M. Tech. (Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Faculty of Human Sciences) Vaal University of Technology. / Tourism is regarded as a global phenomenon in the 21st Century and is the world’s largest and fastest growing industry. Many countries globally look at tourism as a key driver for economic growth and rescue to their economic slumber (Brida, Lanzilotta, Moreno & Santiñaque 2018:62). In South Africa, tourism contributed immensely to total employment and economic activity in the country and the government sees this industry as a great resource, the country’s strategy for expansion and a possible vehicle to take South Africa into a new economic trajectory. The National Department of Tourism developed the National Tourism Sector Strategy (NTSS 2016-2026) to facilitate the growth of this industry. As a result, direct tourism performance is measured on an ongoing basis against the goals set for South Africa of which two of the performance measures are length of stay and direct spend (NTSS 2019). These two are important because if visitors stay for longer periods at a destination, their spending increases as they partake in more tourism activities and pay for accommodation. This in turn increases the value attached to tourism as an engine for economic growth (SA Tourism 2007:59). Tourists’ spending and length of stay are therefore very important variables in the tourism industry as they contribute immensely to the economic value of tourism to specific destinations (Wong, Fong, & Law, 2016:958; Wang, Fong, Law & Fang 2018:472; Montañoa, Rossellób & Sansób 2019:112). Length of stay and average spend per day by tourists are fluctuating for South Africa as a tourism destination (SAT 2009-2018). The growth of both these variables has also been small over a period of ten years. These fluctuations and slow growth exert pressure on the tourism industry (SAT 2005-2018) and therefore annually form part of the strategic objectives of the National Department of Tourism (NTSS 2019). An in-depth analysis of these two variables is lacking and understanding the factors influencing these two variables within a South African context is of paramount importance to improving the economic value of tourism to the country. Although the factors influencing the two variables have been widely researched, these cannot be stereotyped to all destinations as they are destination specific (Barros & Machado 2010:693; Gemara & Correiab 2018:56) and these have not been analysed in the context of South Africa as a tourism destination. Though fluctuating patterns and slow growth on tourists’ length of stay and spending in South Africa is evident and is a cause of concern, the real problem here is lack of in-depth information on factors which influence these two key variables from a South African perspective. Even though South African Tourism have placed length of stay and spending of tourists as key strategic variables that need to be closely monitored and improved it needs action from the South African context. Once these factors are known, only then can South African Tourism be able to condition them positively for the benefit of the country’s economy. This research therefore sought to explore the factors influencing the stay duration and spending behaviour of international air tourists to South Africa and how these factors can be developed to increase tourists’ length of stay and spending in South Africa. Hence the aim of this research was to identify and analyse factors that influence length of stay and spending behaviour of international tourists reaching South Africa by air and in both cases, attention was given to the intrinsic and extrinsic contributing factors. Literature was reviewed on tourists’ travel behaviour by means of an in-depth discussion of travel motivations in general and travel motivations to South Africa specifically, tourists’ decision-making process, type of holiday decisions tourists makes, and the factors that influence these tourists’ decisions. The composition of the total tourism product was also analysed as this has an influence on tourists’ travel behaviour. This was followed by a comprehensive analysis of literature concerning tourists’ spending behaviour and visitors’ length of stay, which form the pith of this study. The analysis focused on the definition of concepts such as tourists’ length of stay and spending behaviour, the importance of length of stay and spending behaviour of tourists in tourism, how tourism spending is measured, how tourism expenditure data is gathered, what constitutes tourism spending/expenditure and lastly the factors which influence tourists’ length of stay and spending behaviour. A quantitative paradigm in the form of a sample survey was used in conducting this research. This research follows a cross-sectional design (exploratory and descriptive in nature at the same time) which involves the collection of data on more than one case and at a single point in time. The target population of this study comprised international tourists who visited South Africa by air. These visitors were accessed at one of the top tourist attractions in Cape Town (one of the most popular cities for international tourists) namely Table Mountain Cable Way. Table Mountain was selected as a data collection hub as it enjoys the lion’s share of South Africa’s international tourist arrivals. According to the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company (TMACC2014:11), Table Mountain was named Africa’s leading tourist attraction in the World Travel Awards 2014 which makes it possible to pull many international tourists to the country of South Africa. Guided by previous similar studies, the sample size for this study was predetermined at 800 respondents of which 720 were completed without error signifying a response rate of 90%. A non-probability sampling technique namely convenience sampling was chosen for this survey as no list was available on who would be visiting the Table Mountain Arial Cable Way. The 800 international tourists were therefore purposively (only international visitors) and conveniently recruited depending on their willingness to participate in the research project; thus, a non-probability sampling technique was followed. Through the researcher distributing the questionnaire in person and using own judgement, a diverse range of nationalities, age groups and gender was included in the sample for it to be a close representation of all the visitors to South Africa as well as of the phenomenon under investigation. The questionnaire was designed and used to obtain detailed data on travel motivations, spending patterns and length of stay of the international air tourist market to South Africa. The questionnaire was designed from previous studies related to the above key variables and this added to the content validity of the questionnaire. A pre-test study was conducted by means of 10 survey questionnaires administered to academic experts at a University who had travelled abroad, and this added to the face validity of the questionnaire. