Le jeu sérieux semble une piste pertinente pour ouvrir le musée à un jeune public et fournir une présentation originale des œuvres, tirant partie des possibilités des outils numériques. Des propositions existent déjà mais, à ma connaissance, sans réflexion globale sur la nature et les objectifs de ces jeux : quel type de jeu construire pour les musées ? Quelles expériences sont recherchées par les visiteurs joueurs ? Comment leur procurer à la fois une expérience satisfaisante de jeu et de visite ?L'étude que j'ai menée ici, à partir de l'analyse de travaux des projets de médiation numérique auxquels j'ai participé, d'études académiques sur les jeux sérieux et l'expérience des visiteurs et des joueurs et de mon expérience professionnelle dans le domaine de la médiation et du développement informatique, apporte des réponses à ces différentes questions. Elle propose la notion de "jeu de visite", adapté à un public plus différencié et en conçoit une modélisation autour de la notion de "mission adaptable". Elle permet une modification dynamique des constituants du jeu et de son contexte d'exécution, en fonction de l'expérience recherchée par et pour le visiteur joueur. / Serious games seem a relevant proposition for a more open offer for young audience and a more creative works' presentations taking advantages of the opportunities of digital technologies. Such proposition already exist but, as far as I know, what they should be exactly has never been studied. What kind of games are the more appropriate for museums ? Which experiences do gaming visitors expect ? How to manage their satisfaction about their visit and about playing a real game ? These are the questions this PhD thesis contribute to answer.I based my reflection and my proposals on the analyse of projects devoted to cultural mediation in which I participated, on the research studies about serious games, visitors and gamers experience and on my professional background in cultural mediation and software engineering. I propose the notion of "visit game", appropriate for a more differentiated public, and build a model of this type of game around the concept of "adaptable mission". It allows to dynamically modify its components and its context of execution, depending on the experience expected by and for the gaming visitor.

The Monaco shore extention project consists of few housing resorts, floating breakwater, commertial zones and a harbour. The largest and most complex is the Skyscraper resort on an artificial semifloating island in the middle of a lagoon between the shore and the floating breakwater. Its main purpose is housing which is situated to several floors of the base ring, to the white wings protruding from the skyscraper and to the skyscraper itself. There is also a hotel for 500 visitors in this structure as well as the visitors center, observation platform, technical support, wellness and fit centrum. The resort is accesible via two main connecting streets – one going from the Hercule harbour, second comming to the resort from the main Monaco roundabout next to the Fairmont hotel. Traffic is than in front of the skyscraper redirected either to the hotel frontyard or to the underground parking wings for visitors, or to the parking zones for residents or to the supply zones. Other functions the resort offers are 2 commertial promenades on the gound and 2np floors accesible from the perimetr of the island’s harbour, other commertial zone is more to the the middle of the island, where the visitor, cultural, wellness and restaurant centers are also situated. The cultural multipurpose center accompanies cinema, theater and exhibition features as well as the School of fine arts. For the residents themselves the resort features several facilities – endless swimming pool, the chapel, relaxation pools, 2 parks and all the facilities accessible also for visitors. The island is constructed as semifloating – partly supperted by large piles and coissons, partly floating. Energetic selfsufficience is provided by desaltation plant, solar fotovoltaic plant, energetic piles and gray water treatment plant.

