M.B.A. / The travel industry is a dynamic fast changing environment that is impacted by many external factors. Travel Management Companies (TMC) need to align themselves to this environment ensuring that they are learning organisations and are changing with the times. In an attempt to reduce distribution costs, a number of airlines internationally have commenced with the reduction of commissions paid to travel management companies. As a result, a number of TMC's have closed their doors due to them not being able to convert their client base onto management fee or transaction fee models where the clients pay the TMC for the service they render, rather than the airline paying the TMC. The South African market is moving in a similar direction with airline commission cuts being planned for within the next year. The change in the manner in which agencies are remunerated would result in the need for the introduction of service fees, rather than the current commission income. This would result in the TMC's having to place increased attention on service delivery, aligned to the new income source being the client rather than the operator. A true travel management company needs to provide a complete travel management solution including statistical analysis of trends, cost saving initiatives and improved service delivery inter alia. With the onset of technology and the need for the airline distribution costs to be reduced, a number of airlines are directing travellers to their online website booking engines thus alleviating the need for the TMC. Airlines are utilising discounted airfares on the website as the attraction for travellers to rather make use of this cheaper form of distribution as opposed to airlines having to pay agents commission for the business forwarded by agents

published_or_final_version / Conservation / Master / Master of Science in Conservation

Despite research indicating high levels of job satisfaction reducing turnover in the working community, there is limited research regarding the factors which attribute to job satisfaction of athletic trainers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting athletic trainers. Full-time Board of Certification certified athletic trainers of the Atlantic Coast Conference were sent a copy of the Job Satisfaction Survey electronically. The results show that athletic trainers are more satisfied than the average American and the average medical professional. They also show the most important factors to job satisfaction of athletic trainers are amount of help, hours worked, and institution type. This research and accompanying recommendations will decrease the level of turnover in the athletic training population.

Though there is a wealth of research concerning residentsâ attitudes toward tourism, little research has been conducted regarding residentsâ attachment to their community. Exploring the possible links between resident attachment and attitude toward tourism is likely to provide key insights into the root causes of resident attitude. The purpose of this research was to explore the concepts of community attachment (attachment to social ties and relationships) and place attachment (attachment to the physical landscape) as they relate to one another and affect resident attitudes toward tourism development (i.e. a residentâs feeling about the rate of development in their community due to tourism). While past research often blurred the lines between community and place attachment, the current study sought to disentangle the two constructs. Using Ashe County, NC, as a study area, a 47-item intercept survey was used to explore attachment and attitudes. The survey measured three main constructs: community attachment, place attachment and resident attitude toward tourism development. The data were collected in Summer 2009. An exploratory factor analysis of the attachment items reduced into two dimensions: community attachment and place attachment. Subsequent Pearson Correlation tests found significant correlation between the two types of attachment. In addition, community attachment and place attachment were significantly correlated with resident attitudes toward tourism, especially in the areas of economic benefit and urbanization or overcrowding. Residents with higher levels of both community attachment and place attachment were more likely to agree that tourism was causing overcrowding in their community. Finally, a residentâs percent of life lived in the study area was found to be a statistically significant predictor of community attachment and 11 of 13 resident attitude items. The variable percent of life lived in community has not been used in previous published research and was shown in this research to be a good predictor of community attachment and resident attitudes. It is important to note that only community attachment was significantly correlated with items that dealt with economic development and equitable distribution of economic benefits, whereas high place attachment indicated a greater correlation with items dealing with land use. This supports the idea that respondents who are attached to community are more interested in economic development and equitable sharing of gains. Respondents with higher place attachment were concerned with the environmental impacts of tourism such as urbanization and overcrowding, without significant concern for economic benefit. This suggests that in the planning stages, newcomers would advocate for environmental protection and regulations such as zoning, while long-term residents would be concerned about the environment but also take notice of the economic aspects of tourism. This suggests that high percent of life (high community attachment) residents are more likely to take a holistic view of tourism in their community and both its positive and negative impacts. By successfully disentangling community attachment from place attachment, this study was able to gain insights into how each type of attachment influences resident attitudes toward tourism. By identifying the important issues of both groups, positive benefits can be accentuated and encouraged while negative impacts can be minimized.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of location and size on sponsorships in collegiate athletics. The study compared university?s number of sponsors based on size in terms of student population and size of a respective football program. The study also compared industry sponsorship rate to location of an athletic department. Small universities, under 15,000 students, were found to have a greater number of sponsors than large universities with 15,000 or more students. The size of the football program had no relationship on the total number of sponsors for an athletic department. Several industries were regionalized in terms of high sponsorship rate. The sponsors that were the most regionalized were the telecommunications industry in the Southeast, the medical industry in the Northwest and the automotive industry in the Midwest. An analysis of these variables and a discussion of the results are presented in this study.

