tourism

17 05, 2017

Student Insights: Field Research at Sri Lanka

By |May 17th, 2017|Sri Lanka, Uncategorized|0 Comments

This year, our Master TDM students visited Melbourne, Australia; South Coast, Sri Lanka; and Bali, Indonesia as part of the second phase of their Master programme. Here you can read the blogs of some of our Master TDM students about their field research and reflections from the second destination: Sri Lanka.  Enjoy the read!
Sri Lanka was […]

22 05, 2014

Bali; when all memories formed in Paradise

By |May 22nd, 2014|Bali|2 Comments

Our Master students in Tourism Destination Management finalized their second phase in Bali. Read more about this wonderfull experience from our TDM Master student Arsalan Kazemifar from Iran.

How can I start writing about the last and inspiring destination?

When you look at the Paradise, it is difficult to describe it because there are lots of […]

6 04, 2014

It´s Fiji time!

By |April 6th, 2014|TDM|0 Comments

This month our Master TDM students continue their field research project in Fiji. Read more about their impressions of this beautiful place.

BULA! BULA! That’s the sound of Fiji. It means Hello, Goodbye, Welcome, Love and more. It also represents the welcoming Fijian culture, which always welcomes you with a smile.

Coming from Melbourne the Island […]

28 02, 2014

Live in Melbourne; perspective from our Tourism Master students

By |February 28th, 2014|TDM|0 Comments

At this moment our TDM Master students are doing their fieldwork research (phase 2) in Asia. Their first destination is Melbourne. Read how our TDM Master students experience life in Melbourne.

Trying to get used to life in Australia is not exactly easy. Flying from Dutch winter into Australian late summer, we find ourselves faced with […]

4 10, 2013

Writing my TDM Master thesis; KISSing my TDM experience Adieu

By |October 4th, 2013|TDM|0 Comments

Read more about Lin Reiman, Master student in Tourism Destination Management, her thesis writing experiences during the final phase of her studies.

After three incredible months of travelling through Asia and Australia, we all parted ways and returned home. The exciting journey ended but the experience was not over yet namely the third phase awaited […]

29 05, 2013

Off the beaten track to experience the real Bali

By |May 29th, 2013|Asia, Bali|0 Comments

Our TDM Master students recently finished their field research project in Bali. This was the last destination of three months field research in Asia. Veronica Wee from Malaysia shares her experiences on Bali in this blogpost.

Moving from Bangkok to Bali was unexpectedly different. As we all know, Bali has a reputation of being serene, […]

22 01, 2013

Effects of global warming and tourism on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia

By |January 22nd, 2013|Climate change, International Tourism Context, literature review|1 Comment

As part of their master in Tourism Destination Management study program, the students have written literature reviews in the domain of “International Tourism Context”. In this fourth of six literature reviews Stefanie Huebner talks about effects of global warming and tourism on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland
Introduction
Ruhanen (2008) identifies an increasing need to adapt the principles of sustainability in tourism development planning and management. More destinations are facing severe ecological, economical and socio-cultural threats and entering a stage of no return (Conservation International, 2003). Given this critical situation, awareness of the stakeholders is important. These stakeholders include “any group or individual who can affect, or is affected by the achievement of a corporation’s purpose” (Friedmann, 2006).

The natural environment of a destination and the climate conditions are essential drivers, influencing the choice (Becken & Hay, 2007), suitability and the unique charm of a tourism destination (Dwyer & Kim, 2003). The effects of global warming are strongly connected to visitor behavior. Sensitive ecosystems are vulnerable to global warming and the human impacts from visitors and locals.

Dwyer (2007) claims that impacts of global warming and tourism are constantly increasing. Conservation International (2003) considers tourism to be an opportunity for conserving nature and a threat if it is done improperly.

The effects of global warming as well as the immense rising number of visitors threaten the social, economic and cultural value to the people of Australia (GBRMPA, 2012).

The Great Barrier Reef, faces the threat of global warming. This is mainly caused by greenhouse gases as a result of human activity, leading to an increase of the sea temperatures and impacting upon coral reefs (WWF, 2004). Statistics show that the Great Barrier Reef will lose 95% of its living coral by 2050 (New Scientist, 2004).

The lack of awareness of visitors and locals, visible in unsustainable reef use, has a severe impact on the survival of the reef (GBRMPA, 2012).

Only little attention is given to other causes of depletion of the Great Barrier Reef such as cyclones  or the crown-of-thorns starfish overpopulation (Brodie, Fabricius, De’ath, Okaji).

In this literature review I discuss the different causes for the depletion of sensitive areas, using the example of the Great Barrier Reef. Solutions for sustainable management and preservation need to be considered on both global and national level.

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22 01, 2013

The influence of user-generated content (UGC) and the importance of a solid social media strategy

By |January 22nd, 2013|International Tourism Context, literature review, Publication|1 Comment

As part of their master in Tourism Destination Management study program, the students have written literature reviews in the domain of “International Tourism Context”. In this third of six literature reviews Veronica Wee discusses the influence of user-generated content (UGC) and the importance of a solid social media strategy.