<p>Tourism is typically a hedonic product, and its consumption promotes positive psychology and wellbeing. Industry practitioners and academics have long been advocating sustainable practices and experiences that promote the health and wellness benefits of tourism. Indeed, studies that support designing tourism experiences with positive social and wellness outcomes are needed to better leverage design factors in delivering, communicating, and sustaining the health-related benefits of the tourism experiences. Food is an integral part of the overall tourism experience and has important implications for tourists’ pleasure and wellbeing. Thus, it is important to identify the factors that contribute to a better wellness value of the tourist food experience. </p> <p>Using a multi-qualitative method, the first study explored the communal dining experiences of solo travelers. The results indicate that solo traveler communal dining is affected by many motivations (e.g., socialization and authenticity seeking) and constraints (e.g., safety and health concerns). Other factors that were found to affect communal dining include socio-demographic factors (age, gender, cultural background, previous experiences, and extroversion); other diners’ factors (e.g., attitudes and behaviors, perceived similarity, and cultural barriers); dining place-related factors (e.g., social environment, entertainment, and employees openness); and situation-related factors (food quality, environment safety, group composition, communal dining vibes, and dining time). This study found that communal dining triggers four experiential domains: sensory, intellectual, affective, and behavioral which could result in a transformative and wellness value for solo travelers. Under the right circumstances, communal dining triggers a process of self-change that results in personal and social transformations. </p> <p>Continuing to examine the social experiences of solo travelers, the second study empirically examined the impact of the emotional display of fellow diners on solo travelers’ affect and perceived interpersonal relations during communal dining. The scenario-based experiment showed that other diners' display of emotions influenced solo traveler's affect and rapport perceptions in communal dining. Additionally, fellow communal table diners’ characteristics including their ingroup status and perceived similarity can play a role in impacting solo travelers’ communal dining experience. The perceived similarity was found to act as a trigger or “catalyst” for communal dining experience formation for solo travelers. Further, a positive influence of affect and rapport on solo travelers’ subjective wellbeing was noted.</p> <p>The third study examined the phenomenon of tourist food sharing. The study used experimental design to empirically examine the impact of food sharing on tourists’ interpersonal relationship development, sense of authenticity, and subjective wellbeing. The two experiments showed that tourist food sharing improves interpersonal relationships, tourist perceptions of experience authenticity, and wellbeing. Two culturally divergent tourist groups were compared: U.S. tourists and Chinese tourists. The results showed that U.S. tourists evaluated food sharing higher regarding its impact on authenticity and wellbeing than their Chinese counterparts. </p>

