The potential of the Chinese outbound tourism market is substantial; however, research on this market to Canada is limited. This may be due, in part, to the lack of Approved Destination Status (ADS). This study examined the possible perceived image of Canada obtained by potential Chinese tourists, and to compare to the marketing position of Canada by CTC China Division-in effect, to conduct a product-market match between two concepts. Content analysis and an importance and performance analysis were used in the study. A questionnaire distributed at the Beijing Capital International Airport solicited perceptions of tourism in Canada, importance of selected attributes in travel decision making, performance of selected attributes on Canada, and trip preferences. The marketing position of Canada was examined through a content analysis of the promotional materials circulated from CTC China Division in Beijing, China. The coherences and gaps between perceived image of Canada and marketing position of Canada provide some marketing implications. This study concludes that the general tourism image of Canada is vague but positive, which is probably derived from the historically favorable image of Canada in china. Potential Chinese tourists had little knowledge on specific tourism sights; however, they recognized star attractions of Vancouver, Niagara Falls, and Toronto. Potential Chinese tourists prefer slow-paced trips; group tours; two weeks in length; in fall season; featuring mid-budget accommodation, preferably bed-and-breakfasts; on motor coach; visiting nature based sights at majority; and providing foods of various cultures. The current marketing position of Canada reflected through promotional materials by CTC and its partners has coherences in promoting tourism attractions in Canada to the image of Canada. Gaps exist on the promotion of travel issues and unconventional attractions, which inspires the marketing implications. Promotional resources should be allocate to unconventional tourism attractions with consideration rather than the presence of Chinese and mandarin speaking environment in Canada because of Chinese tourists’ demand for culture diversity. Promotion should include more information about travel expense and visas to establish reasonable consumer expectations.

The potential of the Chinese outbound tourism market is substantial; however, research on this market to Canada is limited. This may be due, in part, to the lack of Approved Destination Status (ADS). This study examined the possible perceived image of Canada obtained by potential Chinese tourists, and to compare to the marketing position of Canada by CTC China Division-in effect, to conduct a product-market match between two concepts. Content analysis and an importance and performance analysis were used in the study. A questionnaire distributed at the Beijing Capital International Airport solicited perceptions of tourism in Canada, importance of selected attributes in travel decision making, performance of selected attributes on Canada, and trip preferences. The marketing position of Canada was examined through a content analysis of the promotional materials circulated from CTC China Division in Beijing, China. The coherences and gaps between perceived image of Canada and marketing position of Canada provide some marketing implications. This study concludes that the general tourism image of Canada is vague but positive, which is probably derived from the historically favorable image of Canada in china. Potential Chinese tourists had little knowledge on specific tourism sights; however, they recognized star attractions of Vancouver, Niagara Falls, and Toronto. Potential Chinese tourists prefer slow-paced trips; group tours; two weeks in length; in fall season; featuring mid-budget accommodation, preferably bed-and-breakfasts; on motor coach; visiting nature based sights at majority; and providing foods of various cultures. The current marketing position of Canada reflected through promotional materials by CTC and its partners has coherences in promoting tourism attractions in Canada to the image of Canada. Gaps exist on the promotion of travel issues and unconventional attractions, which inspires the marketing implications. Promotional resources should be allocate to unconventional tourism attractions with consideration rather than the presence of Chinese and mandarin speaking environment in Canada because of Chinese tourists’ demand for culture diversity. Promotion should include more information about travel expense and visas to establish reasonable consumer expectations.

