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The purpose of this paper is to postulate that the technique of Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) is currently underutilised in visitor management studies reported in the peer-reviewed marine wildlife tourism (MWT) research literature. Further, this paper provides insight into how IPA could inform future research and management of tourism experiences at marine wildlife destinations.

This paper synthesises learning gained from the natural area tourism and recreation literature that report the application of IPA in MWT and insights from a recent study at the Dolphin Discovery Centre in Bunbury, Western Australia.

Although currently underutilized in MWT research, IPA is a relatively straightforward, easy to interpret, and, if correctly applied, a powerful tool that managers and researchers can employ to investigate and enhance visitor satisfaction in the short-term and for longer-term sustainability of the industry through visitor-informed tourism management.

Having identified the opportunity to enhance visitor experiences, site management and target species welfare through increased IPA research, this review provides a plain language introduction to the application of IPA and direct access to comprehensible academic discourses and exemplars for the technique. Moreover, in light of increasing tourism demand, IPA can assist in determining management options for the future.

To evaluate some of the current discussion about the possible impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on wildlife tourism destinations. There could be either positive and/or negative impacts and this viewpoint provides some reflection on what the future might hold for some if not many wildlife tourism destinations when the global tourism industry resumes.

A combination of tourism and environmental impact research studies and online resources are used to demonstrate the wildlife tourism-conservation nexus and provide a commentary regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the wildlife tourism system.

This paper provides a context and viewpoint on the possible implications of post COVID-19 reflection for wildlife tourism operations in the future.

This viewpoint paper captures only a snapshot of rapidly emerging online perspectives but at the same time draws together relevant research that emphasises the importance of wildlife tourism.

This paper enables an appreciation of the implications of not reflecting on the way that tourism and the environment are currently/recently managed and funded. One possibility is that we could arrive at a different baseline that reflects degraded wildlife tourism conditions. If, in a post COVID-19 world, a new awareness of the vulnerability of species and the tourism upon which it is dependent arises, this could open the door for improved tourism management and conservation of species that are of high tourism value.

This paper offers a synthesis of views that fosters understanding of the possibility of damage to wildlife tourism resources due to the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 on the global nature-based tourism sector.

The viewpoint proffered in this paper provides scope for a rapid evaluation of the current status of wildlife tourism, its vulnerability and the need to reflect on the industry in a post COVID-19 world.

This paper aims to provide a readily accessible synopsis of a complex subject and consider sustainability from a personal experiential level right through to a big picture study in the context of sustainable cities.

A combination of personal experiences, on-line sources and research papers were used to trace the complex human dilemma of achieving sustainability in city environments. Although a difficult task for many people to embrace, the study presented here forwards the idea that it is possible for individuals, communities and governments to make a positive contribution by engaging in the garden city concept.

This paper provides a context and study on the complexities surrounding achieving sustainable cities, yet at the same time providing some insight as to what can be achieved if all levels of society are engaged.

This paper emphasises the issues surrounding and importance of sustainable cities and considers a tangible goal for city dwellers at all levels of society.

This paper enables an appreciation of the role urban gardens, right through to the role that appropriate government policy, can play in contributing to, developing and conserving greenspace in cities.

This paper fosters a simplified understanding of the potential of citizen contribution providing there is some awareness and the motivation to make a difference.

The study offers a brief personal perspective and connects this with relevant literature to build a case that urban sustainability, although complex, is achievable even though it may take small steps in gaining the necessary momentum.

This paper aims to explore the Kinh and ethnic stakeholders’ participation and collaboration in tourism planning in Sapa, Vietnam.

The primary data collection involved semi-structured interviews with 33 key tourism stakeholders, and data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

The findings reveal that in terms of participation and collaboration in tourism planning, there is little difference between the Kinh and ethnic groups. Tourism planning is viewed as a top-down approach, and both groups at the community level have very limited participation in tourism planning activities. However, at the on-site management level, there are opposing views between high (Kinh) and low (ethnic) management levels about participation in tourism planning. Both groups recognize the need for interdependence regarding collaboration in tourism planning. They also share similar aspects in regard to facilitating and hindering their participation in tourism planning.

The limitations of this study include the use of a qualitative method, which limited the number of respondents. Future research could benefit from the application of quantitative research methods to include a greater number of local tourism stakeholders.

