Tourist Attractions and Attracted Tourists - JCU

Abstract What are basic management principles in the creation of man made tourist attractions? In answering this question, the paper addresses first the topic regarding new forms of tourism behaviour. Subsequently, it discusses general changes in tourism and leisure behaviour, which can be observed globally, and distinguishes between global and local/regional changes in tourism behaviour. Through a discussion of the species of ‘new tourists’ and ‘new tourism’, this paper makes an attempt to derive its implications for attraction management which as of late has become an important issue on the tourism policy agenda in most European Alpine destinations. At the end three core elements of tourism management: imagination, attraction and perfection, will be analysed in connection with man made attractions. It is believed that the latter requirements carry important messages for attraction and/or event management and managers.

Associate Professor Mike Peters is at the Institute of Tourism and Service Economics, University of Innsbruck, Austria. Professor Klaus Weiermair is Head of the Institute of Tourism and Service Economics, University of Innsbruck, Austria.

22

Tourist Attractions and Attracted Tourists: How to satisfy today’s ‘fickle’ tourist clientele?

Mike Peters and Klaus Weiermair

Introduction Although cyclical and secular swings in the popularity and attractiveness of specific touristic regions and destinations have always existed, such notions as: destination life cycle, reengineering or relaunching of old tourism destinations, tourism trend research, and animation and theming in tourism belong to a more recent tourism vocabulary. A number of reasons are probably responsible for these developments; some of them are of a more general nature, involving overall changes in consumer behaviour elsewhere, some are more specific to the tourism industry. First of all we notice the worldwide disappearance of the typical loyal customer who, irrespective of relative price and quality adheres to traditional, habitual, and repetitive purchasing decisions and behaviour. Prompted by more and easier accessible purchasing information, by an ever increasing rate of introductions of new product/services, and their fast and global market diffusion, customers have become choosy, fickle, and disloyal to their traditional suppliers. Tourism has been no exception in this regard, but while the notion of shortened product life cycles has been discussed for some time (Poon, 1993; Weiermair & Auer, 1998), its application to the tourism industry was not obvious (Agarwal, 1997; Butler, 1980). Since both, tourism services and tourists in a specific tourism destination may change over time, it is not easy to decipher

THE JOURNAL OF TOURISM STUDIES Vol. 11, No. 1, MAY ‘00

destination life cycles the same way as you may analyse and manage simple product life cycles (Cooper, 1990). Also tourism, particularly in its first and pioneering phase, is usually more concerned with the tangible aspects of its evolution e.g. the creation of new tourism sites in terms of hotels and traditional touristic infrastructure and less with the creation of intangible benefits in terms of ‘vacation or tourism experiences’ (Ritchie & Crouch, 1993). While physical surroundings and tourism infra- and supra structure may age and became outdated, the aging of their intangibles in terms of service concepts and service philosophies may often be the more important depreciation element which can cause the decline of destination attractiveness. Throughout Europe, but particularly Central Europe, where tourism has declined in saturated markets (Weiermair, 1997), destination attractiveness has been questioned and much emphasis is currently being placed on making tourist destinations more attractive through innovative investments in technology, human resources, and new tourism events, theme parks, and the like. A call has been made for increasing attractiveness o f tourist sites through appropriate management of tourist attractions (Scherrieb, 1998). As Jago and Shaw pointed out, there no widely accepted definitional framework for the terms ‘special events’, ‘festivals’, ‘hallmark events’, ‘major-events’ and/or ‘mega-events’ exists (Jago & Shaw, 1998). All of them as well as the entire tourism industry contain ‘man made attractions’ as the common element, which can provide the stimulation for customers to travel. Swarbrooke proposed another typology of attractions (Swarbrooke, 1995). He differentiated:

• Natural attractions

environment

• Man-made structures not designed to specifically attract visitors • Man-made structures specifically designed to attract visitors • Special events. Whilst special events are of limited duration, tourist attractions do not have to be of temporary nature. Similarly events can also be used as primary attractions, around which to create theming, image building, and packaging (Getz, 1997). A short profile of today’s tourist and/or modern tourism Even from an ec onomic perspective, tourism can be first analysed as a demand phenomenon. As such, one has to delve deep into theories or theoretical constructs, which help explain consumer preferences for leisure products in general, and tourism products/services in particular. This section does not pretend to discuss the variety of approaches and/or theories which have been proposed to explain tourism or leisure behaviour, for such an exercise would fill an entire book. Rather a modest attempt will be made to stylise a few facts about today’s tourism, and its changes over time and across national boundaries, and to speculate on possible causes for these changes towards ‘post-modern tourism’ using theoretical constructs, where available. The quantitative dimensions of the postwar growth behaviour in tourism are well documented f o r mo s t p a rt s o f t he w o r l d ( f o r example: WTO, OECD, EUROSTAT). Fr equently historical figures are used to extrapolate growth trajectories for global and regional tourism (Edwards, A., 1992; Hailin Qu &

