nep-tur New Economics Papers
on Tourism Economics
Issue of 2015‒09‒26
six papers chosen by
Laura Vici
Università di Bologna

  1. Culinary Tourism in Greece: Can the past define the future? A comparative analysis by using 10 case studies By Karagiannis, Dimitris; Metaxas, Theodore
  2. A Study on Causal and Serious Leisure Constraints, Motivation and Skill Comparison By Seung Koo Lee; Renuka Newpaney
  3. The European Cultural Routes as engine for sustainable development. The case of Via Francigena in Tuscany By Enrico Conti; Sabrina Iommi; Stefano Rosignoli; Leonardo Piccini
  4. Peloponnesus: a unique example of unorthodox regional development: Can the gastronomic tradition show the right path? By Metaxas, Theodore; Karagiannis, Dimitris
  5. ECONOMIC VALUATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE IN SURAKARTA CITY, CENTRAL JAVA-INDONESIA By Karnowahadi Karnowahadi; Indah Susilowati; Purbayu Budi Santosa
  6. Mega cultural events: Does attendance affect residents’ perceptions of a city’s identity? By José Freitas Santos; Laurentina Vareiro; Paula Remoaldo; José Cadima Ribeiro

  1. By: Karagiannis, Dimitris; Metaxas, Theodore
    Abstract: This paper examines the possibility that gastronomy, based on ancient Greek values, could be part of the answer for economic prosperity through the development of food tourism in a country with harsh economic environment such as Greece. We examine if local food, culture and tourism could become great fields of new entrepreneurial and thus regional development when paired with knowledge, innovation and quality. We shall examine what the historical background on ideas such as gastronomy, entrepreneurship, and innovation in ancient Greek culture; in order prove that the answer to contemporary business practicing might be hidden in the history of the country. Real examples of innovative entrepreneurship related to gastronomy will be presented as case studies. By analyzing them, we will prove that there is an answer for potential business growth, when tailor-made solutions are applied that take into account the unique characteristics of a place while utilizing its competitive advantages.
    Keywords: culinary tourism, gastronomy, economic development, comparative analysis, Greece
    JEL: O20 R11 R58 Z19
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:66846&r=all
  2. By: Seung Koo Lee (Kangwon National University); Renuka Newpaney (Kangwon National University)
    Abstract: This study explored the three major factors that effect the participation such as, motivation, constraints and skill. The purpose of this study was three fold. First, to observe the differences that could exist between the participants of serious and casual leisure while participating frequently in an activity. Secondly, to find the new inventory group that could exist in the field of tourism leisure participation. Thirdly, to examine the relation among casual, moderate and serious leisure participation and to relate with willingness to participate in frequent leisure activities. The descriptive statistics, factor analysis, t-test and regression were conducted using Statistical Package for the Social Science Software Program (SPSS) 21.0. While this study has contributed to our understanding that there were no differences existed between serious leisure or casual leisure participants in case of frequent leisure participation. In addition, there were no direct relation between motivation and constraints. These two variables showed negative or positive significant relationships with skill in all the three groups (casual, moderate and serious) of leisure activity. Further analysis proved that the motivation have indirect relationship with constraint. In case of frequent participants in particular activity, participants who perceives higher level of motivation showed less constraints to take part. This result further revealed that "challenging activities", was the strongest motivation variable, which tend to develop the skill and positively relate with moderate leisure(less serious and high casual leisure group). However, the casual leisure group showed negative relationship between cost constraint and skill (experience) which is not fit to our hypothesis. This study adds to our understanding that the motivation help to develop skill which further tend to negotiate the cost constraints of frequent participants. Results from this study also confirmed significant positive relationship of Willingness to Participate with ' Extrinsic Motivation' and ' Skill by Experience' and negative correlation with 'Skill by Knowledge' and 'Intrapersonal Constrains'. It further indicate that participants were more willingness to participate in an activity if they develop their skill through more participation. In addition, the frequent participants were well known about the situation and type of activity they participate and found higher interpersonal constraint for willing to participate in more risk taking activities. This study addresses that the moderate leisure and overall group face similar indirect relation between Motivation and Constraints. The moderate group (combined group) better fit to the model than any other groups of participants.
    Keywords: Leisure, Constraint, Motivation, Skill
    JEL: L83
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2704520&r=all
  3. By: Enrico Conti; Sabrina Iommi; Stefano Rosignoli; Leonardo Piccini (Istituto Regionale per la Programmazione Economica della Toscana)
    Abstract: Cultural and, in general, experiential tourism is nowadays a very promising market for areas so far remained on the margins of economic development, but rich in architectural and natural heritage. The initiative of the European Cultural Routes is therefore particularly interesting for a region like Tuscany, worldwide famous for the beauty and integrity of its smaller towns and rural landscapes. Public investments play of course a central role in these strategies of territorial development, and require increasingly sophisticated techniques for the assessment of economic, social and environmental impacts. When direct surveys are not possible, however, the use of existing data, appropriately processed referring to the area of interest, may be a viable alternative. The work presents the results of the application of three different estimating methods at the Tuscan case, based on geographic approach. The results are of course different, but they all confirm the widespread expectations about the leverage effect exerted by the cultural and landscape heritage on the local economic development
    Keywords: cultural tourism, economic impact
    JEL: L83
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irp:msclln:581&r=all
  4. By: Metaxas, Theodore; Karagiannis, Dimitris