Beer, brewing, and the public house have been celebrated institutions in English culture for centuries. The drink occupies a venerable position in the gastronomy of most regions and is an integral component in the lives of many. There is an emerging literature on culinary tourism as an increasingly important element of cultural tourism. Local cuisine can be used to distinguish unique tourist regions from their competitors in an ever-globalising world. While wine tourism in particular has been studied quite thoroughly in recent years, beer tourism has been largely neglected. The purpose of this study is to explore the current state of, and potential for beer tourism in Yorkshire, England. Beer tourism can be described as “visitations to breweries, beer festivals, and beer shows for which beer tasting and experiencing the attributes of a beer region are the prime motivating factors for visitors” (Plummer et al. 2003). Through the use of a mail survey, short interviews, participant observation and secondary data collection techniques the author explored the extent to which local breweries use beer tourism practices; the specific beer tourism techniques being used by breweries in Yorkshire, and their perceived benefits and limitations; the partnerships, alliances and cooperation that may exist between the brewers themselves, and the tourism and hospitality industries; if and how tourism stakeholders draw upon beer and brewing to promote and market the region to tourists, and the role that brewers may play in this process. The author also made recommendations for brewery managers and regional marketing boards based upon relevant academic literature and the specific findings of this study. The author makes note of numerous findings on participation rates for breweries in tours and beer festivals, the perceived benefits and limitations that beer tourism has for brewers, and research on the branding and marketing of Yorkshire beer. A detailed typology of breweries based upon their relationship and degree of integration with the tourism industry is introduced. Furthermore, a tentative hypothesis based upon a brewer’s rationale for involvement in tourism and the size and success of that brewery is presented. This hypothesis must be empirically tested in future research to determine its acceptability. The author also presented a detailed review of the relevance of wine tourism literature for the field of beer tourism. It was found that although the two forms of beverage tourism share many commonalities, there exist as many differences. This comparison ultimately emphasises the importance of developing a specific beer tourism literature. It is hoped that the findings of this beer-specific research may be used by others with a keen interest in beer and tourism to undertake additional studies in the field. This study solely investigates the links between beer producers and the tourism and hospitality industry in Yorkshire, England. A similar study in an alternative setting would most likely yield interesting results. Furthermore, additional studies on beer and tourism should take the size, brewing output capacity, and possibly the revenue of a brewery into account in order to investigate potential differences between breweries’ tourism strategies based upon their size and success in their market.

A suitable climate, varied scenic terrain, and proximity of communities along Ontario’s system of 39,742 km of snowmobile trails have provided for domestic and international snowmobile tourism. Outdoor winter tourism in many parts of the world has been identified to be at risk to changes in global climate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) reported a global increase of temperature of 0.74 degrees Celsius for the period 1906 to 2005 and estimates that by the end of the 21st century the global mean temperature will increase between 1.8 degrees Celsius to 4.0 degrees Celsius. Temperature increases of only a few degrees may contribute to variances in snow-based tourism reliant on the reliability of natural snow cover. This study examines the spatial and temporal impacts of climate change scenarios upon snowmobile season length and operations within the snowmobile industry in the Province of Ontario Canada to six climate change scenarios for the 21st century. Snowmobile trail operations in Ontario are reliant upon a minimum natural snow cover of 15 cm for smooth terrain trails and 30 cm to 60 cm for rough terrain trails, temperatures less than 0 degrees Celsius and, human and financial capital. Three or more consecutive snowmobile seasons with ≤ 28 days have been identified as having serious implications for human and financial capital necessary to develop and maintain the snowmobile trail system. As early as the 2020s, north eastern snowmobile districts are projected to be least vulnerable to changes in climate with the longest snowmobile seasons > 28 days, while south central snowmobile districts are projected to be the most vulnerable to changes in climate with the shortest snowmobile seasons of < 28 days. Snowmobile trail managers identified possible strategies to adapt to a changing climate (2020s to 2080s) including: pre-season preparation of the terrain including early season packing of snow cover, re-location of the most vulnerable snowmobile trails, and strengthening inter-district alliances.

Beer, brewing, and the public house have been celebrated institutions in English culture for centuries. The drink occupies a venerable position in the gastronomy of most regions and is an integral component in the lives of many. There is an emerging literature on culinary tourism as an increasingly important element of cultural tourism. Local cuisine can be used to distinguish unique tourist regions from their competitors in an ever-globalising world. While wine tourism in particular has been studied quite thoroughly in recent years, beer tourism has been largely neglected. The purpose of this study is to explore the current state of, and potential for beer tourism in Yorkshire, England. Beer tourism can be described as “visitations to breweries, beer festivals, and beer shows for which beer tasting and experiencing the attributes of a beer region are the prime motivating factors for visitors” (Plummer et al. 2003). Through the use of a mail survey, short interviews, participant observation and secondary data collection techniques the author explored the extent to which local breweries use beer tourism practices; the specific beer tourism techniques being used by breweries in Yorkshire, and their perceived benefits and limitations; the partnerships, alliances and cooperation that may exist between the brewers themselves, and the tourism and hospitality industries; if and how tourism stakeholders draw upon beer and brewing to promote and market the region to tourists, and the role that brewers may play in this process. The author also made recommendations for brewery managers and regional marketing boards based upon relevant academic literature and the specific findings of this study. The author makes note of numerous findings on participation rates for breweries in tours and beer festivals, the perceived benefits and limitations that beer tourism has for brewers, and research on the branding and marketing of Yorkshire beer. A detailed typology of breweries based upon their relationship and degree of integration with the tourism industry is introduced. Furthermore, a tentative hypothesis based upon a brewer’s rationale for involvement in tourism and the size and success of that brewery is presented. This hypothesis must be empirically tested in future research to determine its acceptability. The author also presented a detailed review of the relevance of wine tourism literature for the field of beer tourism. It was found that although the two forms of beverage tourism share many commonalities, there exist as many differences. This comparison ultimately emphasises the importance of developing a specific beer tourism literature. It is hoped that the findings of this beer-specific research may be used by others with a keen interest in beer and tourism to undertake additional studies in the field. This study solely investigates the links between beer producers and the tourism and hospitality industry in Yorkshire, England. A similar study in an alternative setting would most likely yield interesting results. Furthermore, additional studies on beer and tourism should take the size, brewing output capacity, and possibly the revenue of a brewery into account in order to investigate potential differences between breweries’ tourism strategies based upon their size and success in their market.

