nep-tur New Economics Papers
on Tourism Economics
Issue of 2011‒08‒15
ten papers chosen by
Antonello Scorcu
University of Bologna

  1. Museum visitors can be regarded as specific cultural tourists? A length of stay analysis By JG. Brida; Marta Meleddu; Manuela Pulina
  2. Importance of E-services for Cultural Tourism By Eveline van Leeuwen; Peter Nijkamp
  3. A Global Map of Costal Recreation Values: results from a spatially explicit meta-analysis By Andrea Ghermandi; Paulo A.L.D. Nunes
  4. Regional Efficiency Improvement by Means of Data Envelopment Analysis through Euclidean Distance Minimization including Fixed Input Factors – An Application to Tourist Regions in Italy By Soushi Suzuki; Peter Nijkamp; Piet Rietveld
  5. "The Economic Value of Viewing Migratory Shorebirds on the Delaware Bay: An Application of the Single Site Travel Cost Model Using On-Site Data" By Peter E.T. Edwards; George R. Parsons; Kelley H. Myers
  6. The effect of using labelled alternatives in stated choice experiments: an exploration focusing on farmland walking trails in Ireland By Doherty, Edel; Campbell, Danny; Hynes, Stephen; Van Rensberg, Tom
  7. Accessibility, network structure, and consumers’ destination choice: a GIS analysis of GPS travel data. By Arthur Huang; David Levinson
  8. ART ET CULTURE DANS L’EVOLUTION DES DISTRICTS INDUSTRIELS ITALIENS [Art and culture in the evolution of Italian industrial districts] By Ragazzi Elena; Rolfo Secondo
  9. For an Olive Wreath? Olympic Games and Anticipation Effects in Macroeconomics By Brückner, Markus; Pappa, Evi
  10. Landscape aesthetics: towards a better understanding of rural landscape preferences By Howley, Peter

  1. By: JG. Brida; Marta Meleddu; Manuela Pulina
    Abstract: This paper examines the length of stay of cultural tourists in a mountain destination, on the North-East of Italy. A microeconomic perspective of cultural tourism is provided, where the interest is to analyse the attitude of visitors regarding culture and their overall vacation. To this aim, visitors’ behavior to the South Tyrol s Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano (Italy) is analysed through survey data. Unlike similar studies, empirically, a zero-truncated negative binomial model is estimated as a generalization of a Poisson distribution. The analysis shows which are the main determinants that influence length of stay of cultural tourists. Nationality, age, employment, income, costs associated with the travel have an impact on length of stay. Specifically, variations in such factors correspond to variation in the span of the vacation that is also positively affected by the presence of the icemen Ötzi in the museum as well as by the presence of other cultural attractions. These findings provide an essential tool to manage heritage resources and plan the future tourism development around the Ötzi museum.
    Keywords: Length of stay; cultural tourism; museum; zero-truncated negative binomial; management implications
    JEL: D12 L83 C19
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:201114&r=tur
  2. By: Eveline van Leeuwen (VU University Amsterdam); Peter Nijkamp (VU University Amsterdam)
    Abstract: Despite a busy lifestyle – or perhaps as a result of a stressful lifestyle – more people than ever before make leisure trips, sometimes for a long time but in many cases just for short periods. Modern telecommunication technology brings attractive tourist destinations directly into the living rooms of potential travellers, also destinations that would otherwise have been difficult to find, such as certain cultural heritage objects. In this contribution, we will address the relevance of e-services in urban cultural tourism. Its aim is to map out the relative drivers of cultural visitors to cities with a particular view on the importance of modern e-services in the tourist sector. We focus on three case-study cities: Amsterdam, Leipzig and Genoa. We use discrete choice models and factor analysis to analyse the preferences of tourists for cultural heritage and e-services. Interestingly, in all three cities, the most important group of tourists, the cultural heritage enthusiasts, are often international tourists. This stresses the importance of multilingual e-services in order to maximise their impact on cultural heritage visitors and the tourism sector in general. In addition, it is also important to note that certain e-services become more important for tourists from further away, such as online booking systems.