Abstracts in English, Zulu and Afrikaans / Globally, Visitor Information Centres are increasingly recognised touchpoints contributing to the success of tourism destinations. In Gauteng, South Africa, their numbers continue to decline. The service level of these remaining VICs differ across and fall below expectation. Furthermore, most models of operation are obsolete, with these centres having minimal exposure to best practices. Limited research focuses on the supply side, namely the staffing and management of centres. The study focuses on Gauteng VICs and the best practices that could improve future effectiveness. An exploratory design was followed which commenced with a concise review of best practice literature, global case studies and examples on the operation of effective VICs. An empirical study then reported on the opinions of 25 VIC staff and eight managers from eight Gauteng VICs regarding the current situation and future needs. A two-tiered approach was used to gather data via two custom-designed surveys with Gauteng VIC staff and managers respectively. A snowball sample of 25 staff members and a purposive sample of eight key informants were obtained. Data were analysed quantitatively using SPSS and qualitatively using thematic content analysis; and presented in three parts. The literature, the findings and the researcher’s recommendations culminate in a best practice framework for Gauteng VICs. The framework advocates for an integration of traditional and new media services and platforms in the dissemination of tourism information based on the funding available to a particular VIC. It is envisaged that if managers implement the best practice framework, it could avert further decline in the number of VICs. Moreover, it could improve their effectiveness in meeting the needs of the technologically-savvy and the traditional visitor, thereby ushering the Gauteng VICs into the 21st century. / Emhlabeni jikelele, izikhungo zolwazi zabavakashi (VICs) ziya ngokuya ziqashelwa njengamaphuzu okuxhumana abamba iqhaza ekuphumeleleni kwezindawo zezokuvakasha. EGauteng, eNingizimu Afrika inani labo, liyaqhubeka ngokwehla. Amazinga okusebenza kwalokho kwama-VIC asele ahluka ezindaweni zonkana futhi awela ngezansi kokulindelekile. Ngaphezu kwalokho, izinhlobo eziningi zezifanekiso zomsebenzi azisetshenziswa, nalezo zikhungo nokuba nokubanakaliswa okuncane nemikhuba ephambili. Ucwaningo olulinganiselwe lugxile ohlangothini lokunikezela, okuyizikhungo zabasebenzi nokuphathwa. Lolu cwaningo lugxile kuma-VIC aseGauteng kanye nemikhuba ephambili engase ithuthukise ukusebenza ngokuzayo. Umklamo oyisibonelo walandelwa okuyinto eyaqala ngokubuyekeza okufingqiwe okuhamba phambili kwezincwadi, izifundo zomhlaba nezibonelo zokusebenza ngempumelelo kwama-VIC. Ucwaningo lomdlandla lwabika ngemibono yamalungu abasebenzi abangama -25 beVIC nabaphathi abayisishiyagalombili abavela kuma-VIC ayisishiyagalombili aseGauteng mayelana nesimo samanje kanye nezidingo esikhathini esizayo. Izindlela ezimbili zokuhlaziya zasetshenziswa ukuqoqa imininingwane ngokusebenzisa izinhlolovo ezimbili ezenziwe ngokwezifiso nabasebenzi be-VIC eGauteng nabaphathi ngokulandelana Isampula yokudluliselwa (snowball sampling) kwamalungu abasebenzi abangama-25 kanye nesampula yokwahlulela ekhethayo (purposive sampling) yabafundisi abamqoka abayisishiyagalombili yatholakala. Imininingwane yahlaziywa ngokufanelekile kusetshenziswa iSPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) futhi ngokufanelekile kusetshenziswa ukuhlaziywa kwezindikimba okuqukethwe futhi yethulwa izingxenye ezintathu. Imibhalo, okutholakele kanye neziphakamiso zomcwaningi zifinyelele emkhubeni ophezulu wohlaka lwama-VIC aseGauteng. Uhlaka lummela ukuhlanganiswa kwendabuko futhi ukusebenzisa kwezokwazisa ngezinkundla ekusabalalisweni kolwazi lwezokuvakasha kusekelwe ngokuxhaswa ngezimali okutholakala ku-VIC ethile. Kucatshangwa ukuthi uma abaphathi beqalisa umkhuba ophambili wohlaka, kungase kugweme ukwehla okwengeziwe kwenani lama-VIC. Ngaphezu kwalokho, kungase kuthuthukise ukuphumelela kwabo ekuhlangabezaneni nezidingo zobuchwepheshe zokwenza izinqumo ezinhle kanye nesivakashi sendabuko, kanjalo kubonise ama-VIC ku-21st Century. / Besoekersinligtingsentrums word wêreldwyd toenemend erken as kontakpunte (touchpoints) wat tot die sukses van toerismebestemmings bydra. Die aantal besoekersinligtingsentrums in Gauteng, Suid- Afrika, toon ’n afname. Die diensvlakke van die oorblywende sentrums verskil en voldoen nie aan verwagtinge nie. Die bedryfsmodelle van die meeste van hierdie besoekersinligtingsentrums is ook verouderd en die betrokke sentrums het minimale blootstelling aan beste praktyk. Beperkte navorsing fokus op die aanbodkant, dit wil sê, die personeelvoorsiening en bestuur van besoekersinligtingsentrums. Hierdie studie fokus op besoekersinligtingsentrums in Gauteng en die beste praktyke wat hulle doeltreffendheid in die toekoms kan verbeter. Die navorser het ’n verkenningsontwerp gebruik, beginnende met ’n bondige oorsig van literatuur oor beste praktyk, wêreldwye gevallestudies en voorbeelde van die werkswyse van doeltreffende besoekersinligtingsentrums. Die navorser het daarna in ’n empiriese studie verslag oor die menings van 25 personeellede van besoekersinligtingsentrums en 8 bestuurders van 8 besoekersinligtingsentrums in Gauteng rakende die huidige stand en toekomstige behoeftes van die sentrums gelewer. Die navorser het ’n tweevlakkige benadering gevolg om data in te win deur twee aangemete opnames te gebruik om data van onderskeidelik personeellede en bestuurders van besoekersinligtingsentrums in Gauteng te bekom. ’n Sneeubalsteekproef van 25 personeellede en ’n doelbewuste steekproef van 8 sleutelrespondente is bekom. Data is kwantitatief met behulp van die Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) en kwalitatief deur middel van ’n tematiese inhoudsanalise ontleed en in drie dele aangebied. Die literatuur, die bevindings en die navorser se aanbevelings het op ’n raamwerk van bestek praktyk vir Gautengse besoekersinligtingsentrums uitgeloop. Ingevolge hierdie raamwerk moet tradisionele en nuwe mediadienste en -platforms geïntegreer word na gelang van die befondsing wat tot ’n bepaalde besoekersinligtingsentrum se beskikking is. Daar word voorsien dat indien sentrumbestuurders die bestepraktyk-raamwerk implementeer, dit ’n verdere afname in die aantal besoekersinligtingsentrums kan verhoed. Daarbenewens kan die raamwerk lei tot ’n verbetering in Gautengse besoekersinligtingsentrums se vermoë om in die behoeftes van beide tegnologies bedrewe en tradisionele besoekers te voorsien, en sodoende daartoe bydra dat die sentrums by die 21ste eeu aanpas. / Transport Economics, Logistics and Tourism / M. Com. (Tourism Management)