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 for Windows was used to analyse the data and data gathered was presented by means of frequency tables and analytically described, subjected to exploratory factor analysis, one-way analysis of variances (ANOVA), t-tests, and Spearman’s rank order correlation analysis to establish the relationships between variables. Based on the empirical findings of this research project it is concluded that more males than females participated in this research and on average the age of the participants is 41 years, mostly married people and mainly staying in hotels and lodges. A variety of nationalities participated in this research but most of the respondents were from USA, UK followed by a huge margin from Germany, Netherlands and Australia, a profile which matches that of typical visitors to South Africa and were holders of a degree or diploma, followed by those with a postgraduate qualification with the majority being professionals followed by those in managerial positions. Most of the respondents to the study were first-time visitors to South Africa, travelling in a group of 3 or less people, and the average number of people in the travel group was 4 people and the average number of previous visits to South Africa was 1.68 times. Many of the respondents to this study travelled to South Africa mainly for holiday/leisure mostly to enjoy the natural attractions of South Africa since they placed high importance on appreciation of natural resources, enjoyment of beautiful scenery and sightseeing of tourist spots as important travel motivators. Most of the respondents to this study stayed on average 16.42 days which is higher than the annual average length of stay of international tourists. This information is very important from a marketing perspective as it helps in the profiling of tourists, targeting, tourism product development and positioning. Of importance as well is the fact that that the bigger the travel group the higher their spending will be. The most important aspects directly and significantly influencing length of stay were time constraints, the location of South Africa and financial constraints. It can be concluded that length of stay, availability of time to shop and respondents’ experience as a tourist directly and significantly contributes to visitor spending while interaction with the locals does not. The main travel motivations of international tourists to South Africa were Relaxation and Novelty, Social motivations, Cultural and heritage motivations, Personal Motivations and Destination motivations, of which Relaxation and Novelty and Cultural and Heritage motivations were rated high as travel motivations of tourists to South Africa. The main factors influencing length of stay of the respondents to this study were Personal experience, Access attributes, Destination attributes and Personal constraints. Of these factors, personal constraints and destination attributes ranked the highest as influencers of tourists’ length of stay. The respondents’ length of stay was least influenced by access attributes. The main factors influencing tourist spending patterns as determined by the factor analysis were: “Access and opportunity”, “Time availability” and “External influences”. Tourists’ spending was to a larger extent influenced by time availability followed by access and opportunity but least affected by external influences. The recommendations to increase length of stay and spending of inbound air tourists to South Africa made in this study are specific to South Africa as they were derived from a deep exploration of factors that influence air tourists’ length of stay and spending behaviour to South Africa. If South African Tourism, tourism industry associations and business owners implement these recommendations, this will improve both stay duration and spending of inbound air tourists to South Africa which has been fluctuating and showing slow growth. The recommendations most importantly add to literature that was lacking from a South African perspective on how length of stay and spending can be positively influenced for inbound air tourists to South Africa. The recommendations are as follows: South African Tourism, various industry associations (FEDHASA, ASATA, GHASA, RASA, SATSA), tour operators and travel agents, individual tourism and hospitality business companies that offer tourism products and services to inbound air tourists should take into consideration that length of stay is inhibited by personal constraints. It is thus important to offer value for money to the tourists. Continuous creative marketing strategies should be employed to attract long staying tourists to this country. South African Tourism, tourism business owners and industry associations should utilise new approaches and strategies that provides information about diverse range of attractions, spending opportunities and facilitate easy access as these are important to tourists who stay longer. Tourists’ personal experiences have a significant influence on tourists’ decisions to stay for longer periods hence South African Tourism and respective industry associations should offer thorough training to tourism and hospitality product/service providers and employees to enhance quality interaction with the visitors as this has a significant influence on the tourists’ decisions to stay longer in South Africa. Tourists that have been to