    Keywords: Tourism; cultural heritage; e-services; ordered logit models; factor analysis
    JEL: L83 L86
    Date: 2011–08–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20110109&r=tur
  3. By: Andrea Ghermandi (Department of Economics, University Of Venice Cà Foscari); Paulo A.L.D. Nunes (Marine Economics Research Programme, The Mediterranean Science Commission – CIESM, Principauté de Monaco; Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources Economics – TESAF, University of Padova, Italy)
    Abstract: The welfare dimension of the recreational services provided by global coastal ecosystems is examined through a meta-analytical regression based valuation approach. First, we construct a global, state-of-the-art database of stated and revealed preference estimates on coastal recreation, which includes also the grey literature and with the latest entry updated to February 2010. Second, the profile of each of the 253 observations of our dataset, which correspond to individual value estimates, was further enriched with characteristics of the built coastal environment (site accessibility, anthropogenic pressure, level of human development), characteristics of the natural coastal environment (presence of protected area, type of ecosystem, and marine biodiversity richness), geo-climatic factors (temperature and precipitation), as well as sociopolitical characteristics, such as the political stability index. In this context, the proposed meta-analytical valuation exercise explores the spatially explicit dimension of the values building upon Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. GIS are relied upon for the spatial characterization of the valued ecosystems, the determination of the role of spatially explicit variables in the meta-analytical value transfer model, as well as for the value transfer exercise. The GIS characterization reveals to be extremely significant in explaining the spatial diversity of the estimates values and underlying explanatory factors. The resulting integrated valuation framework constitutes a worldwide première and it results in the first global map of the recreational value of coastal ecosystems. We argue that the presented global map may play an important role in studying the prioritization for the conservation of coastal areas from a social perspective.
    Keywords: Built coastal environment, Natural coastal environment, Ecosystem service valuation, Geographic Information Systems, Mapping ecosystem values, Marine biodiversity, Scaling up, Spatial analysis, Spatial economic valuation, Value transfer
    JEL: C53 Q26 Q57 R12
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2011_08&r=tur
  4. By: Soushi Suzuki (Sapporo University, Sapporo, Japan); Peter Nijkamp (VU University Amsterdam); Piet Rietveld (VU University Amsterdam)
    Abstract: Standard Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is characterized by uniform proportional input reduction or output augmentation in calculating improvement projections. This paper develops a new Euclidean Distance Minimization model in the context of DEA in order to derive a more appropriate efficiency-improving projection model by means of a weighted projection function. The model is extended to the situation where some factor inputs are fixed, for instance, due to lumpiness or natural constraints. The extended DEA model is illustrated in the context of regional planning by using a data set on Italian tourist destination regions.
    Keywords: Euclidean Distance Minimization (EDM); Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA); Multiple Objective Quadratic Programming (MOQP); efficiency improving projection; tourist efficiency
    JEL: D61 L83 R15
    Date: 2011–08–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20110110&r=tur
  5. By: Peter E.T. Edwards (School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware); George R. Parsons (Department of Economics, University of Delaware); Kelley H. Myers (School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware)
    Abstract: Using data from an on-site survey of recreational birders in southern Delaware during the annual horseshoe crab/shorebird spring migration, we estimated four truncated count data models of recreation demand accounting for endogenous stratification due to onsite sampling. We analyzed day-trips only and conducted sensitivity analysis on measurement of the value of time and inclusion of covariates. Our estimates from the models using all covariates were in the range of $40 to $178/trip/household (2008$). The variation is due to differences in the value of time. The average household size is 1.66.
    Keywords: Travel-Cost Model, Shorebirds, Valuation
    JEL: Q51
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dlw:wpaper:11-03.&r=tur
  6. By: Doherty, Edel; Campbell, Danny; Hynes, Stephen; Van Rensberg, Tom
    Abstract: Discrete choice experiment data aimed at eliciting the demand for recreational walking trails on farmland in Ireland is used to explore whether some respondents reach their choices solely on the basis of the alternativeâs label. To investigate this type of processing strategy, the paper exploits a discrete mixtures approach which encompasses random parameters for the attributes. We find evidence that respondents employ different processing strategies for different alternatives and differences in processing emerge between rural and urban based respondents. Results highlight that model fit and policy conclusions are sensitive to assumptions related to processing strategies among respondents
    Keywords: Discrete choice experiments, processing strategies, discrete mixtures, rural and urban comparison, outdoor recreation, welfare estimates, Land Economics/Use,
    Date: 2011–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc11:108792&r=tur
  7. By: Arthur Huang; David Levinson (Nexus (Networks, Economics, and Urban Systems) Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota)
    Abstract: Anecdotal and empirical evidence has shown that road networks, destination accessibility, and travelers' choice of destination are closely related. Nevertheless, there have not been systematic investigations linking individuals' travel behavior and retail clusters at the microscopic level. Based on GPS travel data in the Twin Cities, this paper analyzes the impacts of travelers' interactions with road network structure and clustering of services at the destination on travelers' destination choice. A multinomial logit model is adopted. The results reveal that higher accessibility and diversity of services in adjacent zones of a destination are associated with greater attractiveness of a destination. Further, the diversity and accessibility of establishments in an area are often highly correlated. In terms of network structure, a destination with a more circuitous or discontinuous route dampens its appeal. Answering where and why people choose to patronize certain places, our planning, our findings shed light on the design of road networks and clusters from a travel behavior perspective.
