Innovations in information technology have played an important role in the way business is conducted. Technology innovations have great impact on tourism destination marketing organizations such as convention and visitor bureaus, since they are highly dependent on information and timely distribution of it to the public. Information technology innovations such as the Internet allow CVBs to perform their marketing functions in a more efficient manner. The implementation of web-based marketing functions is impacted by organizational characteristics that either foster or hinder their implementation (Thong, 1999; Tornatzky & Fleischer, 1990; Wang & Fesenmaier, 2006; Zhu & Kraemer, 2005). Information technology innovations have been adopted by organizations in different levels of sophistication. Since the main function of a CVB is the promotion of a destination technologies that facilitate this process are important to this type of organization. Unfortunately, the marketing practice of American CVBs is still dominated by principles of mass marketing by communicating the same message to all consumers. As a result, the use of websites by American CVB has been limited to information provision functions and has lost opportunities to build relationship with customers through additional web-based marketing activities. This study proposes that CVBs should use web-based marketing activities to attract and retain relationships with customers. This study provides two main contributions to the existing literature: a) examines web-based marketing functions from a relationship marketing perspective and b) examines the impact of organizational characteristics on the sophistication level of web-based marketing functions. The use and effectiveness of web functions and its applications were examined. The results showed that the majority of the CVBs focus the use of their website to provide information. A standard multiple regression was used to investigate the impact of the organizational factors on the different web functions. The results of the regression show that size, financial resources and management team's technological expertise are the only factors that impact the level of web functions implemented by CVBs.

No description available.

The aim of the study was to determine how litter affects the image of the environment and the animals at the Johannesburg Zoo, situated in the Northern part of Johannesburg, as perceived by various stakeholders. Furthermore, effectiveness of the educational awareness programmes developed and currently being presented at the Zoo were assessed. The central themes of the research on the issue of litter in a conservation area included the current status of litter in the Johannesburg Zoo, the perception of stakeholders frequenting or living in the vicinity of the Zoo and the nature and effectiveness of educational programmes presented at the Zoo. The stakeholders included visitors (n=332), employees (n=20) and others who represented the Zoo and people from the neighbouring Forest Town. It was possible to collect data on the premises while the Zoo was in full operation. The data-collection tools included two questionnaires (for visitors and employees) and interviews (other stakeholders), as well as a reflective recall of eight years of hands-on experiences and observations of a current curator at the Zoo. The latter served as a situation analysis of the Zoo to provide a backdrop for exploring the litter problem and served as background for designing the data-collection tools. The data of the survey conducted with questionnaires was quantitative in nature and was analysed descriptively in form of frequencies and percentages. The qualitative data gathered by means of the interviews were analysed and described against the experiences, beliefs and contact with the Zoo of the specific stakeholder. The educational programmes were described and the content assessed based on the effectiveness regarding litter minimisation information. The situation analysis revealed some tragic consequences of littering at the Zoo. It became clear that educating the public was a necessity to provide knowledge in such a way that it would inculcate a spirit of caring about and valuing the environment and the animals. All stakeholders identified that the Zoo has a serious litter problem and that the signboards needed more specific litter control messages and should be placed strategically so that they are noticed. Although the number of dustbins were sufficient, their distribution and placement in and around the Zoo were not effective. Educational programmes were considered by all to be the answer to the litter problem if the content could be expanded to include information on the consequences of and the legislation on littering. Recommendations regarding litter management for Johannesburg Zoo and for further investigation were suggested. / Geography / M. Sc. (Geography)