    Abstract: This paper examines the case of the Peloponnese region in southern Greece, as a characteristic example of unorthodox regional development. There are two main obstacles: First, the Peloponnese is divided administratively the wrong way in the Region of Western Greece – which also includes a prefecture of Central Greece, the Region of Peloponnese, while a third section in the east belongs to the Region of Attica. Second, the Peloponnese is treated as a peninsula instead of an "island" that even its name indicates. Its name derives from the first mythical king of the region, "Pelopas", plus the word "island" and it means "the island of king Pelopas". Peloponnese could easily benefit from all the economic advantages enjoyed by an island, due to successful marketing, and rapid tourism development that could achieve as a tourist destination while being characterized as "the largest island of Greece". At the same time, because of its unique geographical position, Peloponnese maintains the entire comparative advantages of a mainland, once before the creation of the Isthmus, it was a peninsula. Thus, making the most out of this unique blend of advantages and characteristics, Peloponnese could be driven towards sustainable tourism development and economic prosperity. The entity of Peloponnese as an indivisible and integrated whole could be better demonstrated by other components, common throughout the entire region, such as the unique biodiversity, culture, gastronomy and history that the region shares for centuries. These are elements which characterize Peloponnese from one end to the other. It is also worth noting that through history, all the civilizations that concord or lived in Peloponnese, despite the diversity of their origin and culture (eg. Franks, Byzantines, Turks, Greeks, etc.), never dared to divide Peloponnese, and managed it sufficiently by respecting its natural borders in order to achieve the best possible administration, while treating it as a single and homogeneous area. To the contrary, the practices of the Modern Greek state, have divided Peloponnesian administration, practically into three deferent regions the last three decades, with catastrophic results. So, other models of efficient administration should be studied in order to facilitate Peloponnese to return to sustainable growth. In particular, food & wine tradition in the Peloponnese, as a guide which unite the whole region, could indicate the proper way and a future model of regional development. Traditional products, such as wine, and olive oil “embrace" the whole Peloponnesian territory through the “Wine and Olive oil trails”. The traditional areas of wine and olive production and the great potential of food tourism show the unity of Peloponnese. The benefits of such a holistic administrative approach that faces Peloponnese as a single entity would be better highlighted through a comparison with another neighboring region, Sicily.
    Keywords: Gastronomic tourism, Regional development, Peloponnese, Greece
    JEL: R11 R5 Z1
    Date: 2015–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:66829&r=all
  5. By: Karnowahadi Karnowahadi (Department of Business Administration, Semarang Polytechnic State (Polines)); Indah Susilowati (Faculty of Economics and Business, Diponegoro University (UNDIP)); Purbayu Budi Santosa (Faculty of Economics and Business, Diponegoro University (UNDIP))
    Abstract: Surakarta city has various types of cultural heritage, both physical and non-physical, and has a great potential in improving the tourism sector. Surakarta is located at the southern part of Central Java bearing economic functions as a surviving historic city of the country. Despite the great opportunities for cultural heritage in Surakarta, the city is currently facing threats of high traffic, excessive depletion of the natural environment in the city. This is due to underestimation on the market values of cultural heritage indevelopment decisions. Surakarta require an additional source of income for the maintenance and preservation of cultural heritage. The research of willingness to pay (WTP) of the visitor of the Surakarta cultural heritage is needed. Cultural heritage is something that must be preserved, because it is a public good that can carry the name of Surakarta city in the arena of world culture. The aim of this study is to estimate the economic benefit of cultural heritage in Surakarta city as the results would be able to provide insight to the value of this unique heritage society. The methods employed is contingent valuation method (CVM). The payment vehicle opted in this study is via accomodation, where a fixed heritage charge per night was included in the total accomodation bill in Surakarta. In CVM, the logit model was defined based on dichotomous choice method to estimate the WTP randomly with different starting bid value. A total of 225 respondents were interviewed in person, using random stratified sampling method. Utility preservation of cultural heritage Surakarta influenced by several factors, such as gender, age, level of visit frequent, type of work, and the amount of WTP. Gender, age, and type of work affect the utility respondent preservation of Surakarta cultural heritage is a significant positive. Level of visit frequent variable been negatively affect utility. WTP of respondents is greater than the status quo. Variable income, national origin, marital status, and education level influence the utility of Surakarta cultural heritage preservation is not significant. How to withdraw funds for the preservation of Surakarta cultural heritage can be done by adding to the hotel and restaurant taxes, adding to the ticket of admission, or added to the retribution.
    Keywords: economic-valuation, heritage, CVM, Surakarta
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2704849&r=all
  6. By: José Freitas Santos (Porto Polytechnic, Institute of Accounting and Business/CECEJ and Universidade do Minho/NIPE); Laurentina Vareiro (School of Management, Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave); Paula Remoaldo (Department of Geography – Institute of Social Sciences, University of Minho); José Cadima Ribeiro (School of Economics and Management and NIPE, University of Minho)
    Abstract: Events are frequently planned with a goal of attracting tourists to a destination. However, studies about the impact of a mega cultural event on residents’ identity are scarce. This research is based on the premise that hosting a mega cultural event can, to a significant degree, change a few of the attributes of the city’s identity as it is perceived by its residents. Specifically, the objective of the study is to identify the attributes of the city and compare the differences found between different groups of residents (attendees vs. non-attendees) before and after a mega cultural event. For this purpose, we focus our attention on Guimarães the ECOC 2012 (2012 European Capital of Culture) and the perceptions of the residents of this city. Several significant findings are reported and their implications for event managers and public policy administrators presented, along with the limitations of the study.
    Keywords: City’s identity; Residents’ perceptions of effects; Mega cultural event; Event-induced tourism; Guimarães, Portugal.
    Date: 2015
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nip:nipewp:10/2015&r=all

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