Hanqin Qiu Zhang, 1997). As long as the underlying preference function of tourists remain stable, purely statistical or simple economic and/or econometric explanatory and forecasting approaches can provide reasonably good estimates of underlying trends. In this context it should be pointed out that the economists’ frequentl y used explanatory variables of income, price of tourism services, price of related substitute goods or services and available time for leisure consumption are in reality only constraint variables which allow us to merely make conjectures, and develop hypotheses with respect to the relationship of these economic variables and the amount of tourism activities consumed (an excellent overview on demand models is delivered by Crouch and Shaw, 1992). Such demand models of tourism consumption prove far less useful when there are profound underlying structural changes in tourism and leisure behaviour based on new values, attitudes and/or preferences of tourists. According to some authors, such changes have occurred over the past ten years (Weiermair, 1998). This is evidenced by the uneven and at times contradictory tourism growth within and across regions, and the fast growth in visitor numbers of some tourist attractions and destinations versus the maturity or decline of others. What accounts for these structural changes are radical depar tures in consumer behaviour. Where before the combination of a ‘puritan ethics’ and economic constraints guided consumer decision making in all arenas including tourism, today’s motivating forces are not only less and less the result of rational economic decision making but may indeed be the tourist’s ‘reflection of deeper needs, needs which be himself does not even understand may not be aware of or may not wish to articulate’ (Lundberg, 1976).

THE JOURNAL OF TOURISM STUDIES Vol. 11, No. 1, MAY ‘00 23

Many authors describe today’s tourist behaviour and/or modern tourism as an ‘escape’ or ‘flight’ from daily routine phenomena where escape and self actualisation motives dominate but where behaviour is also still rooted or at least partially influenced by traditional norms and considerations of daily life (Crompton, 1979). Thus, spillover leisure/familiarity concepts combine with compensatory concepts to explain tourism behaviour (see, for example: Cohen, 1988). The hybrid customer or tourist who seems to defy simple segmentation principles, becomes much more easy to define once we accept the co-existence of contradictory values, norms and behaviour. The accumulation of post war wealth has conditioned modern men towards consumerism and materialism, but at the same time set free the critical conditions for the experience of leisure, e.g. perceived freedom and intrinsic motivation. What is different, in many of the most developed countries today, is the dominance of intrinsic over extrinsic motivating factors, and the search and acquisition of emotional stimuli in many ordinary activities of consumption. Shopping centres become shopping experiences, destinations become stages for holiday adventures, and more generally leisure consumption becomes a state of mind (Opaschowski, 1993; Scherrieb, 1998). Opaschowski (1993) pointed out, the psychological foundation of this new ethic in consumer behaviour goes back to the times of the romantic period in history (p. 13). According to this ethic, pleasure and animation take precedence over the functional and useful, even though the ‘iron cage of econo mic necessities’ must equally be populated alongside with the luxurious castles of dreams and pleasures. Thus, the call for dream holidays, for holidays which make all those

24

things possible, which ordinary daily routine cannot, is becoming more important in leisure and tourism. Often these dreams reflect social and personal deficits at home, which make people want to live in ‘holiday dream worlds’. These trend s can also be observed in alpine tourism, but only a few studies report on changing tourism behaviour and quality perception of alpine tourists (see, for example: Fuchs and Weiermair, 1998). To find out more about the images of the alps, alpine holidays, and alpine cities, particularly in the context of excursion and short-term holidays, focus group interviews were carried out, for example in the city of Munich, with the

Perceived freedom and intrinsic motivation are strong elements shaping the choices of contemporary consumers.