Att färdas med färja är ett populärt sätt att resa i Sverige, både som nöje och som ett färdmedel för att ta sig från en plats till en annan. Vilken anledning passageraren än har för sin resa med färja så behöver de flesta resa genom en stad för att ta sig till färjeterminalen. Syftet med det här arbetet är att undersöka om och på vilka sätt färjelinjerna och deras färjeterminaler gör nytta för städerna de är belägna i. Genom undersökningar med enkäter direkt till passagerarna på olika färjor samt intervjuer, med väl utvalda personer inom de aktuella branscherna, kunde en sammanställning göras om vilken betydelse färjetrafiken har på medelstora städer. Resultatet visade att passagerarnas konsumtion i staden på väg till färjan kunde ses som försumbar, sett till näringslivets omsättning är den konsumtionen relativt liten. Om färjeläget hade försvunnit från någon av de undersökta städerna hade exempelvis den minskade omsättningen hos en butik varit liten. Minskningen i exempelvis den matvarubutik som deltagit i undersökningen hade varit så liten att det inte direkt hade gått att knyta till nedläggningen, om de inte visste om nedläggningen på förhand. Färjelinjerna visade sig dock bidra med nytta till städerna på andra sett till exempel genom sin farledsavgift och stadens igenkänning. / To travel by ferry in Sweden is very popular, both for pleasure and as a means of transport. Whatever reason you have for travelling by ferry, you often have to travel through a city to arrive at the ferry terminal. The purpose of this essay is to investigate in what ways the cities benefit by their ferry lines and terminals. By making our own investigation, containing passenger surveys and interviews with carefully chosen persons in these specific areas, it was possible to analyze how and if the cities benefit by their ferries. The result of this investigation shows that the passengers’ consumption, when they travel through the cities, is negligible. Considering the revenue of the trade and industry, this consumption is very small. If the ferry terminal had been closed down in some of the investigated cities the loss of revenue in a grocery store that participated in the survey would have been so small that the company would have had a hard time figuring out that the loss was because of the closure of the terminal. The survey however showed that the ferry lines and their terminals contributed in other ways to the cities, for example through the fairway fee and the cities’ reputation.

Aim: The overall objective of the present thesis was to describe and assess the importance and impact of visits by the patients’ families in an ICU, from patient and family perspectives, and to develop, from a hermeneutic perspective, a research method to study the interplay between patient and family during the visit. Method: The comprehensive methodology of the thesis was hermeneutic. Qualitative as well as quantitative methods were applied to elucidate the issues at stake. In paper I, 198 patients were consecutively included, and data were statistically analysed to establish patient mortality and length of stay at the hospital, in relation to visits of families in the ICU. In paper II, ten patients and 24 visitors were observed during visits. In paper III, seven patients and five relatives were interviewed about their memories of the visits in the ICU. Field notes from the observations, and the interviews with patients and relatives, were interpreted and analysed inspired by Gadamer’s hermeneutic philosophy. Paper IV represents a theoretical discourse, and presents methodological aspects of the hermeneutic interpretation of data from the observations. Results: There were no significant differences between the patients having visitors and those who did not. The patient group with no visits comprised 25 %; they were older, and lived in single households, which contrasted to the patient group having visitors. Analyses of the three clinical studies revealed four themes. The themes relate to the meaning of visiting for patients and their relatives, and are as follows: the visit means to see and realize, to guard and watch, to meet, and to sacrifice. The caring entails that you witness and see with your own eyes, and that you feel a communion with the sick. From the patient perspective, the visit signifies that you are confirmed, empowering you to fight to get back to life. Communion and availability in conjunction enable an individual to achieve a thorough involvement with another being. The results of study IV disclosed that what you observe is depending on your theoretical view. If you see from your heart, you interpret from your heart. Conclusions: The conclusions drawn from the studies of the present thesis are that opportunities to create a presence in the community - a communion - between patients, relatives, and carers, are at want. The present fundamental view of caring in intensive care units is in need of change, in order to create optimal conditions for a communion. Visits need to be regarded as an essential part of caring, and relatives’ visits ought to be facilitated and encouraged. Furthermore, visits are important both for patients and their relatives, as sharing the event of critical illness, in the sense of sharing the suffering, the healing, and the restoration of health, is considered a precondition for their recovery. Care should be organized around the patients and their families. Families and patients bring their fellow stories of life, including values and beliefs, thereby increasing the probability of dignified individualized care. / <p>Akademisk avhandling som för avläggande av filosofie doktorsexamen vid Sahlgrenska akademin vid Göteborgs universitet kommer att offentligt försvaras i hörsal 2118, Institutionen för vårdvetenskap och hälsa, Arvid Wallgrens backe, Hus 2, Göteborg, fredagen den 19 oktober 2012 kl. 09.00</p>