    Keywords: travel behavior, destination choice, accessibility, GIS analysis, GPS travel data, road networks
    JEL: R30 L22
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nex:wpaper:retaildestinations&r=tur
  8. By: Ragazzi Elena (Ceris - Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth, Moncalieri (TO), Italy); Rolfo Secondo (Ceris - Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth, Moncalieri (TO), Italy)
    Abstract: The competitiveness of a territory is more and more explained by factors that combine technological innovation, recognized as a key element of the competitive advantage of an economic system, with knowledge, creativity, and sometimes even art and culture. In some areas of ancient industrialization we can find at local level a social capital that is a synthesis of economic, social and cultural aspects. This can be used both for the products promotion and for the support to new industries able to offer to the end consumer not only products but the opportunity to carry on an experience with the local tradition. The paper examines two cases of industrial districts in Italy (Biella and Carrara), where the cultural aspect of the traditional manufacturing has been the starting point for enhancing the territorial system and for the beginning of an integrated supply, products-services, which has expanded the boundaries of the previous specialization and it is now a strong element of territorial competitiveness.La compétitivité d’un territoire est de plus en plus expliqué par des facteurs qui associent à l’innovation technologique, depuis longtemps reconnue comme élément de l’avantage compétitif d’un système économique, la connaissance, la créativité et, parfois, même l’art et la culture. On voit ainsi comme dans les territoires d’ancienne industrialisation on retrouve à niveau local une synthèse entre aspects économiques, sociaux et culturels qui représentent un capital utilisable soit pour la promotion sectorielle, soit pour le soutien à la naissance de nouvelles filière capables d’offrir au consommateur final pas seulement un bien, mais la possibilité de faire expérience avec une tradition. Le papier examinera deux cas de districts industriels italiens (Biella et Carrara) où l’aspect culturel de la production traditionnelle a été le point de départ pour une valorisation du système territorial et pour la naissance d’une offre intégrée produits-services qui a élargi les frontières de la précédente spécialisation et représente un élément fort de la compétitivité territoriale.
    Keywords: Art et culture, créativité, districts industriels
    JEL: O18 R11
    Date: 2010–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csc:cerisp:201009&r=tur
  9. By: Brückner, Markus; Pappa, Evi
    Abstract: The hosting and bidding for the Olympic Games is a natural experiment to test for anticipation effects in macroeconomics. We examine these effects using panel data for 184 countries during the period 1950-2006. We find that hosting the Games generates positive investment, consumption, and output responses already before the hosting of the Games. We also detect significant anticipation effects in countries that bid for the Games. While bidding for the Games has a transitory level effect, hosting the Games has a permanent level effect.
    Keywords: Anticipation; Mega Event; Natural Experiment
    JEL: E62 E65
    Date: 2011–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8516&r=tur
  10. By: Howley, Peter
    Abstract: The central aim of this study was to gain greater insights into the factors that affect individualsâ preferences for a variety of landscape settings. To achieve this aim, this paper derived dependent variables (based on a factor analysis of respondents mean ratings of 47 landscape images) representing 5 different landscape categories. These variables were then utilized in separate OLS regression models to examine the effect of personal characteristics, residential location and environmental value orientations on landscape preferences. First in terms of visual amenity the results suggest that the general public have the strongest preference for landscapes with water related features as its dominant attribute which was followed by cultural landscapes. Second the results also demonstrate how there is significant heterogeneity in landscape preferences as both personal characteristics and environmental value orientations were found to strongly influence preferences for all the landscape types examined. Moreover the effect of these variables often differed significantly across the various landscape groupings. In terms of land use policy, given the diversity of preferences a one size fits all approach will not meet the general publicsâ needs and desires.
    Keywords: Landscape preferences, environmental attitudes, Land Economics/Use,
    Date: 2011–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc11:108956&r=tur

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