South Africa before were influenced by personal experiences to stay for longer periods while the older and higher educated tourists were less influenced by the length of stay factors owing to their experience and confidence of what they want from a holiday in South Africa. South African Tourism, industry associations and tourism business owners should therefore target repeat visitors and the old, educated tourist market as they tend to stay for longer periods thus adding to the economic returns through their prolonged spending. Tourists that travel in larger groups are influenced by personal constraints, namely time and money; hence creating opportunities for value packages by tourism business owners in conjunction with wholesale and retail travel companies will ensure that this market stays longer in South Africa. Since destination attributes have proven to significantly influence length of stay of international tourists to South Africa, South Africa Tourism needs to create awareness on tourism opportunities that are not fully realised. This will increase tourists’ knowledge of the wide variety of activities and attractions to see in South Africa; hence they will budget long enough time to enjoy these products. Since spending patterns of tourists are influenced by time availability, if tourists stay longer, they will have enough time to shop and to experience destination products and services; hence their spending will rise. It is important to improve the environment related to Access and opportunity, Time availability and External influences as these factors influence how much tourists spend in the destination visited. The most important aspect to give attention to in order increase tourists’ spending is time availability. Opportunities should be created for tourists to spend money, which should be communicated on various platforms. South African Businesses that offer shopping opportunities (especially in shopping malls) should extend shopping hours late in the evening to allow tourists time to shop but safety and security should be geared up. Most of the tours do not always offer ample time for shopping and this should be communicated to the tour operators as it will also assist the local economy to grow.

The work considers the problem of seasonality in the ski resorts of the Sverdlovsk region. In this work you see the concept and the problem of seasonality, additional services and attractivity of the the ski resorts in the Sverdlovsk region. The work considers the way of making the ski resorts in the Sverdlovsk region year-round tourist destination. Ski resorts in the Sverdlovsk region analyzed by the presented in the article criteria, but a special place is given to additional services. / Объектом работы выступают горнолыжные комплексы Свердловской области. Предметом исследования является анализ функционирования горнолыжных комплексов в течении круглого года. Цель – определение действующего статуса, привлекательности, значимости и перспективы развития горнолыжных комплексов Свердловской области как круглогодичного ресурса.

В магистерской диссертации исследованы проблемы формирования инвестиционного регионального климата. Представлен ряд сценариев по развитию туристской отрасли и рассмотрен один из проектов по формированию туристской деятельности. / In the master's thesis, the problems of the formation of the regional investment climate are investigated. A number of scenarios for the development of the tourism industry are presented and one of the projects for the formation of tourist activity is considered.

Со второй половины XX века всё большую значимость получает неценовая конкуренция, которая стала постепенно вытеснять ценовую. В такой же ситуации оказались и регионы, которые тоже имеют свою конкуренцию с другими территориями за туристический поток, приток квалифицированных рабочих, ученых, деятелей культуры и прочих людей, которые могут стимулировать социально-экономический рост региона. Правильные коммуникации создают желательную репутацию, которая зачастую является сильным преимуществом перед другими конкурентами, повышая стоимость продукта или услуги, или помогая потребителю в принятии решения по поводу путешествия или переезда именно в этот регион, а не в другой. Одними из новых и быстро развивающихся технологий, которые всё чаще используются в качестве инструментов продвижения территории, являются виртуальная и дополненная реальности. Всё больше менеджеров по продвижению региона начинают их осваивать, но при этом они до сих пор не являются распространёнными для этой области. В представленной работе отражены особенности использования инструментов виртуальной и дополненной реальностей в продвижении территории, проанализированы практика и результаты научных исследований в этой области. Основываясь на результатах методологической и эмпирической базы исследований, разработана коммуникативная программа продвижения Пермского края как региона с использованием инструментов виртуальной и дополненной реальностей. / Since the second half of the 20th century, non-price competition has become increasingly important, gradually replacing price competition. In the same situation, regions have also found themselves in competition with other territories for tourist flows, influx of skilled workers, scientists, cultural figures and other people who can stimulate the socio-economic growth of the region. The right communications create a desirable reputation, which is often a strong advantage over other competitors, adding value to a product or service, or helping the consumer decide to travel or relocate to that particular region rather than another. Virtual and augmented reality are some of the new and rapidly evolving technologies that are increasingly being used as tools to promote a territory. More and more promotional managers are beginning to master them, but they are still not common for this area. This paper reflects the peculiarities of virtual and augmented reality tools in territory promotion, analyses the practice and research results in this field. Based on the results of the methodological and empirical research base, a communication programme for the promotion of the Perm Territory as a region using virtual and augmented reality tools has been developed.

