While the genre of travel writing has been popular with authors and audiences over centuries, developments in new media, social media and public use genres have caused an adaptation of the genre in the digital space. This genre, as it exists, claims two antecedents: first, the traditional and literary version of the genre and second, the blogs that emerged and were popularized in the late twentieth century. In exploring the genre of digital travel writing, hundreds of internet publications were read, reviewed and cataloged. Of these, many began to demonstrate the criteria which would be considered prototypical for the genre. Any publication in the genre demonstrates, in various ways and to varying degrees, the following characteristics: frequent updates, multiple platform-use and multimedia inclusions, discursive constructions of identity, engagement with economies, and entanglements with the ethical concerns proper to both the genre and its situated ideology. In addition to stabilizing this vast archive of open source media as a perceptible genre, this dissertation hints at ways that the literate practices of these authors speaks to a nuanced appreciation of literacy and one that reverses the classical binary privileging reading over writing. Further, some suggestions are made for using open source and new media genres productively in writing classrooms. / English

ABSTRACT Smartphones appear to perfectly match travelers' needs due to their portability and easy access to the Internet. The current literature in management information systems (MIS), communication, marketing, and tourism provides a basic foundation with which to understand the adoption and use of information communication technology (ICT) such as smartphones. However, a critical review of this literature indicates that there is a need to develop a much richer theoretical framework that describes the use of smartphones for travel. In particular, our understanding of the use of smartphones for travel is largely established from a quantitative perspective method, and as such, it is argued that this perspective cannot provide an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms that affect the use of smartphones in travel which, in turn, shapes the travel experience. That is, it appears that there is a lack of integration of the various models describing the nature of the use of ICT in travel. Additionally, it is argued that the processes shaping the use of technology which were developed in the organizational settings have been inappropriately applied at the individual level, and therefore should be critically examined within the travel context. The overall goal of this dissertation is to develop a theoretical framework describing the mechanisms shaping the use of smartphones for travel, and can be addressed by answering the following questions: (1) What are the uses of smartphones in the context of travel? (2) What are the factors influencing the use of smartphones in the context of travel? And, (3) What are the mechanisms shaping the use of smartphones for travel (i.e. How are the factors working to shape the use of smartphones in travel context?). A phenomenological approach was used to answer these questions as quantitative methods are believed to be inadequate in describing the processes underlying the use of smartphones for travel. Twenty-four Americans who own one kind of smartphones and traveled at least once for leisure purpose in the most recent three months were interviewed extensively to gain an in-depth understanding of their uses of smartphones and resulting travel experience. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the interview transcripts, and data triangulation based upon a series of follow-up interviews and member check was used to ensure the trustworthiness of the interpretation. This study identified four categories of uses of smartphones for travel (including 25 unique activities) including the uses of smartphones for communication, entertainment, facilitation, and information search. Five sets of factors that are associated with the use of smartphones for travel were identified from both contexts of travel and everyday experience. Three sets of factors that directly lead travelers to use smartphones for travel are travelers' motivations to use smartphones as a tool to achieve some purposes, their cognitive beliefs toward the use of smartphones, and other situational facilitators (e.g. no computer access) that lead the informants to use smartphones rather than any other alternative ways. Besides the three sets of direct factors, the informants indicated that their use of smartphones changed their travel experience. More important, the everyday use of smartphones and the changes brought to people's lives appear to be indirect factors influencing the use of smartphones for travel. These results describing smartphone's uses, outcomes and the mechanisms shaping this behavior were used as the primary basis in proposing a theoretical framework describing the use of smartphones for travel including its antecedents, process, and outcomes. The theoretical framework suggests four propositions. First, the underlying processes shaping the use of smartphones for travel is a process of appropriation in which a person "makes it his/her own" whereby the smartphone user learns, adjusts, and internalizes the `essence' of the smartphone based on their uses in everyday context as well as previous travel experiences (Proposition 1). Second, the use of smartphones in everyday context lead to the changes of communication, information consumption, and the uses of other digital devices, and these changes influenced the use of smartphones for travel through transformation effect and spillover effect (Proposition 2). Third, the changes in everyday experience influence the use of smartphones for travel by influencing traveler's motivations in the context of travel (Proposition 3). Finally, this study indicates that the appropriation process leads to changes in the travel experience. In particular, people change their travel activities including pre-trip planning, en-route arrangements, after-trips activities as well as their interpretations toward trips and sensations (Proposition 4). This study clearly delineates the relationships between use of smartphones and the impact of this use on travel behavior, and suggests several new perspectives with which to study the impact of technology on travel. First, this study indicates that a systems view should be adopted in tourism studies. Travelers are not isolated from their daily lifestyles, personalities, social connections, and other individual background (e.g. knowledge, preferences, etc.). As such, the behavior of travelers cannot be understood without consideration of the influence of other settings. Therefore in tourism studies, a systems perspective is important so as to reflect the intimate relationships (and influences) of the various `subsystems. Second, this study suggests a dynamic view for studies of technology and travel. The results of this study indicate that the uses of smartphones in travel are shaped by the interactions of a variety of factors. Therefore, in the studies of technology and travel it is important to understand the dynamic processes which shape the use of technology for travel. Third, this study suggests a development view for the study of technology and travel. This perspective includes not only the recognition that adoption of new technology may influence travelers and travel experience, but also the evolving use of the new ICT tools (e.g. smartphones) along with the development of these tools may substantially change travelers' behavior and travel experience. Additionally, this study suggests a new perspective is needed regarding the concept of travel experience in that the use of smartphones reconfigures the current relationships between travelers, space, and time and as such, implies that the conceptualization of travel experience should go beyond the argument of the dichotomy of everyday life and travel and evolve with the development of information technology. This study also offers several managerial implications in the areas of mobile marketing, destination marketing and management, and the design of travel information services on the smartphones platform. / Business Administration/Interdisciplinary

