Search results

An overview of the IMPLAN input/output model which is the dominant economic impact model used in the USA, focused on the ways it is abused.

Review of the literature.

25 ways in which IMPLAN is abused.

Continued refinement of IMPLAN in the USA; potential of its extension to other contexts.

Beware it is frequently used to confirm an advocacy position of those who commission studies, rather than a search for truth.

Profound potential for creating falsified outcomes to support sponsor advocacy.

Synopsis of IMPLAN literature and identification of abuses.

The purpose of this paper is to point out that most research published in hospitality and tourism industry journals is of no value to the visitor industries or society. It argues that a primary reason is the academic practice of evaluating the utility of its research with the inappropriate metrics of journal impact factors and citation counts. To become relevant, academic leaders must refocus evaluation of the field’s research on its meaningful impacts on society.

This study reviews the literature that differentiates the constructs of research quality and research impact and identifies their limitations.

The contention that either journal impact factors or citation counts adequately measure the usefulness of research is challenged. It is suggested that reliance on them has resulted in an academic self-serving “echo chamber.” The author argues the field should refocus away from the echo chamber to shift the primary evaluation of research to societal impact. Illustrations are offered from the author’s recent experiences that illustrate the fallacy of confusing citation counts with impact. The challenges of shifting to an impact assessment from the existing system are acknowledged, and a way forward is proposed.

Continuing to embrace beguiling measures that are invested with a conventional, but false, aura of truth inevitably means the field’s scholarship will continue to be ignored.

An analytical critique of the prevailing metrics is undertaken, and a five-step process to shift the emphasis to societal impact is offered.

Crompton (1979) has stated that the raison d'être of leisure service delivery Systems is to ensure that adequate opportunities exist through the provision of recreation activities and programs for members of the community to enjoy. It is not important who provides these opportunities as long as they are provided at an equitable price. This may be true in the abstract, however, in the U.S.A. today, like most western nations, there is a mixed economy in which public and private sectors co‐exist, co‐operate and compete in recreation/tourism development. Today, there are many issues and much controversy regarding the appropriate roles which should be taken by public and private suppliers of tourism/recreation.

While substantial literature has addressed the benefits that sponsors seek from linking with a sports property, relatively little attention has been given to the potential costs businesses risk from such relationships. This paper suggests that beyond ambushing there are eight risks companies are likely to consider. Four can be controlled relatively easily: liability exposure; insensitivity to public sentiment to changing established rules or formats, the name of a facility or team or a team's uniform; insensitivity to the prevailing societal and political environment; and opposition from workers or stockholders. Companies have less control over: poor presentation of the event; poor performance by either the sponsored team/player or the company's products if the event is being used as a demonstration platform; association with disreputable behaviour; and trauma to performers.

The accurate measure of the economic contribution of festivals and special events is a challenge. Using a case study, the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a previously un‐captured economic contribution from increased hotel rates during the period of festival or event; the “rising tide” effect.

This paper uses a case study on Charleston's hotel occupancy changes, and how the changes coincide with the occurrence of festivals and events in the community, to demonstrate the increased tourism income due to rising accommodation prices during festivals and events.

The study validates the increased tourism income due to rising accommodation prices during festivals and events, which can provide a significant boost to the economy of a local community.

Festival organizations, as well as hoteliers and other beneficiaries of tourist spending during festivals and events, should note how this additional contribution benefits them and their communities.

Many economic contributions of festivals/events overstate their values. The current study first demonstrates a previously un‐captured economic contribution using a case study approach.

The goal of a behavior analysis approach to travel studies is to understand the psychological forces that motivate an individual traveler, that influence the various travel‐related decisions the individual makes, and that impact the level of satisfaction with a destination region (Chon, 1989). A number of tourism and recreation researchers have investigated the reasons why people travel; studied the traveler's travel purchase behavior; and emphasized the image of a tourist destination and the tourist's perception of an attitude toward a tourist destination.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the methodologies used to evaluate major events. It aims to establish the most practically‐relevant methodology for analysing the economic impact of routinely‐held major events and to identify the key methodological issues for future consideration.

The paper draws on empirical research undertaken by the Sport Industry Research Centre using the direct expenditure approach (DEA).

The DEA is the most pragmatic and cost‐effective method for evaluating the economic impact of medium‐sized major events. However, the approach is only as robust as the quality of data utilised to derive estimates. Key emerging methodological issues are measuring attendance, consideration of direct first‐round leakage and treatment of organisational spend and event surplus/deficit.

The DEA limits the measurement of economic impact to first‐round spending associated with an event. It is not suitable for measuring large‐scale mega‐events that require a more holistic and advanced method of event evaluation.

The paper considers the methods used to evaluate events in the context of balancing academic rigour with the everyday practical realities and constraints facing event organisers and researchers. It discusses existing and emerging methodological considerations and techniques for dealing with these. The paper will be of particular interest to researchers and practitioners from the event industry carrying out or commissioning economic impact studies.

Few issues in recent times have so provoked debate and dissention within the library field as has the concept of fees for user services. The issue has aroused the passions of our profession precisely because its roots and implications extend far beyond the confines of just one service discipline. Its reflection is mirrored in national debates about the proper spheres of the public and private sectors—in matters of information generation and distribution, certainly, but in a host of other social ramifications as well, amounting virtually to a debate about the most basic values which we have long assumed to constitute the very framework of our democratic and humanistic society.

The purpose of this empirical study is to find out the similarities and differences between first and multiple time Hong Kong holiday makers in their selection of foreign holiday destinations and the type of activities they are engaged in while spending their vacations away from home. Study results indicate that there are demographic, socio‐economic and behavioral differences between first and multiple time Hong Kong overseas visitors. These pronounced differences between the two segments can be used in the development of appropriate marketing strategies to attract higher numbers of tourists to the same destination.

Cet article se propose d'étudier les caractéristiques du Grand Tour et celles du tourisme actuel afin de dégager des bases théoriques permettant par la suite d'élaborer un modèle d'éducation au loisir touristique. Ce modèle viserait à dépasser Ie ‘comment voyager’ pour donner au touriste les outils nécessaires à un développement cognitif, affectif, culturel et social. Cette ambition repose sur des données de diverses disciplines des sciences sociales et sur Ie fait que Ie tourisme n'est pas seulement une industrie, mais avant tout un agent de développement humain. Comme Ie souligne François Ascher “ce n'est pas Ie tourisme qui permet Ie développement économique, mais celuice qui rend profitable Ie tourisme.”