Suchergebnisse

Tourism can symbolically underpin policies for economic and political cross-border cooperation but the resulting rhetoric may not be supported by all tourism-related stakeholders. Our research on the viability, community representation and ethical components of the Iron Curtain Trail and the European Green Belt in the German-Czech borderlands shows that these tourism projects commodify conflictive borderland histories to gain support for a European-wide cross-border cooperation discourse. Despite these efforts, both projects are contested on local levels. The contestations result from the selectivity of EU-inspired memory politics and lacking participative governance across the border. This combination undermines the capacity to deal with (i) different socio-spatial identities, creating challenging encounters between commodified borderland histories and locals with their memories; (ii) development and promotion challenges of the tourism projects, potentially undermining their viability as tourism products. In the light of these contestations, defining when EU-inspired borderland tourism projects are successful becomes a political issue with important moral questions regarding whose memory should be commodified, and for which purposes.

Cross-border tourism governance processes have remained complex despite increasing permeability of European borders in the last decades. While it has been suggested that the presence of cross-border socio-cultural connections may alleviate border-related tourism management complexities, no detailed studies have been conducted yet to explore this assumption. This paper analyses the role of socio-cultural relations and history and identity discourses in destination development of the cross-border Vogtland region between the federal states of Saxony and Thuringia (Germany). Results of the mixed-method case study indicate that even though financial incentives remain central for cooperation, mobilising an identity discourse facilitates cross-border tourism governance in three ways: through (i) reducing the perception among stakeholders that administrative borders pose barriers for cooperation; (ii) internal stimulation of discussion of socio-economic and identity futures, and (iii) external presentation of a univocal destination image, thereby reducing marketing ambiguity and re-fuelling internal regional identity performativity. These effects are critically dependent on political decisions and the integrative institutionalisation of diverse stakeholders' voices in the destination development and management process. Capitalising on place identities may facilitate cross-border destination development but may also create pitfalls to safeguard the regional integration of stakeholders in this process.

Purpose: This study aims to present and explore the landscape approach as an innovative management model for heritage tourism, applied to the case of the Brussels Art Nouveau heritage. The main objective of this paper is to gain insight in discrepancies regarding visions on the tourism potential of the Brussels' Art Nouveau and the Art Nouveau patrimony's integration within a (themed) tourism landscape. Methods: The research used an appropriate methodological approach for each of the stakeholder groups. The survey among visitors (N=105) was organized in the heart of Brussels and analyzed with statistical techniques (cross tabling and associations). Interviews (5) were conducted with key informants (policymakers, heritage managers and the Brussels DMO), after which content analysis was applied to the transcripts. Results: The research resulted in an innovative perspective to increase common ground between a landscape centered perspective with a focus on heritage and a tourismscape centered approach. The research deduced several hidden mismatches in perception and appreciation of the Art Nouveau and showed that there are major information and promotion problems, fostered by politically influenced fragmentation and lack of collaboration. Implications: By gaining insight in the visitor experience of a tourism product's potential, valuable knowledge is created for DMO's. The implementation of a themed landscape approach has the dual potential to increase the consistency of the heritage while developing a higher level of tourist experience. ; SUBMITTED: SEP. 2019, REVISION SUBMITTED: JAN. 2020, 2nd REVISION SUBMITTED: APR. 2020, ACCEPTED: MAY 2020, REFEREED ANONYMOUSLY, PUBLISHED ONLINE: 30 MAY 2020

Purpose: This study aims to present and explore the landscape approach as an innovative management model for heritage tourism, applied to the case of the Brussels Art Nouveau heritage. The main objective of this paper is to gain insight in discrepancies regarding visions on the tourism potential of the Brussels' Art Nouveau and the Art Nouveau patrimony's integration within a (themed) tourism landscape. Methods: The research used an appropriate methodological approach for each of the stakeholder groups. The survey among visitors (N=105) was organized in the heart of Brussels and analyzed with statistical techniques (cross tabling and associations). Interviews (5) were conducted with key informants (policymakers, heritage managers and the Brussels DMO), after which content analysis was applied to the transcripts. Results: The research resulted in an innovative perspective to increase common ground between a landscape centered perspective with a focus on heritage and a tourismscape centered approach. The research deduced several hidden mismatches in perception and appreciation of the Art Nouveau and showed that there are major information and promotion problems, fostered by politically influenced fragmentation and lack of collaboration. Implications: By gaining insight in the visitor experience of a tourism product's potential, valuable knowledge is created for DMO's. The implementation of a themed landscape approach has the dual potential to increase the consistency of the heritage while developing a higher level of tourist experience.

