This dissertation innovatively extends the hedonic value model by crafting a comprehensive and novel econometric framework to analyze the mediating role of financial performance in the valuation of vacation rental properties. The study not only conducts an empirical analysis of the fundamental hedonic determinants of vacation rentals’ performance and value but also examines the influence of vacation rental performance on their valuation by leveraging the capitalization rate theory, a prevalent metric for evaluating commercial real estate value, to ascertain its applicability in forecasting the worth of vacation rentals. The core contribution of this study is the discovery of how short-term rentals are assessed in Central Florida, the key factors contributing to their performance and value, and whether the current valuation methods are suited to the current market needs. The methodology is grounded in robust panel data analysis, encompassing annual performance metrics from the Central Florida market between 2014 and 2023. This approach integrates short-term rentals' extended property-level information and monthly performance databases from AirDNA with the comprehensive real estate database offered by Stellar-MLS, which includes property listing history, market sales, and property details available exclusively to licensed realtors in Central Florida. To integrate these two datasets, a location-based tool was developed using Python and Google API resources to match property addresses and calculate the total distance and driving time to main attractions in the area. Results confirmed the influence of performance on vacation rental valuation and the mediation effect of performance on the relationship between property attributes and value. The findings revealed that the valuation of vacation rentals in Central Florida is better suited to commercial-oriented real estate assessments rather than traditional residential appraisals. These transformative insights provide a robust econometric tool for better predicting the value and performance of vacation rentals, benefiting a range of stakeholders, including vacation rental owners, investors, and policymakers.

This research investigates a batch arrival queueing system with a Bernoulli scheduled vacation and random system breakdowns. It is assumed that the repair process does not start immediately after the breakdown. Consequently there maybe a delay in starting repairs. After every service completion the server may go on an optional vacation. When the original vacation is completed the server has the option to go on an extended vacation. It is assumed that the system is equipped with a stand-by server to serve the customers during the vacation period of the main server as well as during the repair process. The service times, vacation times, repair times, delay times and extended vacation times are assumed to follow different general distributions while the breakdown times and the service times of the stand-by server follow an exponential distribution. By introducing a supplementary variable we are able to obtain steady state results in an explicit closed form in terms of the probability generating functions. Some important performance measures including; the average length of the queue, the average number of customers in the system, the mean response time, and the value of the traffic intensity are presented. The professional MathCad 2001 software has been used to illustrate the numerical results in this study.

In this thesis, our objective is to improve the energy efficiency and load balance for wireless networks. We first study the relationships between the base station (BS) on/off operation and traffic distribution. A cooperative power saving method called clustering BS-off (CBSO) scheme is proposed. Instead of adopting a unified and consistent BS-off scheme in the whole network, the proposed centralized and distributed CBSO schemes can adaptively group BSs in several clusters based on the traffic fluctuations with space and time. Second, to further improve the network load balance and energy efficiency in distributed manner, we propose a power efficient self-organized virtual small networking (VSN) protocol. A heuristic firefly algorithm is applied to arrange the BSs' operation in small groups based on the traffic level. By jointly considering the load balance, the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated based on the average and min-max traffic levels of BSs' groups. Finally, the importance of detailed BS operation between active and sleep modes is considered. The operating procedure of femtocell base station, i.e., HeNB, is modeled as an MAP/PH/1/k queueing system. Such queueing analysis particularly focuses on the HeNB vacation process with user priorities. The HeNB's power on/off scheme is modeled as alternative service and vacation periods. The hybrid access is regarded as high and low priority users in the queuing system. We further propose the adaptive service rate and vacation length (ASV) method, so that the HeNB can work in a more energy-efficient way while satisfying QoS requirements such as blocking probability and users waiting time. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed strategies and the overall network energy efficiency can be improved significantly. / October 2016