Following the 2004 EU accession of the eight Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, the landscape of UK tourism workplaces transformed. Large numbers of predominantly young, female and educated migrants entered the industry through mostly entry level roles. Despite their significant contribution to the industry, the experiences of female migrant tourism workers remain under-researched. This study explores the experiences of CEE migrant women employed in low wage tourism positions. It examines how gender, age and ethno-nationality intersect and how media discourses of Eastern European migration together with stigmatizing low status tourism work impact on female migrants’ employment experiences and career opportunities. Additionally, it gives insight into the intersecting motivations for CEE women to migrate and enter tourism, with tourism workplaces both facilitating and restricting their occupational mobility. The exploration of participants’ employment experiences reveals tourism workplaces as hostile environments for migrant women, with complex power relations and limitations to career progression for those highly educated. Nonetheless, despite working in exploitative environments, CEE migrant women emerge not only as passive victims but also as active agents confronting inequalities and asserting their rights. Underpinned by feminist participatory action research, hopeful tourism and the theory of intersectionality, the study adopts a visual and participatory methodology. It employs a range of qualitative research methods, both conventional and innovative. Through its empowering and transformative approach, the study actively engages participants in the research process, gives in-depth insight into their multifaceted experiences, as well as fostering co-learning and reaching wider audiences via a public engagement community event. In this way, the research gives voice and visibility to this often disempowered minority group as well as advancing research theory and practice. The study demonstrates how the application of visual methods allows for participants to create representations of their experiences and unveil the multilayered nature of their realities.

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This thesis presents a novel approach to evaluating intercity travel demand given the introduction of a new travel mode. A joint RP-SP survey is designed to collect both experienced and hypothetical travel decisions. The stated preference aspect of the survey evaluates the level-of-service attributes that influence intercity mode choice. Emphasis is placed on the effects of local accessibility by adapting a geographical disaggregation at the Forward Sortation Area (FSA). Survey distribution collected data primarily through the use of online social networks such as Facebook and Reddit in addition to an online marketing research survey panel. Intercity mode choice was modeled with Random Utility Maximizing (RUM) discrete choice models and is represented by Multinomial Logit (MNL) and Nested Logit (NL) choice structures. Key finding is that access to transit stations significantly influences intercity mode choices.

This thesis presents a novel approach to evaluating intercity travel demand given the introduction of a new travel mode. A joint RP-SP survey is designed to collect both experienced and hypothetical travel decisions. The stated preference aspect of the survey evaluates the level-of-service attributes that influence intercity mode choice. Emphasis is placed on the effects of local accessibility by adapting a geographical disaggregation at the Forward Sortation Area (FSA). Survey distribution collected data primarily through the use of online social networks such as Facebook and Reddit in addition to an online marketing research survey panel. Intercity mode choice was modeled with Random Utility Maximizing (RUM) discrete choice models and is represented by Multinomial Logit (MNL) and Nested Logit (NL) choice structures. Key finding is that access to transit stations significantly influences intercity mode choices.

A disproportionate number of Americans drive to work alone – at the individual state level, the figure ranges from a low of 58% in New York to 85% in Alabama. What factors explain this travel behavior and what sort of policy responses are required to effect changes? In responding to this question, we used multiple test beds and made the case for a demand side management approach to remedy parking problems particularly observed in cities central business districts. To this end, we provide an overview of travel behavior and information on policy levers by generating detailed profiles that capture the travel behavior of commuters in the Pacific states of the continental United States. Building off the result that revealed San Francisco as an outlier, we examine the efficacy of modifying parking rates, via elasticity measures, to influence the demand for parking by developing a two-stage panel data regression optimization model for managing parking in the City of San Francisco. A key contribution of the research is deriving these price elasticities of parking demand estimates using panel data methods. Coefficient estimates from the panel data regression are used to fit a linear prediction model that is the primary input to the optimization model. The balance of the thesis focuses on parking information by discussing the design and implementation of ParkPGH, a novel smart parking application that provides real time and predictive information on garage parking availability in downtown Pittsburgh. At its core is a predictive model that uses as input historical parking, weather and event data to provide estimates of available parking spaces. We provide an example of the model implementation using data from the Theater Square garage where we utilize neural network-based predictors and multiple net searches to generate both continuous and binary estimates of parking availability. Provision was made for the binary classifier given the need to reduce the possibility of Type II errors.