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By Bernd-Niklas Bierbaum, on December 22nd, 2011
 Literature review This literature review is written by Bernd-Niklas Bierbaum as part of his NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management.
In their paper, Hesket et al. (1994) introduce the concept of the service profit chain. “The S-PC postulates that operations contribute to the profits of a service firm via the following chain of logical deduction (Yee et al. 2009, p.617):”
- Profitability and growth are primarily stimulated by customer loyalty.
- Loyalty is influenced by customer satisfaction.
- Satisfaction is influenced by the service values provided.
- Value is created by loyal productive and satisfied employees.
- Employee satisfaction results from support services and policies that enable employees to deliver high quality services. (Heskett et al. 1994)
This paper will focus on the question whether it is enough for a company to simply „satisfy“ their customers in order to achieve loyalty and finally profitability. In the following, the question will be raised and discussed whether there might be more to the concept of profitability than simply being able to satisfy a customer. Therefore, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, the relationship between loyalty and profitability and finally the importance of the “moment of truth” and the service encounter will be evaluated and highlighted from different standpoints.
Continue reading Customer satisfaction – a big step towards company profitability?
By Ruta Dambyte, on November 25th, 2011
Literature review This literature review is written by Ruta Dambyte as part of her NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management.
The implementation of sustainable practices in tourism related companies is an object of discussions by many academics. There are various researches made about incentives and obstacles while switching towards sustainable business model (Le & Hollenhorst, 2005; La Lopa & Day, 2011). The scholars question if sustainability is a trend, a way to gain more profit (Higgins-Desbiolles, 2009) or moral duty (Jarvis, Simcock, Weeden, 2010). Moreover, the doubts are being expressed towards the existence of sustainability in tourism while being a very complex industry (Vukonovic, n.d.). Therefore, this literature review reefers to the main reasons limiting tourism related companies to implement sustainability, as well as the incentives to switch towards different business approach.
Continue reading Limitations and incentives for sustainable tourism development
By Akshara Walia, on November 25th, 2011
Literature review This literature review is written by Akshara Walia as part of her NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management.
Dark tourism- also known as ‘Thanatourism’- is a thriving phenomenon which has generated considerable interest within the tourism industry. The term was first coined by Foley and Lennon (Stone Sharpley, 2008), and has been generally described as “tourism involving locations associated with death and great suffering” (Gibson, 2006: pg. 47). This literature review will attempt to understand and analyse the various motivations and perceptions of tourists visiting these dark sites.
The fundamental motive for visiting dark sites is being explored in modern research. According to Stone and Sharpley, “visitors are seen to be driven by differing intensities of interest or fascination in death” (Stone Sharpley, 2008: pg 6). Hence, it can be perceived that visitor motivations are not homogenous.
The motivations of visitors can be further explored through the differentiation in degrees of dark tourism. Due to the varied and uniquely different nature of dark tourism products, the term dark tourism itself is vague and ambiguous (Stone, 2006).
The existing literature on the motivations for dark tourism is fragmented (Stone, 2011). To bridge the gaps in existing literature, a deeper insight is required relating to the definition of dark tourism itself.
Relating to this perspective, seven suppliers of dark tourism have been identified ranging from ‘light’ to ‘dark’ dark tourism (Stone, 2006). These were described as a “spectrum of supply outlined with a subsequent seven type categorisation of dark tourism suppliers” (Stone, 2006: Pg. 157). They include dark fun factories, dark exhibitions, dark dungeons, dark resting places, dark shrines, dark conflict sites and dark genocide camps. Thus a range of tourist experiences has been created from the lightest shades (haunted houses at amusement parks) to the darkest (Auschwitz). This sub categorization of dark tourism enables a broader perspective into the motivations of visitors depending on the ‘degree of darkness’. For example, the motivations of a tourist on a Jack the Ripper tour in London will differ from those of a tourist at the Killing Fields in Cambodia.
Continue reading Thanatourism and Dark Tourists: Why they Walk in the Shadows
By Jay Khounlabvisaed Akhom, on November 25th, 2011
This literature review is written by Soutchay Khounlabvisaed Akhom as part of his NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management.