Social sustainability provides a meaningful approach for industry practitioners wishing to establish a platform to engage communities within enterprise development. It can be said that sustainability requires much more than environmental and fiscal achievements and, with an increased awareness of issues such as equity and power sharing, more corporates are incorporating their strategies in line with social responsibility values. This study therefore takes a closer look at how the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company, integrates this important concept of social sustainability in its business practices. The tourism industry has in fact grown to such an extent that global economists estimate the progress of international growth at between three and six percent annually. However, this growth can only be measured when businesses take social responsibility factors into consideration. According to the UNWTO (2011, p 1) UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, opened the Fourth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries stating that the majority of: “…least developed countries (LDCs) are rich in resources. All have young and vibrant populations. These men and women need decent jobs, education, training, so they can make the most of their country’s assets - minerals and other commodities, farmland, rich stores of biodiversity and tourism potential”. This study therefore focuses on current and future issues pertaining to socially sustainable tourism at the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company in Cape Town, South Africa. In addition, it presents solutions for reducing the negative impacts of tourism, whilst at the same time embracing the benefits of tourism for the area and its local communities. The outcome of the study found that the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company added little value to social responsibility objectives. The company has made a significant effort in marketing their product through the mass media. However, there is an overall corporate responsibility barrier. Much still needs to be done to ensure accountability for social responsibility issues, not just within this particular company, but also throughout the tourism industry. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Science)

This project examines opportunities for history exhibition design practices. Research into museum studies and creative work in typography, photography, graphic design and architecture result in curation and design of a prototypical exhibit about the granite quarrying industry of Stonington, Maine.

A l’heure où la plupart des musées investissent dans des sites Internet qui rendent souvent une grande partie de leurs collections accessibles à distance, la mission du musée en tant que lieu physique d’accès aux œuvres est remise en question. Le rapport aux publics doit être repensé : la nature de sa relation aux œuvres est transformée, et l'émergence du concept de visite augmentée introduit des dispositifs renouvelés de médiation au sein même de l’espace muséal. Cette thèse rend compte d’une expérimentation de terrain autour de Muséo+, outil de médiation de contenus muséographiques au moyen de dispositifs techno-pragmatiques interactifs. L’ensemble des contenus numériques est accessible, via l’application, sur une tablette tactile. Le dispositif et l’application qu’il supporte ont été conçus pour accompagner et guider la découverte du Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, in situ, au cours d’une expérience de visite physique dans les lieux. Ils s’adressent à tous les enfants de 6 à 12 ans, sans et avec handicap divers (surdité, autisme, déficience intellectuelle, précocité) : ce travail s’inscrit ainsi dans une réflexion sur le Design for all (aussi appelée conception universelle). La question de l'accessibilité intellectuelle et sensible est au cœur de ce travail, qui propose un retour d’expérience sur l’appropriation de contenus culturels. Le point de vue adopté consiste à observer et à qualifier une expérience de visite physique avec accompagnement numérique, et les mécanismes de construction de sens mobilisés. / At a time when most museums invest in websites that often make much of their collections accessible from a distance, the museum's mission as a physical place where people can access the works is in question. The relationship to the public must be reconsidered : the nature of the relationship to the works is thus transformed, and the emergence of the concept of enhanced tours has introduced devices which should renew mediation within the museum space. This thesis reports a field experiment around Muséo +, a mediation tool which makes museum content available through interactive techno-oriented devices. All the content is accessible via the application, on a digital tablet. The tablet and the application have been designed to support and guide the discovery of the Palais des Beaux-Arts of Lille, in situ, during a physical tour. It is available for all children from age 6 to 12, with and without disabilities (deafness, autism, developmental disabilities, Precocity) : this work is thus part of a reflection on the Design for All (also called Universal Design). The issue of intellectual and sensitive accessibility is central in this work, offering feedback on the appropriation of cultural content. The approach taken is to observe and describe a physical visit experience with digital assistance and the processus used for the construction of meaning.