The purpose of this study was to reveal which services provided by the NC State University Academic Support Program for Student Athletes had a significant correlation with the student athletes? academic success. Student athletes? grade point averages were used as a measurement of academic success. Partial correlation and Somer?s D statistical formulas uncovered which academic services had a significant relationship to the student athletes? academic success. Good communication between the academic coordinator and coach, the helpfulness of the tutorial program, the accessibility of laptops during team travel, the expectation that the student athletes attend study hall, the use of knowledgeable tutors, and the expectation of becoming a professional athlete all had a significant correlation to the student athletes? academic success. Further explanations of these items as well as recommendations for further research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine middle school females' perceptions of physical activity, eating, and physical health. This research considers several key issues, including high obesity rates, girls' lack of physical activity, the decrease in physical activity during adolescence, and teenagers' failure to meet nutritional guidelines. A qualitative approach was selected to gain a deeper understanding of the significance girls place on these health behaviors and some of the factors that go into their decisions about leisure time activity and eating. Four focus groups were conducted in central North Carolina with a total of 28 girls in sixth through eighth grades. Data were analyzed with ATLAS.ti 5.2. Four themes emerged from the analysis: perceptions of health, social norms, family, and enjoyment. Recommendations are given for ways to encourage healthy diets and PA participation in adolescent girls.

The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive listing of the character traits and personal gains students who participate in study abroad have claimed to acquire from international trips abroad (from secondary data sources) and to determine whether these are congruent with the desires of corporate recruiters and hiring managers. This study was also used to determine if and how corporate criteria is used to evaluate study abroad/international travel experiences during the resume portion of interviews. Conclusions were made from the results of personal interviews regarding the themes which emerge about travel/study abroad and employability. This study contributed to a general understanding of company interviewing procedures and the role study abroad and international travel experiences associated with studying abroad during interviews. Recommendations were made based on interaction between human resource directors, hiring managers and campus recruiters during the interview process of this study.

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between the positive youth development constructs of character and caring with achievement goal orientation and ability level, variables associated with achievement goal theory, in the context of organized American football. A multiple methods-mixed data approach to the research was utilized with self-administered web-based questionnaires and face-to-face interviews in an effort to provide increased understanding of the relationship between these theoretical perspectives. Participants were male adolescents attending an intercollegiate football skills camp. Significant findings included a relationship between increased self-reported ability level and measures of character and support for an interaction between ability level and orthogonal achievement goal orientation on measures of character. Recommendations for the field and future research are included in light of the limitations of the study. This initial examination of the relationship between an emerging theoretical framework in positive youth development and achievement goal theory provides an important first step towards development of an applied and conceptual model for youth development through organized sport.

The purpose of this research was to develop a model for cross-cultural sport spectatorship, and then to compare American and Chinese basketball spectators. Means-end theory guided the development of a conceptual framework, and structural equation modeling was used to test the relationship between focal attributes and expected consequences. Focal attributes referred to the concrete features of basketball games, while expected consequences referred to abstract motives for watching sporting events. Participants were National Basketball Association spectators in the United States and Chinese Basketball Association spectators in China. Self-administered questionnaires were administered at games in the two countries. Significant findings included cross-cultural similarities and differences in the spectatorsâ reasons for attending games. Spectators in the two countries were compared on their preferences for: Kahleâs List of Values, individualism/collectivism dimensions, attributes, consequences, consequence-attribute paths, and behavioral intentions. Recommendations for the field and future research are included, as well as limitations of the study. This study provides a new methodology for testing means-end theory, and a new model for analyzing sport spectatorship. This study also contributes to the growing body of literature in cross-cultural sport marketing.