ABSTRACT The International Conference on Sustainable Issues and Challenges in Tourism was held on... more ABSTRACT The International Conference on Sustainable Issues and Challenges in Tourism was held on 3–5 October 2013 at Bog˘azic�i University, Istanbul, Turkey in order to celebrate the university’s 150th anniversary (1863–2013). The event was organized by Maria D. Alvarez (Bog˘azic�i University, Turkey), in collaboration with Ali Bakir (Buckinghamshire New University, UK) and Eugenia Wickens (Help 2 Educate Foundation, UK). The conference featured high-quality presentations, bringing together perspectives from academicians and practitioners on the challenges that sustainability poses to tourism activities, destinations, stakeholders, and organizations. The programme was designed to provide a platform to exchange ideas, concepts, and best practices. The goal was to contribute towards a deeper understanding of the complex topic of sustainability in tourism, as Professor Maria D. Alvarez underlined during the welcoming remarks.
Anatolia: An International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research, 2014
The International Conference on Sustainable Issues and Challenges in Tourism was held on 3–5 Octo... more The International Conference on Sustainable Issues and Challenges in Tourism was held on 3–5 October 2013 at Boğazic i University, Istanbul, Turkey in order to celebrate the university’s 150th anniversary (1863–2013). The event was organized by Maria D. Alvarez (Boğazic i University, Turkey), in collaboration with Ali Bakir (Buckinghamshire New University, UK) and Eugenia Wickens (Help 2 Educate Foundation, UK). The conference featured high-quality presentations, bringing together perspectives from academicians and practitioners on the challenges that sustainability poses to tourism activities, destinations, stakeholders, and organizations. The programme was designed to provide a platform to exchange ideas, concepts, and best practices. The goal was to contribute towards a deeper understanding of the complex topic of sustainability in tourism, as Professor Maria D. Alvarez underlined during the welcoming remarks. In times of uncertainty and growing complexity, many societies and eco...
In this review article, tourism is recognized as a powerful force of change for host communities.... more In this review article, tourism is recognized as a powerful force of change for host communities. The authors maintain that many empirical studies of residents' perceptions of tourism have argued that tourism has the ability to transform the lives of locals who inhabit a given destination region, generating both positive and negative economic, environmental, and sociocultural impacts there. However, the authors suggest that the focus of these received studies has been placed on the perceptions and experiences of adult residents, resulting in an absence of research that examines how young residents view, perceive, and adapt to tourism in their communities. To address this gap, this review article critically analyzes the role of young residents in Tourism Studies to date. An inventory of 30 previous studies that focused on young residents in tourism research was compiled and analyzed. Adapting a framework of the presence and role of Indigenous people in tourism research, the autho...
A review of both the tourism literature and the childhood literature reveals that there is a lack... more A review of both the tourism literature and the childhood literature reveals that there is a lack of research on young people’s perceptions and experiences of tourism, particularly when the tourist destination is also the place where they live. This paper focuses on a study of the lived experiences of young people growing up in the Australian tourist destination of Byron Bay, New South Wales. Taking a critical approach, an important aspect of this research is to hear directly from young people about how they negotiate a sense of identity and belonging in their communities. The study adopts an ethnographic and participatory approach to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of childhood in a tourist destination context. Preliminary findings suggest that children and young people have a strong sense of connection and belonging to their community, including the natural and built environment, which is challenged by the flow of visiting tourists. This paper contributes to t...
This paper builds on the developing literature on stakeholder engagement, community participation... more This paper builds on the developing literature on stakeholder engagement, community participation and transactive planning for sustainable tourism. The attributes and conditions needed to foster effective partnerships in strategic tourism planning are discussed, and links to social learning explained. Practical applications of these concepts are demonstrated through case analyses of two-year-long strategic tourism planning processes undertaken for the Australian destination regions of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs (Victoria) and Byron Shire (New South Wales) during 2007–2008. Both used a comprehensive approach to stakeholder engagement, using a transactive planning approach that sought to establish a participatory and inclusive framework for stakeholders to engage in multi-loop learning and corresponding action to achieve sustainable tourism planning outcomes. A seven-stage stakeholder engagement process was used, bringing together stakeholder consultation workshops, setting up a destination planning website to accept broader community input, as well as creating Stakeholder Reference Groups and citizen's juries. The process continued with consultation reports, workshops, draft plans and the communication and implementation of the final plan. The outcomes of the two planning processes were, however, very different, demonstrating the complexity of working in dynamic socio-political contexts, with greater success for the concept of “enabler” organisations and problems for “provider” organisations.