A suitable climate, varied scenic terrain, and proximity of communities along Ontario’s system of 39,742 km of snowmobile trails have provided for domestic and international snowmobile tourism. Outdoor winter tourism in many parts of the world has been identified to be at risk to changes in global climate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) reported a global increase of temperature of 0.74 degrees Celsius for the period 1906 to 2005 and estimates that by the end of the 21st century the global mean temperature will increase between 1.8 degrees Celsius to 4.0 degrees Celsius. Temperature increases of only a few degrees may contribute to variances in snow-based tourism reliant on the reliability of natural snow cover. This study examines the spatial and temporal impacts of climate change scenarios upon snowmobile season length and operations within the snowmobile industry in the Province of Ontario Canada to six climate change scenarios for the 21st century. Snowmobile trail operations in Ontario are reliant upon a minimum natural snow cover of 15 cm for smooth terrain trails and 30 cm to 60 cm for rough terrain trails, temperatures less than 0 degrees Celsius and, human and financial capital. Three or more consecutive snowmobile seasons with ≤ 28 days have been identified as having serious implications for human and financial capital necessary to develop and maintain the snowmobile trail system. As early as the 2020s, north eastern snowmobile districts are projected to be least vulnerable to changes in climate with the longest snowmobile seasons > 28 days, while south central snowmobile districts are projected to be the most vulnerable to changes in climate with the shortest snowmobile seasons of < 28 days. Snowmobile trail managers identified possible strategies to adapt to a changing climate (2020s to 2080s) including: pre-season preparation of the terrain including early season packing of snow cover, re-location of the most vulnerable snowmobile trails, and strengthening inter-district alliances.

Since the early 1990s, rural decline has led many communities to begin social and economic restructuring. Several locales are seeking alternative approaches to the primary sector to support their declining industrial base (Markey et al, 2008). The tourism industry is an alternative to traditional rural livelihoods. Rural amenities and scenic landscapes have encouraged stakeholders to develop heritage tourism. The commodification of heritage has a profound impact on the place identity of rural landscapes. This is illustrated in the Model of Creative Destruction. In an earlier paper, Mitchell (1998) described the process of creative destruction through 5 stages being early commodification, advanced commodification, early destruction, advanced destruction and post destruction. In later papers, Mitchell and Vanderwerf (2010) describe the model as one that predicts that rural landscapes may evolve through three identities; rural town-scape, heritage-scape (or heritage village) and leisure-scape. Communities will remain as heritage-scapes if the desire to preserve is a dominant motivation. In contrast, if stakeholders are motivated more by a desire to profit or promote economic growth, then investments in non-conforming venues may result. This ultimately will shift the identity from one of heritage-scape to leisure-scape of mass consumption. Such investments may jeopardize a tourist’s heritage-seeking experience, and their perception of the community as a heritage village. Gaming recently has been introduced as a form of rural economic development in communities that commodify heritage (i.e. heritage-scapes). The introduction of slot machine parlours at racetracks (racinos) has helped combat the decline in the horse racing industry (Thalheimer and Ali, 2008). Furthermore, the positive economic impacts of these facilities are numerous. Negative implications, however, also accompany this type of tourism development. To date, little research has been conducted on the impacts that racino gaming developments have on communities, and, more specifically, on heritage-scapes. This thesis seeks to address this deficiency in a case study of Elora, Ontario and the Grand River Raceway. The purpose of this study was i) to determine the impact of the Grand River Raceway on Elora’s identity as a heritage village; ii) to identify the positive and negative socio-economic benefits that the facility has on the community and iii) to provide recommendations to communities who are considering similar development. To meet these objectives, data were collected through business and tourist surveys, unstructured interviews and a content analysis of secondary sources. Results suggest that the Grand River Raceway has not compromised Elora’s identity as a heritage-scape, in the eyes of business owners and tourists. Although the presence of the Grand River Raceway suggests that Elora is at the stage of early destruction or is on the way to becoming a leisure-scape, its presence has not detracted from visitor experience, as predicted by the model. This situation is attributed to marketing, location and uniformity with the existing landscape. Furthermore, the Grand River Raceway has had both positive and negative socio-economic impacts on Elora. Some of the benefits include employment, tax revenues, sponsorships and financial contributions to the municipality. At the same time, however, the Grand River Raceway has created a divided community, generated several legal issues and resulted in an uneven distribution of economic benefits. It is recommended that public consultation and resident involvement in decision making will help to minimize these negative impacts.