Tourism is a global phenomenon with its characteristic as a large and complex business industry. Therefore, planning, developing and managing the tourism industry for a long-term success is a very difficult task. In order to achieve long-term success of tourism development, however, sustainable principles are required and necessary applied to strategic planning of tourism development processes. This involves various participations of all kinds of stakeholders from global to national and local levels respectively. To encourage the best practices of sustainable tourism development, voluntary initiative and codes of conduct are considerably as an effective tool on preventing or reducing negative impacts caused by tourists. This aims to influent tourists’ behavior in a more responsible way.
Based on this, the article focused mainly on the implementation of voluntary initiatives and codes of conduct in the process of achieving sustainable tourism development in ecotourism context. The introduction of these measures aims to protect tourism resources in terms of natural, cultural, historical and other resources from the increasing numbers of tourists in a tourist destination. Consequently, the negative impacts of tourists on the destination can be minimized by the way of educating and changing their behavior with sustainable approach. To carry out these tasks more effectively in the planning tourism development, among all parties actively involved in tourism such as investors, local authorities and tourists, marketing plays a significant role of not only attracting tourists to the destination, but also delivering a appropriate message to potential tourists on raising their awareness of sustainability before, during and after their visits in a tourist destination. The creation of the rules of conduct is particularly for tour operators, hotels and tourists who are directly participated in tourism industry. As the result, tourism industry can be kept as a main driver for economic growth of a country, the destination competitiveness is enhanced and other positive benefits are maximized while the negative impacts are minimized. The article also exemplified Croatia as an empirical case study in which these rules of conduct are existing and using as an integrated part in the process of the tourist destination management of Croatia to protect national parks and other nature protected areas such as ‘Regulation on Compensation for Damages Caused by Unlawful Actions on Protected Animal Species’ as a regulated legal document and codes of conduct for tourists.
Continue reading Code of conduct in tourism and their impact on sustainable tourism
By Mink Sasiwan, on November 25th, 2011
This literature review is written by Mink Sasiwan as part of her NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management.
Bhutan is a small land-locked kingdom situating in the Himalayan Mountains between India and China. This tiny country has enjoyed the reputation as one of the most pristine and exclusive travel destinations in the world – the “last Shangri-La”. The number of inbound tourists has increased each year despite its controlled tourism policy imposing an over-priced daily tariff of US$ 200 on each tourist. This daily tariff is a result of the high-value, low-volume strategy based on the “Gross National Happiness” (GNH) philosophy – a formula to measure the country’s progress considering equitable economic development, environmental conservation, cultural promotion and good governance rather than Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Tourism Council of Bhutan, 2011). The objectives of this high-value, low-volume policy are to earn the foreign currency and to limit the number of arrivals in order to prevent the negative impacts of tourism on its cultural heritage and natural environment (Department of Tourism, 2005). However, a growing number of tourists could jeopardize the intended objective of safeguarding Bhutan’s culture and nature which it is known for.
Many studies agree that the “High Value, Low Volume policy had been successful. The tourism had the potential to both stimulate private sector growth and transform the rural economy, without having a negative impact on its culture and environment (Brunet, Bauer, Lacy, & Tshering, 2001; Gurung & Seeland, 2008; Reinfeld, 2003; Rinzin, Vermeulen & Glasbergen 2007).
However, there are some arguments against this policy especially in regard of tourism causing the environmental issues (Dorji, 2001). The increasing number of uncontrolled Indian tourists who don’t have to pay the daily tariff which according to Nyaupane & Timothy (2010), threatening the policy and country’s cultural and natural resources.
The goal of this literature review is to provide insight in the positive as well as the negative impacts of Bhutan’s controlled tourism policy on its economy, culture and environment. The research question will therefore be:
What are the positive and negative impacts of Bhutan’s controlled tourism policy on its economy, culture and environment?
The research question will be answered by a synthesis of relevant articles and journals related to Bhutan’s tourism policy and its impacts. Using a thematic approach, both the published and unpublished government documents focusing on this topic will also be analyzed.
The first part of this literature review will explain a theory of tourism impacts, a concept of Bhutan’s controlled tourism policy and why it has been chosen. The second part will emphasize on positive impacts of the policy while the third part will discuss the negative impacts. Finally the conclusion will be drawn.
Continue reading Impacts of Bhutan’s controlled tourism policy
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