This research explores the perspectives of the opinion leaders of the activism movement in Tenerife on tourism on the island and the solutions proposed by these stakeholders to the current sustainability problems related to tourism. These issues include tourist's misbehavior in natural protected areas, waste, submarine emissions of residual water sewage, water shortage, gentrification, overtourism, overpopulation, 14,6% of unemployment in 2022, decline of agricultural land, high population density, etc. Furthermore, this study looks into how sustainability is articulated by the activism movement. The information was gathered from seven semi-structured interviews with opinion leaders of the activism movement with backgrounds in different fields including terrestrial biology, marine biology, archaeology, apiculture and agriculture. A thematic analysis was used to catalogue their responses into common topics to gain an overall picture of their perspective. The activist movement perceives the current tourism model as part of a system that needs to change by controlling and setting boundaries to tourist flows, immigration, construction and real state. Furthermore, they suggest a societal change towards valuing the natural and cultural heritage of the island. Sustainability is articulated by the activists as a balance between humans and nature, which should be obtained through a democratic decision-making process that assesses a common sustainable vision in line with scientific evidence. The activists further suggest that the transition towards sustainability requires cooperation between top-down changes and bottom-up changes, which will ultimately also transform the type of tourism on the island.

Pictures are often used when marketing a tourist destination. Photographs of a place, a destination, are used to convince customers and stimulate daydreaming in order to turn a potential customer into a real customer. For some people the photographic representations of a place is the only one they experience. With this in mind, it is reasonable to question how representations of places and geographical imaginations are being (re)produced when marketing a destination by using photographs. This paper aims to study how representations of place and people are used when marketing a tourist destination via travel commercial. The study was conducted by analysing images used for marketing tourist destinations located outside Europe, with a focus on photographs portraying people. The pictures included in this study were found in five travel catalogues for the Swedish market. The sample was narrowed down and reduced to three pictures, which were analysed by using a semiotic image analysis. The study aim to answer the following questions: When marketing a tourist destination how are people in the tourism advertising being presented? In what way can the images that are being used for tourism advertising generate stereotypes about places/people? The study indicates that, according to the included sample, the people portrayed in tourism advertising are being presented in a stereotypical manner.

Sustainable Destination Development implies reaching the 17 SDGs at a destination level. Climate crisis is arguably the primary challenge faced by destinations today. It is now commonly accepted that the crisis is primarily caused due to the burning of fossil fuels while converting it into energy. Therefore, decarbonization of the energy sector appears to be a viable way to eliminate the crisis. This ensued the installation of unprecedented amounts of renewable energy facilities in the last two decades, especially in Europe. As such onshore wind power is at the forefront of this trend and is projected to be the primary renewable source of electricity in Europe in foreseeable future. However, substituting fossil fuels by the renewable energy sources such as onshore wind power requires vast land areas, and as argued by many, may undermine biodiversity conservation – an equally urgent matter to be addressed by destinations. This is because land-use change is identified as the foremost cause of the biodiversity loss globally. Thus, this study was aimed to elucidate the ‘green-green paradox’ (i.e., jeopardizing biodiversity while combating climate crisis) using a qualitative research methodology. The main research questions were intended to reveal current best practices of dealing with the challenge, identify main barriers, and suggest solutions for a better practice in the future. Data was collected through semi-structured expert interviews, and the results were reported using thematic analysis. The study found that the current best practise of addressing the biodiversity challenge is via the Mitigation Hierarchy framework – a regulatory tool intended at safeguarding biodiversity while developing infrastructure projects. Simultaneously, the weak implementation of the hierarchy in practice was identified as the primary barrier for harmonious wind power – biodiversity relationship. The huge knowledge gap in understanding the depth of impacts, lack of uniform methodologies to measure and account for them, and the lack of collaboration and communication between stakeholders were identified as the main factors that impede operationalization of the framework. A need for more stricter and better implemented regulations was an important emergent theme throughout the results that was deemed to potentially be the defining factor in addressing the mentioned impediments.