Purpose: This study aims to present and explore the landscape approach as an innovative management model for heritage tourism, applied to the case of the Brussels Art Nouveau heritage. The main objective of this paper is to gain insight in discrepancies regarding visions on the tourism potential of the Brussels' Art Nouveau and the Art Nouveau patrimony's integration within a (themed) tourism landscape.
Methods: The research used an appropriate methodological approach for each of the stakeholder groups. The survey among visitors (N=105) was organized in the heart of Brussels and analyzed with statistical techniques (cross tabling and associations). Interviews (5) were conducted with key informants (policymakers, heritage managers and the Brussels DMO), after which content analysis was applied to the transcripts.
Results: The research resulted in an innovative perspective to increase common ground between a landscape centered perspective with a focus on heritage and a tourismscape centered approach. The research deduced several hidden mismatches in perception and appreciation of the Art Nouveau and showed that there are major information and promotion problems, fostered by politically influenced fragmentation and lack of collaboration.
Implications: By gaining insight in the visitor experience of a tourism product's potential, valuable knowledge is created for DMO's. The implementation of a themed landscape approach has the dual potential to increase the consistency of the heritage while developing a higher level of tourist experience.

Many destinations aim at accessing international markets to generate income from abroad, stimulate innovation and develop new skills. This paper examines the determinants – conditions that may represent barriers or enhancers – for tourist destination's international markets access. We contrast various sets of determinants from: 1) tourism literature on internationalisation, 2) two extensive studies from the exports sector covering 48 years of data, and 3) empirical work on 30 cases at the destination and the source market, considering Cajas Massif's – Southern Ecuador – access to German organised groups. We found that tourism literature focuses on more specific conditions, such as distance or macroeconomic indicators; while exports' literature deals with a more complete range of conditions to explain determinants. We conclude that determinants such as collective initiatives, defined target markets or efficient processes play a priority role in tourist destinations; and that although exports' literature is useful, it is not totally transferable to tourism. Therefore, adding input from the empirical cases, we triangulate the data to consolidate a comprehensive overview of 46 determinants specific for tourist destinations' international market access. This work has implications for decision makers, firms, governments and educators.

Many developing countries aim at balancing macro-level, growth-oriented economic policies with local community-based development strategies under the auspices of global governance organizations. South Africa adopts such a strategy to be competitive in the global market and, simultaneously, to alleviate domestic socio-spatial inequalities inherited from the apartheid period. Based on a qualitative case study in and around Pilanesberg National Park, this paper assesses whether this seemingly contradictory policy combination elicits the empowerment of traditionally marginalized actors. We use an institutional approach to evaluating sustainable development policy. Results of a policy perception analysis indicate that the substantive aspects of South Africa's policies are widely acknowledged in the Pilanesberg area. The problem rests with the procedural aspects of how to deal with the shared responsibility of stakeholders with different interests and levels of authority. The paper concludes that power can be meaningfully shifted to community stakeholders only when the investments of global and national-level players are redirected towards establishing a system of procedures to solve local-level disparities in skills and power between the "jointly responsible" actors. These disparities currently result in deadlocks regarding local sustainable development in the Pilanesberg area, despite promising multi-level policies implemented in the post-apartheid era to avoid such situations.

Abstract:This article investigates China's heritage development from an evolutionary perspective. On the one hand, by situating the reception of the cultural heritage concept in a socio-cultural construct dimension, it reveals the unique dialogism between the two divergent epistemological paradigms ofwenwu(cultural relics) andwenhua yichan(cultural heritage) that underline heritage appropriation and practice in China. On the other hand, it examines China's cultural heritage development in relation to society, arguing that considerations of national heritage, though influenced by the international environment, are still largely determined by its national socio-cultural, economic, and political settings. The evolutionary approach reveals the way in which China's heritage vision and practice are negotiated according to international forces and societal imperatives, implicating issues such as commodification and reconstruction in the debate of heritage conservation, which is relevant to, among others, the research on heritage tourism and urban development in contemporary China.