Vol. 7 No. 1 (2008)

There is growing reliance on the websites for promotion of tourism and travel related product/services. Thus, identification of travel web site effectiveness attributes based on potential travellers/internet users

This paper highlights aspects of urban tourism in developing countries and the nature of its existence. The discussion gives a focus to the context ofurban tourism in Southeast Asia, specifically, perspectives on tourism development in the cities of Malaysia. Tourism development in the cities of Malaysia can be viewed in two stages, which are after independence (after 1957) and after tourism came of age (post 1990). Both of the stages influenced on how tourism has been perceived in Malaysian cities. The discussion concludes with the implications oftourism in Malaysia cities within the context…

Advances in the development of internet technologies have created new avenues for the hotel industry; however embracing internet technologies does not necessitate the success of any hoteliers. From a customer perspective, ability to access more information meant that service providers such as hoteliers need to meet increasing demands to fulfill expectations. It is imperative that the hotel industry must constantly adapt to environment changes such as meeting the demands of customers utilizing innovative technology. While most hoteliers would agree that using the Internet creates benefits for…

This study attempted to determine the influence of consumption value on the novelty preference for corporate meeting destination choice. The theory of consumption value as proposed by Sheth et al. (1991) was employed as the internal motivating drive to explain the choice between conventional and novel meeting destinations. The consumption value theory by Sheth et al. (1991) was the best typology to be employed in this study because of its multidimensional properties composed of both objective value (functional) and perceptual values (epistemic, emotional, social and conditional) attributes. A…

Crises in the tourism and hospitality industry are a topic of some concern in view of their increasing prevalence in the modern world. Planning for and handling such situations has thus become essential and this paper discusses issues of organisational crises and their management with specific reference to hotels in Singapore. Case studies of selected properties based on interviews with general managers are analysed and overall conclusions are presented about perceptions, origins and impacts of crises. Insights are also afforded into strategies for dealing with crises and the importance of…

One of the many challenges facing the Malaysian hospitality industry is the attraction and retention of young people in highly competitive employment market. Beside other issues, the low numbers and poor transfer rate of graduates into the industry were found to be the most critical problems in the country. One of the causes of poor transition of hospitality students into careers in the industry is that new student have an unrealistic image ofworking life in the industry. This might stem from a number offactors influencing students

Some environmentalists argue that the process of globalisation which has resulted in trade liberalisation, accelerates economic growth and development, and that this promotes polluting activities and speeds the depletion ofnonrenewable resources (A. Y Seita, 1999). Since Malaysia is one of the signatories of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) which provides equal investment opportunities to foreign investors as domestic service providers including ecotourism, this article explores the legal issues that arise in the globalization…

This study examines the factors that determine where Korean seniors choose to travel. Using iterated principal factor analysis with a varimax rotation analysis technique, five preference factors in choice oftravel destination were revealed: tourism environment, events, feeling, differentiation, and culture. Duncan

Recent published information suggests that New Zealand

In this paper, following the seminal paper of Robinson and Torvik (2005), we analyze the effects for a sustainable tourism of the construction ofwhite elephants. We present a formal definition and the main characteristics ofwhite elephants. In particular, we introduce this concept in the framework of tourist activities and describe some examples in this economic sector. We show that white elephants are a particular type of investments projects with negative surplus and that it is the very inefficiency that makes them politically attractive. Finally, we analyze the rationality of this kind of…

Reggae music is more than a popular music style. It has been an essential part of tourism development in Jamaica. The way in which reggae music has been interpreted since its inception is critical to understanding the music