objective to learn more about information and leisure behaviour of Germans in nearby sending regions (ITD, 1998). The focus groups were divided in younger (22-40 years of age) and elder potential travellers (41-60 years of age). Asked about their travel motives all young potential travellers named ‘animation and fun’, on the other side, asked about their negative associations with vacations in alpine regions, they all missed ‘originality’. This supports former studies, which indicate consumers’ holiday preferences to change towards having fun, gaining new experiences and breaking away from every day life (see, for example: ADAC, 1991; ÖGAF, 1996). Technical advances and close adherence to the psychological needs of today’s stressed out and lonesome individual have produced artificial or virtual


dr eamworlds in the form of theme or fantasy parks, hotels and/or clubs. Today these are not only competing very successfully with ordinary vacation destinations, but they have also become the benchmark against which the management of tourist attractions must be evaluated. To summarise, we seem to be observing a global trend towards a new form of tourism, in which animation, fun and adventure, properly staged and ideally packaged individually form key elements of success (see, for example: Isenberg, 1995; Mikunda, 1997; Youngkhill, Dattilo, & Howard, 1998). Global vs. regional patterns of behaviour in travel decision making and destination choice As pointed out above, a trend in terms of new tourist types and novel tourism behaviour has been observed. There has been equally much discussion about globalisation of the tourism industry and its impact on future developments in tourism (Weiermair & Peters, 1998). Thus, an emerging key question is the global dispersion of this new form of tourism: Is there a convergence of tastes and preference in tourism on a world wide scale through or without the extension of national to international travel, and does this lead to similar international practices and tools in tourism management, particularly as regards tourist attractions? Given the multiplicity of travel motives, travel products and activities, not to speak of travel experiences which, to a certain degree, all can embed new tourism behaviour, it becomes next to impossible to decipher the quantitative importance of these trends and localise them on a global scale. But if theming and theme parks are an important indication and expression of this ‘new tourism’, it however becomes much easier to observe

its growth and global distribution, as this sub-branch of tourism provides relatively good statistics. On a global scale the top 50 of the world’s most visited parks hosted more than 242.8 million guests 1997. The majority of leisure parks is found in the U.S.A and Japan (Of the world's top 50 parks, 26 are in North America and 9 in Japan, but Europe and South-America appear to be at the moment the fastest growing markets. Although attendance at the world’s top 50 most visited parks dropped in 1998 by nearly 9.5 million visitors, or 4%, the top parks still hosted over 233.395.188 visitors which represents record levels in recent years. Weather and the economy

Is there a global convergence of tourists’ tastes and preferences?

were cited as the reasons for the present decline (Amusement Business, 21/28/1998). In Austria and Switzerland, two of the most tourism intensive countries in the world, little has been done in terms of theme park creations bec ause of local opposition to these developments. Sagging tourism figures combined with the risk taking of emerging types of entrepreneurs or tycoons in tourism are presently leading to the creation of a new wave of fantasy parks. However not all of these theme parks will imitate earlier American success stories like Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom. The difficulty which many European, Asian or South American park developments face is finding a proper balance between their own local traditions, local history, and local


myth, and colour and a professional American style management or orchestration of such theme par ks or themed tourist events/attractions. Often management tools and tourism goals are judged negatively as the pejoratively used terms of McDonaldisation and W a l t Disneysation suggest. In the next chapter we will try to strip these terms of their cultural bias and report principles on successful management production, which are necessary to satisfy today’s experience and adventure oriented tourist, irrespective of cultural context and cultural belonging. Key principles in the design and operation of tourist attractions

A number of books have been written in the last couple of years which have all focused on frontier management practices in the field of service operations and service marketing (Bieger, 1998). In addition a number of tourism specific areas have shown how some of these management tools can be applied to tourism (see, for example: Kunst & Lemmink, 1995; Poon, 1993). For the sake of simplicity and in order to reduce the task to manageable proportion we will discuss three core elements which are common to most successfully managed tourist attractions, events and/or fantasy parks. They include • Imagination • Attraction • Perfection The first and probably most important managerial or entrepreneurial task is to create new products, services or better yet ‘experiences’ based on consequent observations of tourists’ behaviour or market research dealing with human needs, problems, and problem solu tions using psychological and/or other qualitative market research tools (for example focus groups). We are speaking of a