Diploma thesis goal is to define the extent of possibilities which are presented to client who is interested in vacation in Crete offered by selected travel agencies. The thesis is divided into four chapters. In the first chapter, there are theoretically explained the most important concepts, terms and topics associated with tourism and travel agencies. Following chapter is from tourism development point of view oriented on the destination analysis. Characterictic traits, geography, history, weather conditions, administrative units and the most atractive sites of the island are described. In the third chapter, there are ten travel agencies according to given criterions selected and introduced. Supply of these companies related to Crete is subject of the analysis. The analysis is focused on four basic marketing mix elements, it means product, price, promotion and place. In the last chapter particular criterions are set. On the basis of these criterions the comparison of studied travel agencies is made and total extent of the offer which is presented to the clients is specified. The appraisal of its comprehensiveness comes out from the resultant summarisation of possibilities which are offered to the client. In conclusion there is advised the opportunity which could be used by travel agencies in order to gain broader range of clients.

Tracking studies conducted by the Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) over the last decade have revealed that Australia has a high ranking as a desired destination among US residents. However prior to the peaked effect of the Olympics, this desire had not translated into increasing numbers of visitor arrivals from the US. As travel to Australia from the US is time consuming and involves extremes of physical distance, it would be to Australia's advantage to understand better the dimensions and ramifications of long haul travel with regard to destination choice. This thesis has two objectives: to assess the extent to which a destination being a long haul from its target market affects the choice of this destination; and to consider the marketing implications of the above with a focus on the selection of Australia, as compared to competitive destinations, by the US holiday market. Data were collected from two samples: the West Coast of the US and the East Coast of Australia. The instrument for the US sample collected information on the respondents' choice set structure, attribute importance in selecting a long haul destination, perceptions of the long haul destinations of Australia and Italy, and sociodemographics. The instrument for the Australian sample collected information on the respondents' choice set structure, attribute importance for both long haul and short haul destination selection, perceptions of the long haul destination of the US and the short haul destination of New Zealand, and sociodemographics. This data were then used to test nine hypotheses designed to give insight into the research objectives. The results indicate that tourists place differing degrees of importance on attributes of a long haul destination as compared to a short haul destination for a vacation. It also demonstrates that tourists' perceptions of the distance to destinations are often highly inaccurate and that this inaccuracy is related neither to actual distance nor choice set placement. The cognitive distance is however directly related to perceptions of cost of travelling to the destination. A conundrum was also established in that the distance to Australia was overestimated and related positively with the choice of the destination. Yet at the same time the overestimation led to increasing perceptions of cost, travel time and risk, which indirectly had a negative impact on the choice of the destination. This far-off allure was not evident for the equidistant competitor, Italy, where the cognitive distance was underestimated. It was also found US respondent's place differing importance on the attributes they seek in a long haul destination as compared to the Australian respondents. Notably, the US market places a significantly higher importance on distance, even though their estimation of the distance between Australia and the US did not differ from the Australian estimate. Marketing implications for Australia as a long haul destination were then considered with an emphasis on redefining vacation distances in tourists' minds without relinquishing the far-off allure. The relationship between cognitive distance and perceptions of cost and time in comparison to competitors were driving the need for redefining distance. Emphasis was placed on delivering information to tourists during their decision process when their involvement and information processing was highest. Direction was also given for future research that would be useful for travel marketers in gaining additional insight into their long haul target markets.

No description available.

Sweden had in the early 1930's the lowest birth rate in the world. Population Commission which was established in 1935 concluded that one of the biggest social problems was the working women’s heavy workload. To deal with the low birth rate reforms and programs were founded both in order to help the women but also in order to support the inadequate motherhood. Government grants were set up to start the so-called vacation home for housewives where the government’s visions of the vacation homes were active rest and recreation.      Based on the Leisure Inquiry report regarding vacation homes for housewives - the purpose of this paper is to examine how the government visions regarding vacation homes for housewives were practiced and how the future of prevailing gender contract affected the holiday home. What activities and what form of education occurred on the vacation home Frykenstrand? Who visited the vacation home and how was Frykenstrand affected by egalitarianism and the state's growing need for labor?      Archive material from the Association of Värmland working women vacation homes have been used for the essay. According to the issues of this essay, the vacation home Frykenstrand is described through text analysis and quantitative method based on protocols, applications, guest books and correspondence. The state’s visions with the vacation homes are based upon the Leisure Inquiry report.      The survey shows that the state's visions regarding giving women rest and recovery were met. The intentions regarding education and training cannot be considered to be met on the vacation home Frykenstrand, nor was the vacation home used by women who might have helped increasing the birth rate. The vacation home was abolished probably affected by the gender contract when more women started work and received a statutory vacation.