This research covers a critical analysis of online reviews in the tourism industry; challenges faced in online review management and methods of current social media strategies implemented by Destination Management Organizations (DMO’s), airline and hotel operators.
Introduction
Growing dependence on the Internet has transformed it into the main source of information (Sparks & Browning 2010). More recently, social media networks and user-generated content (UGC) have changed the way users share their experiences (Hvass & Munar 2012). In a more general context, social networking is a combination of online communities that provides a variety of platforms (eg. Emailing, Blogging, photo tagging, videos) to facilitate consumer interconnections (Bruyn & Lilien 2008) for interaction (Click & Petit 2010).

In the tourism industry, online applications, advance social websites (TripAdvisor, Yelp, IgoUgo, etc.), and online booking websites (Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Travelocity.com, etc) provide an interactive display of experiences and commentary review of a destination, property, facilities and restaurants (Litvin & Hoffman 2012). What was recorded in traditional form is now digitalized and shared globally (Munar 2012). The phenomenon of posting videos and digitalizing experiences developed a new paradigm of information sharing (Ruzic & Biloz 2010), which is now referred to as electronic word of mouth (Sparks & Browning 2010). Social media websites allow consumers to spread their experiences (Yu 2012), and interconnectivity and density of networks facilitate positive or negative reviews to travel quickly (Bruyn & Lilien 2008).

Travellers nowadays often use the Internet for destination research prior to decision-making. Online web applications and social media websites are a critical element in the travel planning process (Ruzic & Biloz 2010). It is apparent that 63 percent of leisure tourists and 69 percent of tourists on business use the Internet prior to planning trips, hotel bookings and airline reservations (European Travel Commission, 2010). Online reviews of a destination or property not only possess the ability to attract or detract a traveller, but also develop consumer expectations (Bruyn & Lilien 2008).

As many travellers consult online reviews before firming vacation plans (Vermuelen & Seegers 2009), it is evident that a level of trust is accorded, especially in positively framed reviews about previous traveller’s experience (Sparks & Browning 2010). Travellers are more influenced by online travel reviews and guides (European Travel Commission, 2012), as they believe reviews may assist in a better purchase decision (Qiang Ye et al. 2011). In this case, what are DMO’s doing to influence a traveller’s choice? Are the necessary steps and strategies being taken to explore this growing market?
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22 01, 2013

Consequences of Peak Oil on Global Tourism Demand

By |January 22nd, 2013|Climate change, International Tourism Context, Publication|0 Comments

As part of their master in Tourism Destination Management study program, the students have written literature reviews in the domain of “International Tourism Context”. In this second of six literature reviews Maria Klampfl discusses the consequences of peak oil on global tourism demand.
Introduction
Oil is a finite resource. Though, the global trends in energy supply and consumption are environmentally, economically and socially unsustainable (Matutinovic, 2011, p.1131; 1129). Experts are increasingly warning about the rising energy challenge, the Western civilization and the world as a whole will have to face within the next decade (Matutinovic, 2011, p.1131; 1129; Nell & Cooper, 2008, p.1096). The consequences of less affordable oil on society are inherently complex (Becken, 2010, p.373). In fact, the diminishing oil reserves will put a “definite constrain on economic growth, global distribution of life- styles and the level of integration of global economy” (Matutinovic, 2011, p.1131). It will, furthermore, affect tourism and the way in which it is operating today.

The demand for oil is constantly escalating and it is alarming that while in the past “new oil reserves were discovered at a greater rate than consumption”, at present it is the opposite – new oil fields are detected at a lower rate than consumption (Becken, 2008, p.696). The oil price is influenced by multiple factors. Nevertheless on a long-term perspective, oil prices are “driven by world oil demand and supply, which is ultimately limited by resources” (Becken & Lennox, 2011, p.133). Scare supply of energy is inevitably leading to dramatically increasing oil prices. This will have significant effects on the transport and airline industry and will consequential affect the whole tourism industry (Leigh, 2011, p.165; 167; 169).

Becken claimed, yet there is only little “awareness of energy security and peak production of oil” within the tourism industry (2008, p.695). Furthermore tourism research has largely left out the issue of energy consumption in relation to a long term future of tourism. Accordingly this paper aims to increase the awareness of a possible oil scarcity and investigates the potential consequences of peak oil on the future global tourism development.
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22 01, 2013

The Influence of Terrorist Attacks and Political Instability on Tourism

By |January 22nd, 2013|International Tourism Context, Publication, Regional developments|0 Comments

As part of their master in Tourism Destination Management study program, the students have written literature reviews in the domain of “International Tourism Context”. In this first of six literature reviews Lin Reimann discusses the influence of terrorist attacks and political instability on tourism.

Introduction
In today’s globalizing environment, terrorism has been an issue we hear […]