This study contributes to a better understanding of tourism planning in the Vietnamese context and has some practical implications for destination management and policymaking.

This is the first study to investigate the perspectives of Kinh and ethnic groups in term of participation and collaboration in tourism planning in the Vietnamese context.

This study aims to provide an overview of the current socio-political geopark situation in Australia and set this into a global context. In addition, the authors consider this information to be useful for all stakeholders involved in geopark research and development. An analysis of constraints is set alongside stakeholder views collected from remote rural Western Australia. The authors also place Australia in a global context in regard to the future of geoparks.

Vital contextual information regarding the tourism significance of geoparks is sourced from key literature. The authors analyse and report on the situation surrounding the current lack of enthusiasm for the geopark concept by the federal government and states in Australia. The authors also report positive rural community stakeholder views on geopark development from regional Western Australia.

While Australian federal, as well as state governments have yet to accept geoparks, stakeholder research in Western Australia supports the idea of geopark development. Learnings articulated in this viewpoint are relevant to any country pursuing and initiating the geopark concept. The authors posit that global geopark development can become a vital strategy in post-COVID-19 tourism recovery planning.

Australia currently does not have a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)-recognised geopark. Accordingly, the authors present a case for geopark development, while at the same time exploring the socio-political reasons behind the lack of geopark implementation in Australia. The authors consider the future of geoparks in the global context and reiterate the point that geoparks are important for COVID-19 recovery of tourism and in regard to UNESCO's Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.

Rankings of the world's cities by a liveability factor have become increasingly significant in the media, among governments and city councils in the promotion of cities, as well as academics interested in understanding the impact of quantifying liveability on urban planning and the relationship of liveability indices and tourism. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

While examining characteristics of liveable cities according to some of the widely reported liveability indices, such as those produced by Mercer, Monocle magazine and the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), the authors provide a snapshot of Perth as a liveable city and consider liveability in relation to urban tourism, sustainability and environment. Perth's liveability ranking is discussed in terms of environmental sustainability, noting that for Perth to retain its position as one of the world's most liveable cities, consideration must be given to sustainable planning and environmental practices at policy, organisational and individual levels, placing the long-term liveability of the environment and Perth's flora and fauna at the forefront of urban, and tourism, planning.

The accessibility of nature in Perth and its surrounds, its outdoor recreational opportunities and warm climate are factors that make it unique. Developing and promoting nature-based tourism would further enhance the accessibility of nature for visitors and residents. While Perth's EIU top ten ranking is justified, its major attributes remain unrecognised by the widely used EIU liveable city assessment framework.

Moreover, the notion of a liveable city is open to contention due to the subjective nature of various assessment criteria. Liveability indices should include quantifiable environmental factors such as green space, remnant vegetation, biodiversity, air quality and unpolluted water.

This paper thus contributes to the discourse on what constitutes a liveable city, the authors emphasise that liveability is significantly related to the presence of green space and natural areas as well as the opportunity to see and interact with wildlife. Perth has such opportunities for it residents and visitors but as yet the aforementioned natural characteristics are not implicit in international measures of liveability.

This study compares filmic and televisual representations of fictional black presidents to white Americans’ reactions to the advent of the United States’s first African American president. My main goal is to determine if there is convergence between these mediated representations and whites’ real-world representations of Barack Obama. I then weigh the evidence for media pundits’ speculations that Obama owes his election to positive portrayals of these fictional heads of state.

The film and television analyses examine each black president’s social network, personality, character traits, preparation for office, and leadership ability. I then compare the ideological messages conveyed through these portrayals to the messages implicated in white Americans’ discursive and pictorial representations of Barack Obama.

Both filmic and televisual narratives and public discourses and images construct and portray black presidents with stereotypical character traits and abilities. These representations are overwhelmingly negative and provide no support for the argument that there is a cause–effect relationship between filmic and televisual black presidents and Obama’s election victory.

Neither reel nor real-life black presidents can elude the representational quagmire that distorts African Americans’ abilities and diversity. Discourses, iconography, narratives, and other representations that define black presidents through negative tropes imply that blacks are incapable of effective leadership. These hegemonic representations seek to delegitimize black presidents and symbolically return them to subordinate statuses.