... Tourism planning, policies, processes, and relationships , Harlow: Pearson Hall. View all ref... more ... Tourism planning, policies, processes, and relationships , Harlow: Pearson Hall. View all references further suggests that social and economic networks provide a useful way of capturing a conception of relational social dynamics that exist in tourism planning and everyday life. ...
Economic and social changes have had dramatic effects on regional areas. In a search for diversif... more Economic and social changes have had dramatic effects on regional areas. In a search for diversification, tourism and film may be targeted by these regions. Challenges of regional planning, however, include lack of local expertise, decentralized decision making, and diverse stakeholder groups. Specifically for film tourism this includes anticipating visitation numbers and assessing potential negative impacts. Broken Hill, located in Outback Australia, was used to investigate the complementary integration of film into regional development and tourism strategies. A stakeholder engagement process that adopted a transactive approach was implemented. The main findings of this process highlighted the need to develop the strong film presence into a visitor-friendly product, coordinating the film product with other destination strengths, establishing an expert and sector-diverse governance team, and developing a consistent brand with film as a component. Implications for other regional area...
This article reports on destination marketing best practices from 21 regional destinations around... more This article reports on destination marketing best practices from 21 regional destinations around Australia. The results advocate an integrative approach to destination marketing that aligns with destination management and development objectives. From this, a framework is developed, within which nine best practice principles are identified as essential to successful and sustainable marketing of regional destinations. The key initiatives used to
ABSTRACT The strong growth of medical and wellness tourism around the globe is the result of a nu... more ABSTRACT The strong growth of medical and wellness tourism around the globe is the result of a number of factors, such as the desire of many travellers to try new experiences and escape from increasingly busy lives, the rising health costs in the developed world and the number and diversity of medical and wellness tourism products now available. Australia is no exception to this trend, with the realisation that there is great potential for promoting the destination around the medical and wellness tourist experience or as a supplement to the traditional attractions of the Outback, the Reef and food and wine. However, the paucity of research that currently exists in relation to this industry needs to be addressed, if full advantage is to be taken of this worldwide growth. To this end, a scoping study of Australian medical and wellness tourism was commissioned by the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, to analyse the current state of play and identify future research needs requiring more in-depth investigation. A secondary aim was to compare Australia’s current offerings with international examples. Key findings of this study include identification of the broad range of Australian medical and wellness tourism products in existence, exploration of the potential of Australia to provide niche medical tourism offerings, and identification of key success factors and barriers for the Australian medical and wellness and medical tourism industries. The paper concludes by suggesting some future research avenues.
In this review article, tourism is recognized as a powerful force of change for host communities.... more In this review article, tourism is recognized as a powerful force of change for host communities. The authors maintain that many empirical studies of residents' perceptions of tourism have argued that tourism has the ability to transform the lives of locals who inhabit a given destination region, generating both positive and negative economic, environmental, and sociocultural impacts there. However, the authors suggest that the focus of these received studies has been placed on the perceptions and experiences of adult residents, resulting in an absence of research that examines how young residents view, perceive, and adapt to tourism in their communities. To address this gap, this review article critically analyzes the role of young residents in Tourism Studies to date. An inventory of 30 previous studies that focused on young residents in tourism research was compiled and analyzed. Adapting a framework of the presence and role of Indigenous people in tourism research, the authors classified these articles into three categories—namely, the silent, the acknowledged, and the youth-focused. In this inspection, key findings identified the lack of children's and young people's agency and voice, providing a theoretically driven undercurrent guiding future inquiry and developing a pathway toward new “voice-generative” methods. The authors recommend that the specific approaches that they identify for deployment in the field should be ethically sensitive to the needs of children and young people and thereby be more accommodating in their capacity to develop and enhance discourse on youth in tourism. Keywords: AGENCY; CHILDREN; COLLABORATION; CRITICAL TOURISM STUDIES; PARTICIPATION; VOICE; YOUNG PEOPLE; YOUTH
A review of both the tourism literature and the childhood literature reveals that there is a lack... more A review of both the tourism literature and the childhood literature reveals that there is a lack of research on young people’s perceptions and experiences of tourism, particularly when the tourist destination is also the place where they live. This paper focuses on a study of the lived experiences of young people growing up in the Australian tourist destination of Byron Bay, New South Wales. Taking a critical approach, an important aspect of this research is to hear directly from young people about how they negotiate a sense of identity and belonging in their communities. The study adopts an ethnographic and participatory approach to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of childhood in a tourist destination context. Preliminary findings suggest that children and young people have a strong sense of connection and belonging to their community, including the natural and built environment, which is challenged by the flow of visiting tourists. This paper contributes to the field of Critical Tourism Studies by addressing the lack of research focused on children and young people. In addition, the study brings to the fore the ‘voices’ of this silent population in tourism research with the ultimate purpose of contributing to policy and planning for social sustainability.