Food festivals and events are growing in popularity and warrant in-depth studies of festival visitors. Given the increasing socio-economic significance of this vibrant component of the world’s leisure industry, gaining knowledge of food festival visitors and their expenditure patterns is essential to festival researchers and destination marketers. This study examines the characteristics of food festival visitors and the determinants of their festival expenditures. Specifically, a conceptual model has been developed to delineate the correlations among festival spending patterns and the visitors’ event-related motivations, food-related motivations, and food involvement levels. Generally, the study was constructed around six hypotheses and five research questions, which were proposed based on a comprehensive review of literature related to events and festivals, culinary tourism, and food consumption. A questionnaire survey was designed to collect empirical data from festival attendees exiting the 9th China(Hefei) Crawfish Festival (CHCF) in Hefei city, Anhui province, China. Four aspects of food festival visitor characteristics were investigated: 1) festival expenditures in five categories (i.e., food and beverages consumed at the festival, food and beverages taken away, goods and gifts other than food and beverages, entertainment, and other expenses); 2) event-related motivations for attending, including eight individual motivators (i.e., relaxation, social, family, festival culture, excitement, escape, entertainment, and novelty); 3) food-related motivations for attending, including eight individual motivators (i.e., social, family, physical environment, food culture, celebration, sensory appeal, knowledge, and prestige); 4) food involvement traits, including four subsets (i.e., cooking, acquisition, eating, and preparing) and ten individual traits (i.e., food choice, food shopping, food processing, food presentation, cooking delight, cooking practice, taste judging, food preoccupation, and exotic food experiences). To gain a wider understanding of the food festival market, the study also investigated the visitors’ demographic and visit characteristics. A Tobit modeling procedure was applied to investigate the relationships between visitors’ festival expenditures (total and food-related) and their scores on festival motivations and food involvement scales. The results show that visitors’ total or food-related expenditures at the festival were not associated with their overall scores on event-related or food-related festival motivations, and visitors’ spending during the festival had negative correlations with their overall food involvement scale scores. However, a further investigation of sixteen individual motivators and ten food involvement traits revealed that within the event-related motivation category, “Novelty” and “Escape” were positively related to both the total and food-related expenditures, while “Social” and “Entertainment” were negatively related. Among the eight food-specific motivators, “Culture” and “Family” were negative correlates of both the total and the food/beverage spending and, respectively, “Sensory appeal” and “Social” were positive correlates of the total and food/beverage. In-depth investigations of the ten FIS items indicated that, in particular, the greater visitors’ interest in “Cooking practice” and “Exotic food experience”, the less they spent in total and on food/beverages. The only food involvement item that had a positive relation with the expenditures is “Cooking delight”. In terms of the relation between festival motivations and food involvement levels, the results of a series of t-tests reported that individuals who are more highly interested in food were more likely motivated to attend by food-related factors than individuals who are less interested in food, and those who reported less involvement with food showed equal interest in the food and event experiences available at the festival. With respect to visitor characteristics, empirical data gathered from the visitor survey provided a general description of the CHCF attendees’ age, gender, residence, and visit patterns. The findings illustrate that the visitors were typically young, and slightly more females than males attended the festival. The majority were local residents who came to the festival in a group with two or three family members or relatives/friends, and they tended to stay two to three hours at the festival. As could be expected with a food-themed festival, a great proportion of the visitors’ festival expenditures were related to food, especially, foods and beverages consumed at the festival. In terms of motivations for attending, generally, visitors were attracted to the festival by a synergy of food experiences available at the festival and the event itself. The most important motivations for attending were interpersonal, including both event-related and food-related “Social” and “Family” motivators. The event-related “Relaxation” and food-related “Physical environment” were also among the top three most important motivators in the two categories. With regard to food involvement, the visitors were relatively more highly involved with food than general food consumers; in particular, they were highly interested in “Cooking” and “Taste judging”. Overall, this study provides an in-depth examination of festival visitors and their consumption traits in a food festival context. When compared with those of the extant literature on culinary tourism and festival visitors, the results and discussion of the study confirm certain previous findings and, also, challenge some common assumptions. Based on the study’s key findings, the hypothesized conceptual model was extensively modified to illustrate the detailed correlations among a number of variables related to food festival visitors’ expenditures, event-related and food-related motivations for attending, and food involvement traits. Theoretical and practical implications of the study towards future research issues are subsequently drawn from the findings. It is suggested that the food festival market should be understood in a holistic sense within both the community festival and culinary tourism contexts, and future research endeavors should be directed towards a more comprehensive conceptual model that can thoroughly explain the food festival expenditure determinants.