A motivação desta pesquisa é contribuir com o entendimento das relações que se estabelecem entre os visitantes e as áreas naturais para melhorar o manejo do uso público em unidades de conservação. Ao conhecer as características básicas dos visitantes podemos compreender melhor quem, quantos, quando, onde e de que modo essas pessoas recebem os benefícios das áreas silvestres. Estas informações ajudam os políticos, administradores e pesquisadores a compreenderem o comportamento dos usuários, bem como as causas e potenciais soluções dos impactos ecológicos e recreativos causados pelos visitantes. A diversificação das atividades recreativas e o desenvolvimento do turismo de aventura geraram o aumento da visitação nas unidades de conservação, tornando necessário que os métodos de avaliação do uso público sejam testados e melhorados no que se refere ao uso de indicadores que possam realmente avaliar os efeitos sociais da visitação. Já existe disponível na literatura uma relação de indicadores sociais, propostos principalmente por pesquisadores americanos, que estão sendo aplicados em unidades de conservação brasileiras. No entanto, existem dúvidas com relação à eficiência destes indicadores para as condições de perfil, normas e definições relacionadas ao uso público, determinadas por órgãos administrativos como o IBAMA. O valor ecológico e a integridade dos ecossistemas naturais têm recebido maior atenção, na avaliação e seleção de indicadores. No caso das experiências humanas, no que se refere a atividades de recreação e educação ambiental, não existe uma indicação do que poderia ser considerada uma experiência de qualidade. Devido à falta de clareza do que se deseja com as condições sociais nas áreas naturais protegidas brasileiras, a experiência do visitante é avaliada de forma diversificada, desde a satisfação pelos serviços oferecidos no local, denotando uma relação mais comercial, até abordagens mais adequadas, onde se avalia a experiência no local, como oportunidades para a privacidade. Assim, esta pesquisa utilizou como cenário o Parque Estadual da Ilha Anchieta que devido a sua condição de ilha gera uma expectativa no visitante, que pode inclusive ser contraditória, porque ambientes com praia criam uma atmosfera de integração social, mas a sensação de estar numa ilha pode gerar a expectativa de isolamento em um ambiente primitivo. O conjunto destas características e implicações na visitação torna o local potencialmente importante para o estudo das expectativas e experiência dos visitantes em áreas naturais protegidas. Para avaliar a qualidade da experiência do visitante no Parque foram utilizadas entrevistas, dando um enfoque quanti-qualitativo na análise dos dados. O conhecimento adquirido sobre os visitantes, como suas motivações, expectativas, desejos, informações sobre o local e outras referências tornaram possível a identificação de onze potenciais indicadores dos impactos sociais do uso público que poderão ser utilizados nas avaliações posteriores neste Parque. / Understanding the connection between visitors and wild areas by means of this research we can better manage the public usage of protected areas. Once we profile the visitors we can identify how many, where, when and how they can best benefit from this wild areas. This type of information can help policymakers and researchers to understanding the visitor behavior as well as potential problems and solutions for ecological impact and damage caused by the visitors. The diversification of recreational activities and the development of Adventure Tourism helped increase the visitation of wild areas becoming even more important the accuracy of the evaluation methods, indicators and standards to measure social impact caused by the interaction visitor-wild area. Several literatures about "indicators and standards" are now available mostly written by American researches, these methods are being applied to Brazilian wild areas. However these ‘indicators and standards’ may not be so efficient for Brazilian values due to standards determined by entities like IBAMA (environmental protection agency of Brazil, stands for Brazilian Institute of the environment and renewable natural resources). The key when choosing the indicators is focused on Ecological assessment issue. When comparing human experience related to recreational activities and environmental education become very hard to have quality standard value. It is not clear what is the social purpose of the Brazilian protected wild areas therefore the visitor values are generically evaluated starting from the commodities available in the area showing more interest on commercial aspects open opportunities to privatization. We selected Ilha Anchieta State Park because the ‘island’ condition generates a conflicting perception: beach landscape create an image of social integration atmosphere in the other hand an island can give a perception of an isolated primitive environment. These set of characteristics and some other particulars required to visit this island make this local the right place to study visitors expectation and experience in protected wild areas. For a quality evaluation on visitor experience at the Park we interview them focusing in a data analyses based on quantity-quality information. The information gathered from visitors like their motivations, expectations, desires, impressions collected from the local and others allow us to identify eleven social impact indicators from public usage that can be used in future evaluations on this site.