The strong growth of medical and wellness tourism around the globe is the result of a number of f... more The strong growth of medical and wellness tourism around the globe is the result of a number of factors, such as the desire of many travellers to try new experiences and escape from increasingly busy lives, the rising health costs in the developed world and the number and diversity of medical and wellness tourism products now available. Australia is no
ABSTRACT The International Conference on Sustainable Issues and Challenges in Tourism was held on... more ABSTRACT The International Conference on Sustainable Issues and Challenges in Tourism was held on 3–5 October 2013 at Bog˘azic�i University, Istanbul, Turkey in order to celebrate the university’s 150th anniversary (1863–2013). The event was organized by Maria D. Alvarez (Bog˘azic�i University, Turkey), in collaboration with Ali Bakir (Buckinghamshire New University, UK) and Eugenia Wickens (Help 2 Educate Foundation, UK). The conference featured high-quality presentations, bringing together perspectives from academicians and practitioners on the challenges that sustainability poses to tourism activities, destinations, stakeholders, and organizations. The programme was designed to provide a platform to exchange ideas, concepts, and best practices. The goal was to contribute towards a deeper understanding of the complex topic of sustainability in tourism, as Professor Maria D. Alvarez underlined during the welcoming remarks.
Anatolia: An International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research, 2014
The International Conference on Sustainable Issues and Challenges in Tourism was held on 3–5 Octo... more The International Conference on Sustainable Issues and Challenges in Tourism was held on 3–5 October 2013 at Boğazic i University, Istanbul, Turkey in order to celebrate the university’s 150th anniversary (1863–2013). The event was organized by Maria D. Alvarez (Boğazic i University, Turkey), in collaboration with Ali Bakir (Buckinghamshire New University, UK) and Eugenia Wickens (Help 2 Educate Foundation, UK). The conference featured high-quality presentations, bringing together perspectives from academicians and practitioners on the challenges that sustainability poses to tourism activities, destinations, stakeholders, and organizations. The programme was designed to provide a platform to exchange ideas, concepts, and best practices. The goal was to contribute towards a deeper understanding of the complex topic of sustainability in tourism, as Professor Maria D. Alvarez underlined during the welcoming remarks. In times of uncertainty and growing complexity, many societies and eco...
In this review article, tourism is recognized as a powerful force of change for host communities.... more In this review article, tourism is recognized as a powerful force of change for host communities. The authors maintain that many empirical studies of residents' perceptions of tourism have argued that tourism has the ability to transform the lives of locals who inhabit a given destination region, generating both positive and negative economic, environmental, and sociocultural impacts there. However, the authors suggest that the focus of these received studies has been placed on the perceptions and experiences of adult residents, resulting in an absence of research that examines how young residents view, perceive, and adapt to tourism in their communities. To address this gap, this review article critically analyzes the role of young residents in Tourism Studies to date. An inventory of 30 previous studies that focused on young residents in tourism research was compiled and analyzed. Adapting a framework of the presence and role of Indigenous people in tourism research, the autho...
