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Food tourism and events are often prefaced as tools for sustainability within national and intra-national food and agricultural policy contexts. Yet, the realities of enhancing sustainability through food tourism and events are problematic. Sustainability itself is often conceived broadly within policy proclaiming the benefits of food tourism and events, with a need for further deconstruction of the ways each dimension of sustainability – economic, environmental, social and cultural – independently enhances sustainability. The lack of clarity concerning the conceptual utilisation of sustainability works to compromise its value and utilisation for the development of food tourism and events in peripheral areas. In recognition, this paper aims to turn attention to social sustainability within the context of a local food festival, to ask the following: in what ways is social sustainability enhanced through a local food festival, who benefits from this sustainability, and how?

The paper examines the development of a local food festival in a rural coastal community on Scotland’s west coast. The concept of social capital is used to examine the unfolding power relations between committee members, as well as the committee and other social groups. Observant participation undertaken over a 10-month period, between December 2015 and September 2016, renders insights into the ways event planning processes were dependent on the pre-existing accruement of social capital by certain individuals and groups.

Local food festivals have the potential to enhance social sustainability, in offering opportunity to bridge relations across certain diverse groups and foster an environment conducive to cohabitation. Bridging, however, is dependent on preconceived social capital and power relations, which somewhat inhibits social integration for all members of a community. The temporally confined characteristics of events generates difficulties in overcoming the uneven enhancement of social sustainability. Care, thus, needs to be upheld in resolutely claiming enhancement of social sustainability through local food events. Further, broad conceptualisations of “community” need to be challenged during event planning processes; for it is difficult to develop a socially inclusive approach that ensures integration for diverse segments without recognising what constitutes a specific “community”.

This paper is situated within the context of a peripheral yet growing body of literature exploring the potential of events to develop social sustainability. In extending work examining events and social sustainaility the paper turns attention to the gastronomic – examining the extent to which social sustainability is enhanced through a local food festival, for a rural coastal community – Mallaig, on Scotland’s west coast.

This study of rockclimbers and outdoor leisure consumers, manufacturers and retailers, sets out to discover the nature and outcomes of the consumer/producer relationship centred around the retail setting. Initial theoretical views on the self, participant role, performance and communitas are explored as a background to the discussion. Data collection involved participant observation, in‐depth interviews and a study of both commercially and consumer generated secondary materials (climbing club literature for example). The researchers identified an environment in which temporary leisure identities were supported and at times modified by the retail relationships and were embedded in a rich sub‐cultural narrative. Postmodern concepts pertaining to the consumption of place and space corresponded with the observational data, to the extent that recommendations for retailers are less overtly managerial, and more about facilitating the consumer’s ownership of the spaces and relationships within them.

The purpose of this paper is to examine university applicants' choice processes using Kotler's five stage consumer buying process with a particular emphasis on the final stage of the process namely that of the purchase decision.

Based on four focus groups with 22 students at one university in North‐west England, post‐enrolment.

Applicants' choice processes are complex and not evenly supported by university departments. Using concepts from the field of services marketing, the student choice process as candidates progress through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service system is critically interrogated. “Moments of truth” are seen to be critical in many students' decision to choose a specific university course. University personnel need to be mindful that the decision process is two way and takes place over an extended period of time.

This research has been conducted with respondents drawn from just one university and at one point in time.

It is suggested that universities should refine and target their communications efforts, and pay close attention to the quality of the interactions with potential students throughout their relationship. In order to do this it is suggested that universities adopt a services marketing framework.

Key themes from services marketing concepts are suggested to inform the analysis of what is and what could be done to maintain and enhance the university‐applicant relationship as it progresses.

This paper aims to provide evidence on the extent to which traditional agri-food products (TFPs) constitute a leverage to promote tourism in the province of Reggio Calabria, Italy, and discuss ways in which community-led local development governance institutions might enhance it.

The study is based on a review of existing information on Calabrian TFPs to classify them by area of production and identify those that are specific or relatively small areas, in addition to a qualitative analysis of the content of the texts of a sample of websites promoting tourism in the region.

Though food is one of the leverages used to promote tourism in Calabria, TFPs are not yet sufficiently exploited to attract tourists to the province of Reggio Calabria, in spite of their potential as a vital expression of local culture and traditions.

The selection of the websites used in the study may not be exhaustive of the full spectrum of Web-based promotion of tourism in Calabria.

The results provide useful insights to public and private institutions responsible for rural development and tourism promotion in Calabria. The database on the TFPs of the province of Reggio Calabria permits an easy reading of the geographical distribution of the different categories of products, useful as a resource for further studies and as a local development policy support tool.

Promoting a form of culturally sensitive, food-based tourism in the interior areas of Calabria may constitute an important factor to revert the trend towards impoverishment, migration of young people and depopulation of the interior areas of Calabria. This is a particularly sensitive issue in Italy today, in view of the difficulties that other strategies pursued in the area are facing.

Existing literature on typical food products in Italy focuses on those labelled by denomination of origin and geographic protection. This is one of the first papers focusing on TFPs labelled as Prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali in the Italian legislation. By exploring the role of local food and traditions in promoting tourism, this paper expands the scope of existing studies of rural tourism and on rural development in Calabria, and beyond.