Literature indicates that pharmacists of South Africa experience high levels of stress as a result of their working conditions. Seeing that the definition of subjective well–being (SWB) entails that a person feels positive affect (positive moods) and experience infrequent feelings of negative affect (such as stress), pharmacists have low SWB since they experience high levels of stress. It is thus vital to lessen the stress seeing as this low SWB may entail a danger to the profession as well as the patients' safety. Based on this leisure proves to enhance well–being by producing positive affect (such as happiness) and reducing negative affect (such as stress or depression). Leisure (taking a holiday) is furthermore a means of buffering stress and therefore the perfect solution to pharmacists' stress. Hence the purpose of this research was to determine the role of holiday taking on South African pharmacists' overall well–being. To achieve this goal a database was obtained from The South African Pharmacy Council. This database consisted out of 8000 e–mail addresses of pharmacists registered at the Pharmacy Council. From the 1500 e–mails that were send out 207 completed questionnaires were obtained. A thorough literature analysis on socio–demographic characteristics, travel motives, independent choices and preferred activities when taking a holiday was done in Chapter 2. This chapter gives a detailed understanding of how the afore–mentioned factors influence the decision to take a holiday and the effect of taking a holiday on subjective well–being. Article 1 (Chapter 3) and Article 2 (Chapter 4) was based on this chapter's literature. Chapter 3 (Article 1) of this study determined whether holidays lead to positive SWB of pharmacists. In order to achieve this aim, the chapter made use of the Affectomer 2 and Satisfaction with life Scale to determine the pharmacists' subjective well–being before and after taking a holiday. Dependent t–tests were then applied to compare the A distinction on the other hand can be made amongst pharmacists that imply different working conditions and working hours. Therefore Chapter 4 (Article 2) of this study determined all the factors that influence the different groups of pharmacists' holiday taking which ultimately could lead to the enhancement of the profession's well–being. To achieve this, the chapter made use of factor analysis, ANOVAs and chi–square tests to find differences between different pharmacists. The results showed that the three groups of pharmacists (private, government, and industry), differ based on sociodemographic characteristics. These socio–demographic characteristics furthermore influence the different groups of pharmacists' decisions to take holidays which leads to higher subjective well–being. The results of Chapters 3 and 4 indicate that pharmacists experience enhanced wellbeing after taking a holiday and which have implications for different role players. This study is the first to determine the profile of pharmacists and give an indication of their travel behaviour that will assist destinations to alter their product/services to better suit the profile or travel behaviour of pharmacists. Employing companies on the other hand can have financial benefits in the form of low staff turnover and satisfied patients. Although pharmacists are seen as a homogeneous group, pharmacists differ based on socio–demographic characteristics and therefore the Pharmacy Council may enforce the design of different policies for the different groups of pharmacists to reduce the pharmaceutical profession's stress. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Literature indicates that pharmacists of South Africa experience high levels of stress as a result of their working conditions. Seeing that the definition of subjective well–being (SWB) entails that a person feels positive affect (positive moods) and experience infrequent feelings of negative affect (such as stress), pharmacists have low SWB since they experience high levels of stress. It is thus vital to lessen the stress seeing as this low SWB may entail a danger to the profession as well as the patients' safety. Based on this leisure proves to enhance well–being by producing positive affect (such as happiness) and reducing negative affect (such as stress or depression). Leisure (taking a holiday) is furthermore a means of buffering stress and therefore the perfect solution to pharmacists' stress. Hence the purpose of this research was to determine the role of holiday taking on South African pharmacists' overall well–being. To achieve this goal a database was obtained from The South African Pharmacy Council. This database consisted out of 8000 e–mail addresses of pharmacists registered at the Pharmacy Council. From the 1500 e–mails that were send out 207 completed questionnaires were obtained. A thorough literature analysis on