26

new generation of entrepreneurs and pioneers, who, in addition to having vision of future services, can translate these with modern software and service quality concepts into commercialised products. They must understand and respond to tourists’ vacation dreams which constitute an amalgam of sun lust, comfort and convenience, contrast and adventure, peacefulness and nature, as well as animation and fun. Often many of these visions emerge from c hildren’s fairy tales, accounts of religious history, sites of famous personalities or important historical happenings. E.g. today, there exist three competing Santa Claus villages in Canada, Sweden and Finland. Assuming visionaries in tourism are equally distributed around the globe along with a normal distribution of tourist location and natural tourist attractions, the next most important question becomes how to apply psychological foundations of service (quality) experience and learning to the selling of service perception, service consumption and service recollection (Kunst & Lemmink, 1995). It is here that a number of lessons can be learnt from professional theme park-, eventor club operations, for the process involves a number of steps and skills which are often absent in mainstream tourism operations. ‘Imagineers’ know how to stimulate and animate through ‘theming’ and visualisation. By descending to the markets’ most common denominator with respect to intellectual and aesthetic demand, tourism managers and operators of tourist attractions can build a much safer bridge between consumers’ (tourists’) quality expectations and their perceptions of performance quality. In most jurisdiction and in most tourist destinations but notably in the context of urban tourism, tourist attractions have become


increasingly managed yielding man made as opposed to natural tourist attractions. One of the prime reasons for this development lies in the fact that holiday products or services are in their entirety inaccessible to the imagination, unless they can be somehow reduc ed and simplified. Attraction management is therefore largely concerned with the strategy and implementation of imaginisation (Judd, 1995). It is important to integrate the tourist intellectually and emotionally into the service production process (Normann, 1991). Many trad itional managers of tourist attractions, such as e.g., museums, art galleries, religious monuments, or even natural parks, merely provide the physical integration of the client with the service. The latter often are people who may be specialists in the domain of the attrac tion, e.g. art critic s or curators, clergy or rangers who often may deliver a very elitarian interpretation of the offered attractions, their jobs and/or their role in society. The notion that art should only be shown and marketed to the educated art lover, religious monuments shown to the informed tourist or natur e shared with the ecologically minded traveller implies either discrimination and/or at worst poor customer segmentation. How art treasures, historical buildings or other man made and natural attractions are presented in order to appeal to wide audiences/clients is one of the most important skills in the process of attraction management. Tourism or leisure cultures if they are to exist on a broad basis, require a demystification of the traditional comprehension of culture. Wanting to share culture with others from a different cultural background may in itself be determined by a lot of ethnic and socioeconomic variables. Generally speaking, either very primitive or very evolved host cultures seem to be able to share

cultural values and activities with foreigners, whilst cultures in transition suffer from identification problems and therefore often produce hostility towards foreign tourists (Bachleitner & Luger, 1996). There is a growing discipline within management which specialises in intercultural management, and which certainly could be applied to the creation and management of leisure cultures. This brings us already close to the third success criterion: perfection. The most successful service operations including those in tourism are the ones which are orchestrated, planned and processed like a screenplay with a well written script (Lovelock, 1991). Nothing is left to chance, the whole process from the first service encounter to the last is rehearsed and important strategic points of interaction with the customer (tourist) are reinforced through special quality controls. Entrepreneurs should use management tools, such as service blueprinting and/or flowcharting diagrams to optimise flows and to follow the principles o f value chain management. This exercise involves on the one hand the use of logistic s and operation research methods to smoothen the process of service delivery, and to minimise, e.g. waiting queues, on the other hand it involves the setting of quality standards in terms of behavioural standards for service (contact) personnel. Above all, it requires again a sound knowledge of which service quality elements or attributes are to be used in which combination and for which service acts within the service chain. For example, how should hi gh tech and high touch or traditional and modern elements in the interior decoration, the appearance of the service personnel, or in the choice of goods and services to be provided be blended to achieve the highest degree of customer satisfaction?

Service quality and customer satisfaction research in tourism p rovides us with valuable insights into the varying importance of various quality attributes and/or service interaction points, and as such can be used as a valuable guide for the operation of tourist attraction (Weiermair & Fuchs, 1998). Possible lessons for the management of tourist attractions Though national cultural differences prevail, there seems to exist a global overarching trend towards certain forms of leisure cultures in which well orchestrated leisure attractions, such as theme or fantasy parks play an important role. What does the experience concerning the manage ment of tourist attractions, notably those in the U.S.A., suggest for example for European Alpine destinations?: • Eac h tourism receiving country should carefully examine which relevant themes, events or attractions lend themselves to the construction and/or development of leisure parks. • Irrespective of the nature of such leisure or theme parks, professionals in tourism should learn about the process of managing complex service chains, for this knowledge cannot only be applied to major tourist attractions but is equally valid for most tourism enterprises. • Even small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises can learn from the managerial know how of successful attraction/theme park entrepreneurs: on the one hand service providers should understand consumer problems and consumer behaviour in order to fulfil their expectations, and more than this, to surprise them with an extraordinary service