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Varje bilresa börjar och slutar på en parkeringsplats. Samhället har under lång tid utformats med bilens framkomlighet i åtanke vilket bidragit till att det idag finns mer parkeringsyta än boyta i Sverige. Den genomsnittliga bilen står parkerad 97 procent av sin livstid och nyttjar en stor mängd markyta som parkering. Parkeringsyta anses således inte främja en hållbar markanvändning som förespråkas i de globala målen som antagits i Agenda 2030. Genom att minska andelen parkeringsyta kan den frigjorda marken användas till nya bostäder, grönområden och främja en levande stadsmiljö. Växjö är i en expansiv fas. Projektet Crossways är en del av denna expansion och har utformats för exploatering av den nya stadsdelen Bäckaslöv. Crossways ska utgöra ett nav för innovation och utveckling med målet att uppnå hållbar stadsutveckling samt möta de globala målen. Det är därför viktigt att utnyttja den mark som finns tillgänglig på ett så effektivt sätt som möjligt. Syftet med studien är att undersöka möjligheterna till ett reducerat parkeringstal för fastigheten Bäckaslöv 1 genom tillämpning av hållbara parkerings- och mobilitetslösningar. Vidare är syftet att tydliggöra sambandet mellan hållbar mobilitet och stadsutveckling ur ett socialt, ekologiskt och ekonomiskt perspektiv. Studiens metodval grundas i att skapa en grundläggande och bred förståelse för problemområdet, med en platsspecifik koppling till fastigheten Bäckaslöv 1. Litteraturstudier ansågs vara relevant för att förstå sambandet mellan parkeringsyta och mobilitetslösningar. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkter baseras i stor utsträckning på forskning som är peer-reviewed för att säkerställa en hög reliabilitet. För den platsspecifika kopplingen har intervjuer samt en empirisk studie utförts. Intervjuerna gjordes med exploatören för fastigheten samt en representant från Växjö kommuns stadsbyggnadskontor. Den empiriska studien utfördes för att bilda en uppfattning av fastighetens geografiska läge i staden. Resultatet grundar sig i att parkeringstalet är möjligt att påverka eftersom Växjö kommun i sin parkeringsnorm antagit flexibla parkeringstal. De fundamentala delarna för att uppnå en hållbar markanvändning och samhällsutveckling konstateras i studien vara lösningar mellan parkering, mobilitet samt styrmedel för ändrade resvanor. Antalet parkeringsplatser är en fysisk tillgång, eller begränsning, som styr och reglerar såväl bil- som markanvändning. Samnyttjande av parkeringsplatser och fordon ger en minskad efterfrågan av parkeringsyta. På liknande sätt leder en transparent prissättning av parkeringsytan i kombination med ett reglerat utbud av parkering till en minskad bilanvändning och således en ökad användning av mer hållbara färdmedel. Indelningen av stadens parkeringszon påverkar antalet parkeringsplatser och är ett verktyg vid reducering av parkeringstalet. Det är viktigt att parkeringszonen aktualiseras i tidigt projekteringsskede vid exploatering, för att ta hänsyn till den kommande stadsutvecklingens parkeringsbehov. En reduktion av parkeringstalet kan emellertid ge negativa konsekvenser i form av begränsad tillgänglighet i staden. Mobilitetsplanens funktion är att ge vägledning som bidrar till mer effektivt och miljövänligt resande. Konstaterat i studien är att Växjö kommun bör ställa högre krav på mobilitetsplanen vid exploatering för att på lång sikt främja hållbart resande. Slutligen visar studien att det är möjligt att reducera parkeringstalet för fastigheten Bäckaslöv 1 vid införandet av parkerings- och mobilitetslösningar. / Every car trip starts and ends in a parking lot. For a long time, society has been designed with car accessibility in mind, which has contributed to the fact that there is now more parking space in Sweden than living space. The average car spends 97 percent of its life parked, necessitating extensive parking planning. As a result, parking spaces are not considered to promote sustainable land use, as advocated in Agenda 2030's global goals. By reducing parking space promotion, available land can be used for new housing, green areas, and a vibrant urban environment. Växjö is currently in an expansion phase, with the Project Crossways designed for the development of the new district Bäckaslöv. The Crossways project will serve as a center for innovation and development in order to achieve sustainability and global goals. As a result, it is critical to make the best use of the available land. The study's goal is to look into the possibility of reducing parking numbers for the property Bäckaslöv 1 by implementing sustainable parking and mobility solutions. Furthermore, the goal is to establish a link between sustainable mobility and urban development from a social, ecological, and economic standpoint. The results are based on the fact that the parking number can be influenced because Växjö municipality has adopted flexible parking numbers in its parking policy. The study discovered that the fundamental components for achieving sustainable land use and societal development are solutions between parking, mobility, and tools for changing travel habits. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that by implementing parking and mobility solutions, it is possible to reduce the number of parking spaces for the Bäckaslöv 1 property. To look at the journey perspective, however, high demands must be placed on parking and mobility solutions, which means that it should be easy to get to and from destination points in a sustainable way without using a car.

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