socio–demographic characteristics, travel motives, independent choices and preferred activities when taking a holiday was done in Chapter 2. This chapter gives a detailed understanding of how the afore–mentioned factors influence the decision to take a holiday and the effect of taking a holiday on subjective well–being. Article 1 (Chapter 3) and Article 2 (Chapter 4) was based on this chapter's literature. Chapter 3 (Article 1) of this study determined whether holidays lead to positive SWB of pharmacists. In order to achieve this aim, the chapter made use of the Affectomer 2 and Satisfaction with life Scale to determine the pharmacists' subjective well–being before and after taking a holiday. Dependent t–tests were then applied to compare the A distinction on the other hand can be made amongst pharmacists that imply different working conditions and working hours. Therefore Chapter 4 (Article 2) of this study determined all the factors that influence the different groups of pharmacists' holiday taking which ultimately could lead to the enhancement of the profession's well–being. To achieve this, the chapter made use of factor analysis, ANOVAs and chi–square tests to find differences between different pharmacists. The results showed that the three groups of pharmacists (private, government, and industry), differ based on sociodemographic characteristics. These socio–demographic characteristics furthermore influence the different groups of pharmacists' decisions to take holidays which leads to higher subjective well–being. The results of Chapters 3 and 4 indicate that pharmacists experience enhanced wellbeing after taking a holiday and which have implications for different role players. This study is the first to determine the profile of pharmacists and give an indication of their travel behaviour that will assist destinations to alter their product/services to better suit the profile or travel behaviour of pharmacists. Employing companies on the other hand can have financial benefits in the form of low staff turnover and satisfied patients. Although pharmacists are seen as a homogeneous group, pharmacists differ based on socio–demographic characteristics and therefore the Pharmacy Council may enforce the design of different policies for the different groups of pharmacists to reduce the pharmaceutical profession's stress. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The aim of this study has been to create and compare different holiday planners. The comparison takes place between availapp, Excel spreadsheets and absence. Availapp is a tailor-made vacation planning application for CGI Sundsvall / Härnösand that is fully scalable with mobile and desktops devices. The applikation automatically retrieves personal information from windowsAD at first login. The web application also takes into account social ethical aspects where we use encryption to ensure that information does not reach the wrong people. Also taking into account with PUL and GDPR for storing user information. Excel spreadsheets is CGI's current vacation planner consisting of an excel sheet with macron to ease the vacation planning. Absence is a commercial holiday planner aimed at companies to replace excel vacation planners. The comparison between availapp, excel spreadsheets and absence is evaluated according to a few key criteria, which is access, readability, navigation, functionality and startup of applications. The result is then compiled in a table to get an easy overview of the criteria for each application. After the compilation, it is found that availapp is the most suitable holiday planner according to the chosen criteria. / Målet med denna undersökning har varit att skapa och jämföra olika semesterplanerare. Jämförelsen sker mellan availapp, excelark och absence. Availapp är en skräddarsydd semesterplaneringsapplikation för CGI sundsvall/härnösand som är helt skalbar med mobil och skrivbord samt automatiskt hämtar personinformation från windowsAD vid första inloggning. Webbapplikationen tar även hänsyn till samhällsetiska aspekter där vi använder oss av kryptering för att säkerställa att information inte kommer till fel personer. Vi håller oss även till PUL och GDPR för lagring av användarinformation. Excelarket är CGI’s nuvarande semesterplanerare som består av ett excelark med macron för att underlätta semesterplaneringen. Absence är en kommersiell semesterplanerare som riktar sig till företag för att ersätta excel semesterplanerare. Jämförelsen mellan availapp, excelarket och absence utvärderas efter ett par nyckelkriterier vilket är åtkomst, läsbarhet, navigering, funktionalitet och uppstart av applikationerna. Resultatet är sedan sammanställt i en tabell för att få en lätt översikt över vilka kriterier varje applikation klara. Efter sammanställningen konstateras det att availapp är den mest lämpade semesterplaneraren efter dom valda kriterierna.