A review of both the tourism literature and the childhood literature reveals that there is a lack... more A review of both the tourism literature and the childhood literature reveals that there is a lack of research on young people’s perceptions and experiences of tourism, particularly when the tourist destination is also the place where they live. This paper focuses on a study of the lived experiences of young people growing up in the Australian tourist destination of Byron Bay, New South Wales. Taking a critical approach, an important aspect of this research is to hear directly from young people about how they negotiate a sense of identity and belonging in their communities. The study adopts an ethnographic and participatory approach to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of childhood in a tourist destination context. Preliminary findings suggest that children and young people have a strong sense of connection and belonging to their community, including the natural and built environment, which is challenged by the flow of visiting tourists. This paper contributes to t...
This paper builds on the developing literature on stakeholder engagement, community participation... more This paper builds on the developing literature on stakeholder engagement, community participation and transactive planning for sustainable tourism. The attributes and conditions needed to foster effective partnerships in strategic tourism planning are discussed, and links to social learning explained. Practical applications of these concepts are demonstrated through case analyses of two-year-long strategic tourism planning processes undertaken for the Australian destination regions of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs (Victoria) and Byron Shire (New South Wales) during 2007–2008. Both used a comprehensive approach to stakeholder engagement, using a transactive planning approach that sought to establish a participatory and inclusive framework for stakeholders to engage in multi-loop learning and corresponding action to achieve sustainable tourism planning outcomes. A seven-stage stakeholder engagement process was used, bringing together stakeholder consultation workshops, setting up a destination planning website to accept broader community input, as well as creating Stakeholder Reference Groups and citizen's juries. The process continued with consultation reports, workshops, draft plans and the communication and implementation of the final plan. The outcomes of the two planning processes were, however, very different, demonstrating the complexity of working in dynamic socio-political contexts, with greater success for the concept of “enabler” organisations and problems for “provider” organisations.
... Tourism planning, policies, processes, and relationships , Harlow: Pearson Hall. View all ref... more ... Tourism planning, policies, processes, and relationships , Harlow: Pearson Hall. View all references further suggests that social and economic networks provide a useful way of capturing a conception of relational social dynamics that exist in tourism planning and everyday life. ...
Economic and social changes have had dramatic effects on regional areas. In a search for diversif... more Economic and social changes have had dramatic effects on regional areas. In a search for diversification, tourism and film may be targeted by these regions. Challenges of regional planning, however, include lack of local expertise, decentralized decision making, and diverse stakeholder groups. Specifically for film tourism this includes anticipating visitation numbers and assessing potential negative impacts. Broken Hill, located in Outback Australia, was used to investigate the complementary integration of film into regional development and tourism strategies. A stakeholder engagement process that adopted a transactive approach was implemented. The main findings of this process highlighted the need to develop the strong film presence into a visitor-friendly product, coordinating the film product with other destination strengths, establishing an expert and sector-diverse governance team, and developing a consistent brand with film as a component. Implications for other regional area...
This article reports on destination marketing best practices from 21 regional destinations around... more This article reports on destination marketing best practices from 21 regional destinations around Australia. The results advocate an integrative approach to destination marketing that aligns with destination management and development objectives. From this, a framework is developed, within which nine best practice principles are identified as essential to successful and sustainable marketing of regional destinations. The key initiatives used to
ABSTRACT The strong growth of medical and wellness tourism around the globe is the result of a nu... more ABSTRACT The strong growth of medical and wellness tourism around the globe is the result of a number of factors, such as the desire of many travellers to try new experiences and escape from increasingly busy lives, the rising health costs in the developed world and the number and diversity of medical and wellness tourism products now available. Australia is no exception to this trend, with the realisation that there is great potential for promoting the destination around the medical and wellness tourist experience or as a supplement to the traditional attractions of the Outback, the Reef and food and wine. However, the paucity of research that currently exists in relation to this industry needs to be addressed, if full advantage is to be taken of this worldwide growth. To this end, a scoping study of Australian medical and wellness tourism was commissioned by the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, to analyse the current state of play and identify future research needs requiring more in-depth investigation. A secondary aim was to compare Australia’s current offerings with international examples. Key findings of this study include identification of the broad range of Australian medical and wellness tourism products in existence, exploration of the potential of Australia to provide niche medical tourism offerings, and identification of key success factors and barriers for the Australian medical and wellness and medical tourism industries. The paper concludes by suggesting some future research avenues.