experience. On the other hand service elements which do not increase customers’ value, should be excluded. • Complexity of the tourism product and/or tourism attraction calls for the development of service management instruments which allows entrepreneurs to analyse complex service processes (e.g. flowcharting, waiting-queue management and blueprinting). The entrepreneur furthermore has to learn to write a script which serves the right service/product at the right time and location, in the right quantity, and quality. • Much needs to be done to professionalise the structuring of service enterprises and the management of the service encounter in terms of designing tourism products and service delivery systems (which involves also architectural questions). • Alpine tourism managers have to distinguish between core and peripheral services because they have to identify the stimulus which may attract potential tourists (in order to create a favourable image). Market researchers often carry out surveys in their destinations/ cities and/or regions. But this is the wrong way to identify ‘new’ needs and desires of potential tourists, because they already have chosen their destination. It is more effective to analyse the consumer in sending regions, not only those who are just aware but also familiar with the tourist destination, and to explore their motivations. Tourist attractions could induce tourists to visit a destination for the first time: according to Milmann and Pizam (1995) awareness by itself does not necessarily lead to a more positive image of a destination and an increased likelihood of visiting it. Thus, it would be more


efficient to invest in means of moving customers directly into the stage of destination familiarity. The increasing importance and success of attractions and theme parks underline the need for more researc h in the field of the development of holistic tourism products/experiences. Thus, it seems useful not only to extract and concentr ate on primary travel motives of tourists but to analyse a composite of motives and understand their interdependencies and correlations (Dann, 1981, Pearce, 1988; Plog, 1994). On the supply side, questions of ownership control, entrepreneurship and strategy development of tourist attractions, as well as resource prot ection and sustainable management could be the focus of future tourism research studies. A number of trends in tourist attractions were identified by Pearce (1999), who derived a recommendation for marketing research and studies in business strategy, which could be of benefit to owners/operators and audiences as well as a growth area for tourism researchers. Alpine tourism in Europe has lost a good part of its competitiveness. This requires increasing product differentiation and specialisation, and innovative product development (Smeral, Weber, Fuchs, Auer, & Peters, 1998). Man-made products can be seen as an effective stimulus to attract tourists and to redefine and reposition the image of many European Alpine regions.

28

References ADAC (Ed.) (1991). Städtetourismus: Eine Orientierungshilfe für Klein- und Mittelstädte. München: ADAC Zentrale. Agarwal, S. (1997). The resort cycle and seaside tourism: An assessment of its applicability and validity. T o u r i s m Management, 18(2), 65-73. Amusement Business (1998). 21/28. Bachleitner, R., & Luger, K. (1996). Zur Sozialkritik am Tourismus. In K. Weiermair, M. Schipflinger, & M. Peters, (Eds.). Alpine tourism: Sustainability - reconsidered and redesigned (pp. 397402). Innsbruck: ITD Series. Bieger, Th. (1998). Dienstleistungs-management. Bern: Haupt. Butler, R.W. (1980). The concept of a tourist area cycle of evolution: Implications for management of resources. C a n a d i a n Geographer, 24, 5-12. Cohen, E. (1988). Authenticity and commodization in tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 15, 371-356. Cooper, C.P. (1990). Resorts in decline. The management response. Tourism Management, 11(2), 63-67. Crompton, J. (1979). Motivations for a pleasure vacation. Annals of Tourism Research, 6, 408-424. Crouch, G. I., & Shaw, R.N. (1992). International tourism demand: A meta-analytical integration of research findings. In P. Johnson, & B. Thomas (Eds.), Choice and demand in tourism. London: Mansell. Currie, R.R. (1997). A pleasure-tourism behaviours framework. Annals of Tourism Research, 24(4), 884-897. Dann, G. (1981). Tourist motivation: An appraisal. Annals of Tourism Research, 8(2), 187-219. Edwards, A. (Ed.) (1992). International tourism forecasts to 2005. London: The Economist Intelligence Unit. Fitzsimmons, J.A., & Fitzsimmons, M.J. (1998). Service management: Operations, strategy, and information technology (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Fuchs, M., & Weiermair, K. (1998). Qualitätsmessung vernetzter Dienstleistungen am Beispiel des alpinen Wintertourismus. Tourismus Journal, 2(2), S.211-235. Getz, D. (1997). Event management & event tourism. New York: Cognizant Communication Offices. Hailin Qu & Hanqin Qiu Zhang (1997). The projected inbound market trends of 12 tourist destinations in South-East Asia and the Pacific 1997-2001. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 3(3), 247263. Isenberg, W. (Ed.) (1995). Kathedralen der Freizeitgesellschaft. Bensberg: Thomas-Morus-Akademie. ITD - Institute of Tourism and Service Economics (1998). Focusbefragung über das Reiseverhalten in Reisesendeländern, unpublished. Innsbruck: University of Innsbruck. Jago, L.K., & Shaw, R.N. (1998). Special events: A conceptual and definitional framework. Festival Management & Event Tourism, 5, 21-32. Judd, D. (1995). Promoting tourism in US cities. T o u r i s m Management, 16(3), 175-187. Kunst, P., & Lemmink, J. (1995). Managing service quality. Den Haag: Paul Chapman Publishing. Lovelock, Ch. (1991). Services marketing. London: Prentice-Hall. Lundberg, D.E. (1976). The tourist business. Boston: CBI Publishing. Mikunda, Ch. (1997). Der verbotene Ort oder Die inszenierte Verführung. Düsseldorf: Econ. Milman, A., & Pizam, A. (1995). The role of awareness and familiarity with a destination: The Central Florida case. Journal of Travel Research, XXXIII(3), 21-27.