A restauração ecológica, ao buscar a manutenção de processos ecológicos e serviços ecossistêmicos, vem exercendo um importante papel na recuperação de ecossistemas degradados e conservação da biodiversidade. Restabelecer as interações entre organismos pode, contudo, ser uma tarefa mais árdua em ambientes de alta diversidade com complexas relações ecológicas como as florestas tropicais. Neste trabalho, investigamos a resposta dos insetos visitantes florais à restauração por plantio de mudas de espécies de Floresta Estacional Semidecidual, uma vez que o restabelecimento do processo de polinização é imprescindível para a perpetuação da floresta implantada. Para isso, foram examinados diferentes aspectos das comunidades de plantas e visitantes florais em seis áreas em processo de restauração. Primeiramente, buscouse analisar a estrutura da comunidade de visitantes florais e seus padrões de visita às flores, avaliandose também se a proximidade de fragmentos de vegetação nativa é importante na determinação da estrutura destas comunidades. Além disso, investigamos as espécies vegetais que florescem nos estágios iniciais de restauração para verificarmos se a comunidade de plantas se restabelecendo em cada local é importante na determinação da comunidade de visitantes. Por fim, avaliamos o restabelecimento do processo de polinização ao averiguar o transporte de pólen ocorrendo nas áreas restauradas e ao examinar a robustez das redes formadas frente à extinção simulada de espécies. Todas as áreas analisadas apresentaram redes de interação plantavisitante floral com estrutura e atributos comuns a outras redes mutualísticas de polinização, indicando que o processo deve estar se restabelecendo. A diferença na composição de espécies de visitantes não resultou em diferenças nos atributos das redes e a distância das áreas restauradas a fragmentos de vegetação nativa não influenciou a composição da comunidade de visitantes. Por outro lado, a vegetação regenerante composta por espécies ruderais aumentou a diversidade de visitantes e também a complexidade das redes de interação planta visitante floral, afetando a composição e provavelmente o funcionamento das comunidades. Embora tanto as redes de visitação quanto as de transporte de pólen revelem comunidades funcionalmente complexas com um número relativamente diverso de interações entre plantas e potenciais polinizadores, os dados de visitação demonstraram que nem todas as áreas possuem o mesmo padrão de resposta à extinção simulada de espécies. A presença massiva de gramíneas é provavelmente um fator determinante da robustez destas redes já que ela dificulta a regeneração natural das espécies ruderais que contribuem para o maior aporte de recursos florais para os insetos visitantes. Este trabalho demonstra a importância de se avaliar a recuperação dos aspectos funcionais de ecossistemas restaurados e tem implicações práticas para o manejo de áreas restauradas onde houver preocupação particular com a recuperação das interações plantapolinizador. Enfatizamos a importância do monitoramento constante de áreas restauradas para melhor entendermos as trajetórias de recuperação das florestas tropicais e recomendamos estudos multidisciplinares que integrem diversas áreas de conhecimento para aperfeiçoarmos as ações de restauração. / Ecological restoration plays an essential role in recovering degraded ecosystems and maintaining biodiversity. Restoration initiatives aiming to restore ecological processes and ecosystem services are increasing rapidly worldwide. However, the high diversity and complexity of interactions among organisms in tropical ecosystems make their restoration a challenge. Since pollination is one ecosystem process that must be reinstated in order to perpetuate restored forests, we investigated flower visitors response to habitat restoration. In six areas of Atlantic Semideciduous Forest undergoing restoration, blooming plants (introduced and spontaneously regenerated), flower visitors and their interactions were recorded bimonthly during one year. We used the data to analyze the patterns of insect visitation in each area and to evaluate whether remnant habitat proximity is important in determining the structure of flowervisitor communities. We also examined the role of earlysuccessional plant community in determining richness and composition of flowervisitor communities. To decide whether pollination has been successfully reinstated, we evaluated the patterns of pollen movement and the robustness of interaction networks to species loss. Our results suggest that plantpollinator communities were equally established on all restored sites. There were no differences in the metrics of flowervisitor networks between forest categories, showing that habitat proximity had no effect on visitation webs. On the other hand, spontaneously regenerated plants (mostly weeds) were