In this review article, tourism is recognized as a powerful force of change for host communities.... more In this review article, tourism is recognized as a powerful force of change for host communities. The authors maintain that many empirical studies of residents' perceptions of tourism have argued that tourism has the ability to transform the lives of locals who inhabit a given destination region, generating both positive and negative economic, environmental, and sociocultural impacts there. However, the authors suggest that the focus of these received studies has been placed on the perceptions and experiences of adult residents, resulting in an absence of research that examines how young residents view, perceive, and adapt to tourism in their communities. To address this gap, this review article critically analyzes the role of young residents in Tourism Studies to date. An inventory of 30 previous studies that focused on young residents in tourism research was compiled and analyzed. Adapting a framework of the presence and role of Indigenous people in tourism research, the authors classified these articles into three categories—namely, the silent, the acknowledged, and the youth-focused. In this inspection, key findings identified the lack of children's and young people's agency and voice, providing a theoretically driven undercurrent guiding future inquiry and developing a pathway toward new “voice-generative” methods. The authors recommend that the specific approaches that they identify for deployment in the field should be ethically sensitive to the needs of children and young people and thereby be more accommodating in their capacity to develop and enhance discourse on youth in tourism. Keywords: AGENCY; CHILDREN; COLLABORATION; CRITICAL TOURISM STUDIES; PARTICIPATION; VOICE; YOUNG PEOPLE; YOUTH
A review of both the tourism literature and the childhood literature reveals that there is a lack... more A review of both the tourism literature and the childhood literature reveals that there is a lack of research on young people’s perceptions and experiences of tourism, particularly when the tourist destination is also the place where they live. This paper focuses on a study of the lived experiences of young people growing up in the Australian tourist destination of Byron Bay, New South Wales. Taking a critical approach, an important aspect of this research is to hear directly from young people about how they negotiate a sense of identity and belonging in their communities. The study adopts an ethnographic and participatory approach to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of childhood in a tourist destination context. Preliminary findings suggest that children and young people have a strong sense of connection and belonging to their community, including the natural and built environment, which is challenged by the flow of visiting tourists. This paper contributes to the field of Critical Tourism Studies by addressing the lack of research focused on children and young people. In addition, the study brings to the fore the ‘voices’ of this silent population in tourism research with the ultimate purpose of contributing to policy and planning for social sustainability.
The strong growth of medical and wellness tourism around the globe is the result of a number of f... more The strong growth of medical and wellness tourism around the globe is the result of a number of factors, such as the desire of many travellers to try new experiences and escape from increasingly busy lives, the rising health costs in the developed world and the number and diversity of medical and wellness tourism products now available. Australia is no
International Conference: Sustainability Issues and Challenges in Tourism, Istanbul (Turkey), Oct 3, 2013
Tourism studies confirm that little attention has been given specifically to the views and values... more Tourism studies confirm that little attention has been given specifically to the views and values of younger generations of host
communities. This paper proposes that the involvement of young residents in sustainable tourism development is important given
that young people live and grow up with the problems, challenges and opportunities that life in a tourist destination poses. This
paper forms the conceptual background to a PhD study based on an ethnographic investigation of the youth population in the
mature coastal tourist destination of Byron Bay, located on the far north coast of New South Wales, Australia.
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Papers by Meredith Wray
Keywords: AGENCY; CHILDREN; COLLABORATION; CRITICAL TOURISM STUDIES; PARTICIPATION; VOICE; YOUNG PEOPLE; YOUTH
Keywords: AGENCY; CHILDREN; COLLABORATION; CRITICAL TOURISM STUDIES; PARTICIPATION; VOICE; YOUNG PEOPLE; YOUTH
communities. This paper proposes that the involvement of young residents in sustainable tourism development is important given
that young people live and grow up with the problems, challenges and opportunities that life in a tourist destination poses. This
paper forms the conceptual background to a PhD study based on an ethnographic investigation of the youth population in the
mature coastal tourist destination of Byron Bay, located on the far north coast of New South Wales, Australia.