements and issues to the emerging field of crisis management. Within the domain of crisis management theory, the study describes and elaborates on critical issues such as crisis typology, anatomy of crisis, crisis planning and training, crisis decision making, crisis communication, and crisis management. It is argued in this study that organizational culture is the most fundamental element in crisis preparedness. That is, organizational culture, not organization structure, size, financial history, etc., is the main determinant of crisis preparedness. The research also argue that stakeholders are fundamental in crisis prevention, crisis management and crisis recovery. 2 This study, in a first instance, examines the crisis preparedness of 33 of the 50 top hotel organizations operating in the UK (HCIMA, 1995). Crisis preparedness is examined in the light of organizational culture. For that, top executives in those organizations were interviewed and responded to two questionnaires. A crisis preparedness framework (or continuum) was derived from the application of factor analysis on the questionnaire data. The results suggest that the hotel industry is not prepared for crises. Given that a crisis is a multi-stakeholder phenomenon (it inevitably involves other agents) this study also explores, building upon the results obtained from the crisis preparedness continuum, the notion of stakeholders relationships in crisis situations. More specifically, the research proposition states that organizations that are crisis "prepared" are more consistent on their opinions about stakeholders' role and behaviour in crisis situations than those organizations that are not prepared for crises. The study confirmed both the research question and proposition. The study also presents an operational definition of crisis management and proposes a model for crisis management.

No description available.

No description available.