Outdoor recreation and heritage resources have the potential to provide a wide range of benefits to individuals, groups of individuals and the economy. An increased knowledge of these benefits can give recreation managers and planners a better understanding of how their actions and decisions regarding a resource may impact upon the visitors and communities that they serve. Placed within a climate of increasing public sector accountability, this information might also prove useful in justifying the allocation of scarce resources to recreation and heritage preservation. Justifying the value that recreation adds to society is an issue recognised by Benefits Based Management (BBM), a recreation management and planning framework that seeks to identify and target the positive outcomes realised by individuals, groups, local businesses and communities that result from participation in recreation and leisure. To date, recreation planners and managers have not been presented with a BBM research effort that seeks to describe and understand the visitor and community benefits associated with a rail to trail conversion. This study aimed to identify and describe benefits gained by visitors and neighbouring communities, with specific reference to the Otago Central Rail Trail (OCRT), Central Otago, New Zealand. Information was gathered from seventy-seven semi-structured interviews with visiting users of the OCRT, residents of neighbouring communities and trail managers. The results of the study indicated that community stakeholders reported benefits such as local economic development linked to visitor expenditure, heightened sense of community identity and solidarity and social contact with people from outside the local area. An additional finding was that the perceived benefits of the OCRT have reportedly had a positive influence on local people's attitudes towards the rail trail. Visitor interviews revealed that personal and social well-being benefits such as physical activity, aesthetic appreciation, sense of achievement, psychological refreshment, family togetherness and social interaction with friends and local people were outcomes of an OCRT visit. Reported visitor benefits were further linked to physical fitness and health, enhanced mood and positive mental state, leading a balanced lifestyle and stronger relationships within families and between friends. Visitors also perceived that an OCRT visit had forged a greater knowledge and awareness of railway heritage through gaining insight into railway and Central Otago history and appreciation of the engineering skills and craftsmanship associated with 19th century railway construction. Following the benefit chain of causality (Driver, 1994; Driver & Bruns, 1999; McIntosh, 1999), interview responses were linked to potential community and visitor benefits that could be realised off-site such as enhanced quality of life, community satisfaction and a greater connection with and appreciation of New Zealand's historic and cultural heritage.

Abstract of thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Commerce and Management Dynamics of macroeconomic variables in Fiji : a cointegrated VAR analysis By Shiu Raj Singh The objective of this study is to examine how macroeconomic variables of Fiji inter-relate with aggregate demand and co-determine one another using a vector autoregression (VAR) approach. This study did not use a prior theoretical framework but instead used economic justification for selection of variables. It was found that fiscal policy, which is generally used as a stabilisation tool, did not have a positive effect on real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the short term. Effects on GDP growth were positive over the long term but not statistically significant. Furthermore, expansionary fiscal policy caused inflationary pressures. Fiji has a fixed exchange rate regime, therefore, it was expected that the focus of monetary policy would be the maintenance of foreign reserves. It was, however, found that monetary expansion in the short term resulted in positive effects on real GDP growth and resulted in inflation. The long term effects of monetary policy on real GDP growth were negative, which are explained by the fixed exchange rate regime, endogenous determination of money supply by the central bank, an unsophisticated financial market and, perhaps, an incomplete transmission of the policy. Both merchandise trade and visitor arrivals growth were found to positively contribute to short term and long term economic growth. Political instability was found not to have significant direct effects on real GDP growth but caused a significant decline in visitor arrivals which then negatively affected economic growth in the short term.

Work process knowledge (WPK) is a concept for systems-level knowledge of the workplace and has been shown to be most important in organisations requiring multi-functional working. Most of the previous body of knowledge on WPK has focussed mainly on manufacturing industries; there has been less investigation of WPK in the service sector and none in the visitor attraction (VA) industry, an important employer in Scotland. The VA industry is extremely dynamic and many businesses are rapidly moving towards multi-functional team working, driven by an urgent need to develop quality, customer-focussed strategies to survive in an over-supplied and very competitive market. This study identifies the nature of WPK in Scottish VAs, what relationship WPK has to customer service, how WPK in this service sector differs from selected published studies in manufacturing and other service sector contexts and what factors affect the development of WPK in VAs. Following recruitment of a number of VAs using an online questionnaire and subsequent site visits, six sites were selected for case study, on the basis that they demonstrated most evidence of multi-functional working and staff with developed WPK. The research design was comparative case studies of the work processes and knowledge within these six VAs, based on a social constructivist framework, using the methods of key informant interviews and shadowing. Although these six sites represent a cross-spread of attractions in terms of types, location and size, they nonetheless show strong similarities in their basic business structure. The data show that WPK is an essential element of workers’ roles and a vital requirement in providing good customer service. Although VA managers do not use the term ‘work process knowledge’, they nonetheless recognise the importance of having staff with a wider view of their business and are actively encouraging its rapid development. Multi-functionality and job rotation are main ways of developing WPK but sites also use key workers with job roles that help develop high levels of WPK, who are then used as a staff resource. The main factor contributing to the development of WPK is communication, especially of systems-level information. Cultural information-sharing is an essential pre-condition for the development of WPK in this context. Other determining factors are flexibility, employee biographies, seasonality issues, how weddings and functions are handled on-site and the size and complexity of the site. WPK is the foundation on which good customer service is based and elements of it deliver customer service. It is the closely integrated nature of the employee-customer relationship that has such a profound effect on WPK development in this service sector industry and is essentially what differentiates it from previously published studies. The identification of the customer as a hitherto unrecognised key driver of WPK is the most important contribution to knowledge made by this work.