This research explores aspects of small tourism businesses in a Canadian context. A number of authors (e.g., Getz and Nilsson, 2004; Hall and Rusher, 2004; Lynch and Tucker, 2004; Morrison and Teixeira, 2004a/b) have noted that while small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are acknowledged as an important parts of the tourism industry, they are underrepresented in the academic literature. Of the small business research that has been conducted, a sizeable portion has focused on industries other than tourism; the tourism-specific research on SMEs has predominately been conducted in Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand and has frequently focused on a single segment of the industry, often the small accommodation sector. Little research of this nature has been done in a Canadian context. The study was set in Stratford and Goderich, Ontario, and compares and contrasts two parts of the tourism industry: the accommodation and food and beverage sectors. The study focused on small business owners and examined three main aspects: their motivations for starting/purchasing the business, how they evaluated the success of the business and the experiences they had while running the business. The research also set out to examine the demography of Canadian tourism SME owners and how they defined small business. A mixed methods approach was adopted. Data were collected through mailed questionnaires which were followed up with semi-structured interviews. Findings showed that despite motivations being similar between study sites and industries, the paths that lead owners to their business varied greatly. Though ‘lifestyle’ motivations were predominately cited, financial considerations were also noted. Owners frequently used financial calculations to measure the achievement of their lifestyle motivations. The experiences owners had with their business were overwhelmingly positive and were grouped into six themes: changes in the industry, relationship building, staffing, the importance of customer service, financial costs of running a small business and time management. The results of this study confirmed that Canadian tourism SME owners in Stratford and Goderich, Ontario, possess similar motivations, measurements of success and experiences as their national and international counterparts.

Many new forms of tourism have emerged over the past two decades claiming to provide an alternative, responsible approach to international travel. Unlike ecotourism and volunteer tourism, travel centered on solidarity activism has not been thoroughly explored in the academic literature. Through narrative interviews conducted with organizational staff, former travelers, and members of a rural host community, this study profiles three organizations that organize solidarity travel experiences in Nicaragua. Qualitative analysis of the interviews and secondary materials including blog posts and videos reveals that staff, travelers and community members feel that they benefit from the exchanges that take place during solidarity travel. However, the study participants also articulated a number of concerns and issues with the practice of solidarity travel, including the limited nature of ongoing contact between travelers, coordinating organizations, and the communities that are visited while in Nicaragua. The experience of solidarity travel provided participants with a greater understanding of the connections between Nicaragua and North America, and a critical self-awareness for young travelers in particular, as many were experiencing the Global South for the first time. The successful translation of that exposure and awareness into activism is less certain and is identified as an area for future improvement of the overall solidarity travel experience. Overall, this study contributes to the emerging literature on solidarity travel by comparing three organizations with different missions and methods, and showing how solidarity can be enacted in a variety of ways through travel. Through the inclusion of three distinct groups of participants, this study also highlights similarities and differences related to the way solidarity travel is experienced by members of these groups.