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Destination management organizations deliver travel-related information through visitor guides to build destination awareness and attract potential tourists. Therefore, this research aims to investigate how people read such a guide, understand their attitudes and to provide recommendations on enhancing its design.

This research used eye-tracking technology in tandem with surveys and in-depth interviews. Eye-tracking technology uncovered the elements of a visitor guide that attracted particular attention, whereas surveys and interviews provided deeper insights into people’s attitudes toward them.

People do not spend attention equally on each page of a visitor guide. Instead, they look at the reference points (i.e. photo credits, photos, headings and bolded words) and then read the adjacent areas if the information triggers their interest. The characteristics of the attractive components of a visitor guide were discussed and suggestions on designing a more appealing guide were provided.

The triangulated approach not only generated objective and insightful results but also enhanced research validity. This exploratory sequential mixed method can usefully be applied to test other stimuli and assess attention.

To be deemed appealing, a visitor guide should avoid ads unrelated to the destination, include more photos, use the list format and bolded words, add stories or selected comments from social media and provide well-designed maps.

This research fills a gap in the literature by using a triangulated approach including eye-tracking, survey and interviews to examine a 68-page visitor guide. The concept of reference-point reading behavior is proposed. Practical implications are discussed to improve the design of a visitor guide.

This study was undertaken to investigate whether a service-oriented approach to the local food supply chain contributes to strengthened linkages between accommodation and agricultural sectors, thereby creating value for users.

The qualitative study examined levels of customer/consumer engagement (CE) within theoretical constructs of the service-oriented framework and value co-creation, intangible resources and valued relationship within the value chain and food service. Also, two explanatory case studies were conducted on two accommodation properties.

Empirical findings indicated that the hospitality business which emphasized a consumer-centric service approach throughout the value chain – both forward (toward the consumer) and backward (toward the supplier) – had greater success in engaging customers. It also highlighted the importance of service leadership.

The research study provides practical guidance to members of the local food supply chains in the hospitality sector and strategies that can be used to optimize all opportunities to ensure consumers’ needs are met and exceeded as a precursor for repeat business.

The intricacies of services when well understood and applied in hospitality businesses are likely to generate favorable outcomes such as poverty alleviation. Developing destinations invest significantly in tourism as a channel for economic development. Unfortunately, gains are forfeited since limited attention is given to strategically advancing consumer-centric service at the micro level in tourism businesses to the extent that these benefit other stakeholders. Fostering CE and developing a culture of service leadership appear to be critical success factors.

This study is unique and extremely relevant to island destinations as it provides insights using a service management framework in the Caribbean context on how destinations may enhance hospitality business through improved service in island states.

Applying the practices of ecotourism to an urban environment is a relatively new concept but a concept that merits development in multiple cities. The concept of urban green tourism (urban ecotourism), as pioneered by Toronto’s Green Tourism Association, is a working example that demonstrates how a city can promote itself, individual businesses and attractions to provide a unique tourism experience and generate demand for sustainability. This paper seeks to outline how urban green tourism can be an effective approach to addressing the issues of tourism in cities – growth, waste, etc., and demonstrates how sustainable tourism options can capitalize on the existing features of a city. The association promotes local businesses, organizations, natural and cultural features through its green map, green guidebook and Website to educate travellers and industry toward greener practices.

The Travel and Tourism Research Association‐Canada Chapter held its 27th annual conference in Niagara Falls, Canada, from 14‐16 October 2001, with the theme of optimizing destination development. This paper is a summary of the presentations and workshops. Aside from a research case study of the Niagara region, two keynote addresses and a final plenary session, the conference dealt with six sub‐themes: the environmental and human sides of optimization, innovations in destination development and marketing, challenges associated with them and, finally, the relationship between food, wine and tourism. Two workshops were held on the effective use of online surveys and on the process of developing a tourism optimization management model (TOMM), using Niagara Falls and knowledge gained from the research case study as a basis for building it.

Traditional innovation typologies within the extant literature are not compatible with the innovation levels found within the Australian outdoor hospitality parks (OHP) sector, given its tourism and small business characteristics. This paper seeks to introduce an innovation typology specific to the Australian OHP sector.

A two‐phase qualitative research method was employed, whereby 30 semi‐structured interviews were conducted with OHP operators/administrators who were identified as being “innovative” by four industry executives. Based on the 30 interviews carried out in Phase 1, six industry individuals who demonstrated a wider and deeper approach to innovation than the others were further interviewed in Phase 2.

A small percentage of Australian OHP industry operators and executive officers showcase a level of innovation that is beyond incremental in character, but is not radical, revolutionary or disruptive. This group of “strategic innovators” are the first to adopt ideas from other sources and adapt them to fit within the Australian context. These new ideas are introduced in three‐ to four‐year increments, providing the individuals with sufficient time to assess the market's reaction to the changes, and to measure increased value to their situation. The three‐ to four‐year time span dovetails with the length of time taken by the majority of competitors to imitate the new concepts.

The paper introduces an innovation typology applicable to the Australian outdoor hospitality parks sector.

L'objectif global d'une politique touristique doit tre triple:

The School of Hospitality and Tourism Management of Ryerson University, Toronto hosted the 2002 World‐wide Hospitality and Tourism Trends (WHATT) Roundtable discussion of Canada. The discussion focused mainly on the practical challenges and the role of educational institutions in sustainable tourism development in Canada. In addition to two joint chairs and the leading discussant, seven industry practitioners and seven academics from the hospitality and tourism sector discussed the definitions of “sustainable tourism development” and debated the key development issues in Canadian tourism and related research needs. The meeting agreed that there was a lack of applied research on Canadian tourism. The meeting therefore identified a few achievable action points and this article ends by reporting on nine related outcomes within a year after the first WHATT roundtable in Canada.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights to the relevant past discussions, theories and projects; and sustainable tourism development in the Niagara region.

Each of the key four sections of this paper zooms in to specific areas. Outcomes from elite discussions involving 47 experts are followed by a concise literature review on sustainable tourism. The paper then analyses the concept of economic sustainability and reviews the outcomes from a blueprint for sustainable tourism development.

This paper discusses the economic pillar of sustainable tourism by outlining the negative and positive economic effects of the worldwide travel and tourism industry. In addition to reviewing the relative competitiveness of the world's travel destinations; with a focus on Canada's performance, it outlines strategies for Niagara region to enhance its competitiveness to support sustainable tourism.

In the recent years not much research has been carried out on the topic of sustainable tourism specific to the Niagara region. Therefore, this paper should be useful to a range of tourism stakeholders in Niagara region as well as readers involved in regional tourism development in other parts of the world. The versatility of the four authors – an administrator who chaired the Niagara Gateway Project, an academic researcher who has focused on sustainable tourism for a long period, a partner of a leading consulting firm and an applied researcher with significant international experience, makes the paper interesting.