Adventure activities have become the core products of many tourism destinations. Hiking, which is known to be a soft adventure activity, represents an especially important product for many tourism destinations around the globe and in the European Alps. However, little research has explored hikers’ underlying motivation and experiences, which are expected to differ from the hard adventure context, as mountain hiking provides a low risk, but high immersion. This paper aims to determine and explore the underlying dimensions and dynamics of mountain hikers’ soft adventure motivation (SAM).

A concurrent mixed-method design that builds on a quantitative survey (N = 379) and qualitative interviews (N = 14) was used to explore SAM factors. This study combined exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis with semi-structured interviews and template analysis.

The quantitative results provide six SAM factors and emphasize that “relaxation,” “socializing” and “discovery” contribute to hiking satisfaction, while “recognition” has adverse effects. By triangulating these findings with hikers’ experiences, this study underlines the associated recreational meaning of hiking and provides an in-depth qualitative discussion of SAM factors and the subordinate role of “recognition.”

The contribution of this paper is a refined understanding of SAM in the hiking context by emphasizing the recreational meaning of mountain hiking. As a result, this study adds an important missing link to previous outdoor tourism and leisure studies by showing the special composition and dynamics of SAM. The findings also support the creation of tailor-made touristic products.

探险活动已经成为许多旅游目的地的核心产品。其中徒步旅行被认作为一种“轻松”探险活动并且代表着全球众多旅游目的地及欧洲阿尔卑斯山的重要产品。然而, 很少有研究探索远足者的潜在动机和经验, 由于徒步远足的风险较低, 但参与感高, 因此预计于艰苦的冒险环境有所不同。因此, 本文确定并探索了山地徒步者“轻松”冒险动机的潜在维度和动力。

采用基于定量调查(N = 379)和定性访谈(N = 14)的并行混合方法设计来探索SAM因素。因此, 我们将探索性因子分析和回归分析与半结构化访谈和模板分析相结合。

定量结果提供了6个SAM因素, 并强调“放松”、“社交”和“发现”有助于提升满意度, 而“认知”则有负面影响。通过将这些发现与徒步旅行者的经历进行三角分析, 我们强调了徒步旅行的相关娱乐意义, 并对SAM因素和“识别”的从属作用进行了深入的定性讨论。

本文的贡献在于通过强调登山的休闲意义, 对徒步情景下的SAM进行了精细化的理解。因此, 我们通过展示SAM的特殊组成和动态, 为之前的户外旅游和休闲研究添加了一个重要的缺失环节。最后, 研究结果支持了定制旅游产品的创造。

探险旅游, 动机, 软探险, 徒步

研究论文

Las actividades de aventura se han convertido en uno de los productos principales de muchos destinos turísticos, especialmente el senderismo, una actividad de aventura de baja dificultad que representa un producto importante para muchos destinos turísticos alrededor del mundo y en los Alpes europeos. Sin embargo, pocas investigaciones han estudiado la motivación y las experiencias subyacentes de los excursionistas, las cuales se espera que difieran del contexto de aventura de alta dificultad, ya que el senderismo de montaña proporciona un bajo riesgo pero una alta inmersión. Por lo tanto, este documento determina y examina las dimensiones y dinámicas subyacentes de la motivación de aventura de baja dificultad (SAM, por sus siglas en inglés) de los excursionistas de montaña.

Se utilizó un diseño de método mixto concurrente que se basa en una encuesta cuantitativa (N = 379) y entrevistas cualitativas (N = 14) para explorar los factores de SAM. De este modo, se combinó análisis factorial exploratorio y análisis de regresión con entrevistas semiestructuradas y análisis de plantillas.

Los resultados cuantitativos aportan seis factores de SAM y enfatizan que la “relajación”, la “socialización” y el “descubrimiento” contribuyen a la satisfacción del senderismo, mientras que el “reconocimiento” tiene efectos adversos. Al relacionar estos hallazgos con las experiencias de los excursionistas se destaca el significado recreativo asociado al senderismo y se brinda una discusión cualitativa profunda de los factores de SAM y el papel subordinado del “reconocimiento”.

La contribución de este artículo es una comprensión refinada de la SAM en el contexto de senderismo al enfatizar el significado recreativo del senderismo de montaña. De este modo, se suma un importante eslabón perdido a los estudios anteriores de turismo al aire libre y de ocio al mostrar la composición y dinámica especial de la SAM. Por último, los resultados respaldan la creación de productos turísticos hechos a la medida de las preferencias de los turistas.

The importance of location to retail organisations has long been recognised in the geography and retail marketing literatures, with subjective and “gut feel” methods of evaluation emerging as highly significant factors in the decision‐making process. Through the application of existing frameworks we seek to highlight the importance of location to small independent retailers in the context of outdoor leisure retailing. The case of “UpFront”, a pseudonym for a retailer operating four outlets in Great Britain, is presented. It is shown that, although based largely on luck and opportunism, the firm's locational “strategy” has been crucial to its success as a leading player in the sector. Based on detailed interviews with the managing director and employees, the role and importance of location as a critical success factor to the organisation is presented. In conclusion, a call is made for greater engagement with the nuances of location to small retail organisations, given its impact on a large number of retail operations.

GUEST editor of this South African issue of THE LIBRARY WORLD is Hendrik M. Robinson, Director of Library Services, Transvaal Provincial Administration, Pretoria.