responsible to increase the diversity of flowervisiting insects as well as the complexity of visitation webs, hence having a crucial role on ecosystem functioning during early stages of forest restoration. We also found that despite having a relatively complex network structure and diverse community of potential pollinators, not all areas show the same resilience to species extinction. Still, the removal of the most connected plants and pollinators first from the network caused the higher number of secondary extinctions. The robustness of pollination networks to species loss seems to be related to the occurrence of alien grasses in some of the restored areas. As alien grass invasion inhibits natural regeneration of weeds, it also decreases the availability of floral resources to insects foraging in those areas. Our findings have practical implications for the management of restored forests, mainly those with specific targets such as recovering pollinatorfriendly environments. Additionally, this study demonstrates the importance of evaluating functional aspects of biodiversity in restored areas. We highlight the relevance of monitoring restored communities at different successional stages to improve our understanding of restoration trajectories. We further recommend future research to be more integrative, so that the information produced will help to better planning restoration activities.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T17:04:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 3 / Nenhuma / O turismo de eventos é um mercado próspero, que caminha celeremente para sua consolidação dentro da economia. Contudo, o segmento apresenta características competitivas devido à diversidade de oferta de destinos que desejam sediar eventos. Com o advento da globalização que transpõe as fronteiras e direciona as atividades produtivas a novas dinâmicas espaciais, surgem diferentes oportunidades de competição. Neste sentido, os Convention & Visitors Bureaux são alternativas para aumentar o fluxo turístico em determinada região visando o seu desenvolvimento sustentável. A lógica da formação de rede pode ser percebida, através da união dos esforços das empresas e associações do trade turístico, entidades dos setores produtivos da indústria, do comércio e serviços, entidades governamentais, etc. para a captação de eventos. A atuação dos Convention &Visitors Bureaux em determinada região está refletida na eficiência das estratégias competitivas que ele adota ao perceber as ações da concorrência e pela estabilidade do / The tourism of events is a high-increasing market that is making a fast consolidation in economics. However, this segment presents competitive characteristics due to the diversity of destinations that want to held an event. Since the advent of globalization, which goes beyond frontiers and direct productive activities to new spacial dynamics, there comes different opportunities for competition. This way, the Convention & Visitors Bureau are alternative in order to raise the tourism flow in specific regions looking at its sustainable development. The logic of the net creation can be seen through the union of efforts of companies and associations of the touristic trade, entities from the productive segment of industry, commerce and services, government entities, etc in order to capture more events. The acting of the Convention & Visitors Bureau in a specific region is reflected on the efficiency of competitive strategies it adopts when realizing the moves made by the competition and the socio-economical evironm

Ett examensarbete om modebloggar för herrar/män. Hur ska modebloggen utformas för att uppfattas som en effektiv informations- och kommunikationskanal? Vilka betydelsefulla säljande argument är särskilt intressanta i modebloggar för män? Hur skall bloggen kommuniceras för att attrahera många läsare och aktiva deltagare?Vi har studerat om det finns ett behov av modebloggar hos män.A thesis about fashion blogs for men. / Program: Butikschef, textil och mode

Lam Lai Ling Charis. / "Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 2003-2004, design report." / Includes bibliographical references (p. 136-137). / INTRODUCTION / Chapter PART I --- RESEARCH STUDIES / Observations / Exploration - Model / PRECEDENT STUDIES / Mass with light / Chapter - --- Peter Zumthor / Chapter - --- Louis I. Kahn / Chapter - --- Rafael Moneo / Chapter - --- Le Corbusier / Chapter - --- Tadao Ando / Chapter - --- Steven Holl / Chapter - --- Alberto Campo Baeza / Chapter - --- Carlos Ferrater Lambarri / Chapter - --- James Turrell / Chapter - --- Keith Sonnier / Law Court / Chapter - --- Sandwich-type / Chapter - --- Core-type / Chapter - --- Courtyard-type / Chapter - --- Distinct-type / Chapter PART II --- DESIGN / Site selection / Schematic design / Programatic design / Spatial design / Final design