Nash, D. (1996). Anthropology of tourism. New York: Pergamon Press. Normann, R. (1991). Service management. Chisester: John Wiley & Sons. ÖGAF (Ed.) (1996). Gästebefragung Ös terreich. W i e n : Österreichische Gesellschaft für angewandte Freizeitforschung. Opaschowski, H.W. (1993). Freizeitökonomie. Marketing von Erlebniswelten. Opladen: Leske & Budrig. Opaschowski, H. W. (1993). Wir schaffen Glückseligkeit. In W. Isenberg (Ed.), Kathedralen der Freizeitgesellschaft: Kurzurlaub in Erlebniswelten. Trends, Hintergründe, Auswirkungen (Bensdorfer Protokolle, 83) (pp. 11-34). Bensberg: ThomasMorus-Akademie. Pearce, P. (1988). The Ulysses factor: Evaluating visitors in tourist settings. New York: Springer. Pearce, P. (1999). Marketing and management trends in tourist attractions. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 3(1), 110. Plog, S.C. (1994). Developing and using psychographics in tourism research. In J. Ritchie, & C. Goeldner (Eds.), Travel, tourism and hospitality research (pp. 209-231). New York: Wiley. Poon, A. (1993). Tourism, technology and competitive strategies. Wallingford, UK: CAB International. Ritchie, J.R.B., & Crouch, G.I. (1993). Competitiveness in international tourism: A framework for understanding and analysis. In AIE ST (Ed.), Editions AIEST Vol. 35. Competitiveness of long haul tourist destinations (pp. 23-71). St. Gallen: Niedermann. Scherrieb, H.R. (1998). Freizeit- und Erlebnisparks in Deutschland. Würzburg: VDFU. Smeral, E., Weber, A., Fuchs, M., Auer, W., & Peters, M. (1998). The future of international tourism. Vienna: WIFO. Swarbrooke, J. (1995). The development & management for visitor attractions. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann. Weiermair, K., & Auer, W. (1998). Structural changes of alpine tourism and resultant adaptation p roblem of tourism enterprises. Journal of International Hospitality, Leisure & Tourism Management, 1(4), 79-91. Weiermair, K., & Fuchs, M. (1998). Quality dimensions in alpine t ourism and their assessment by tourists and tourism entrepreneurs. In institut d’administration des entreprises, Université d’Aix-Marseille (Ed.), 5th international research seminar in service management (pp. 839-859). Aix-en-provence: institut d’administration des entreprises, Université d’AixMarseille. Weiermair, K., & Peters, M. (1998). Entrepreneurial small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises: Threats and opportunities in a globalized world. In K.S. Chon (Ed.), Tourism and hotel industry in Indo-China & Southeast Asia (pp. 235-243). Houston: University of Houston. Weiermair, K. (1997). On the concept and definition of quality in tourism. In P. Keller (Ed.), AIEST Editions, Vol. 39, Quality management in tourism (pp. 33-58). St. Gallen: Niedermann. Weiermair, K. (1998). The effect on environmental context and management on the performance characteristics of cultural events: The case of the 700 year Exhibition in Stams and Meran. Festival Management & Event Tourism, 5(1) & 5(2), 8591. Youngkhill, L., Dattilo J., & Howard, D. (1998). The complex and dynamic nature of leisure experience. Journal of Leisure Research, 26(3), 195-211.
