{"title":"Exploring the personal benefits of surfing: insights from cold-water surfers in Jæren, Norway","authors":"Y. Elmahdy, Mark Orams, R. Mykletun","doi":"10.3389/frsut.2024.1286424","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsut.2024.1286424","url":null,"abstract":"Surfing has grown since the 1960s to become a global marine leisure activity. Traditionally, surfing is associated with tropical and temperate climates and a sea, sand, and sun setting. However, surfing's geographical spread now includes polar and sub-polar regions, areas where the cold and sea-conditions provide challenges to human survival.This study uses a phenomenological approach to identify and explore the personal benefits gained by experienced surfers in the Jæren region, south of the city of Stavanger in Norway. Data were obtained from semi-structured in-depth interviews with 13 experienced surfers who surf year-round, but primarily in winter, in extreme conditions. Additional secondary data were derived from written and video material published in online surfing blogs/vlogs and surfers' private video footage.Participants gained a wide range of benefits including experiencing strong positive feelings, inclusion, and social cohesion with other members in the surfing subculture, a deep connection to nature, physical and mental health benefits, and an overall enhanced quality of life. While international surf travel was constrained by the COVID-19 pandemic, local surfing was reinforced. This resulted in surfing becoming an opportunity to safely socialize with others outside of one's family, thus increasing the social benefits of the sport. This study presents the first empirical data on the personal benefits of surfing from a non-traditional cold-water surfing nation in Scandinavia.","PeriodicalId":107238,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism","volume":"23 16","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141346574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Affiliative nomads in Japan: potential sustainable tourism stakeholders in depopulated rural areas","authors":"Shiro Horiuchi, Masayuki Morishige","doi":"10.3389/frsut.2024.1329856","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsut.2024.1329856","url":null,"abstract":"In Japan, the overall population is declining. Depopulation is severe, resulting in various negative consequences, particularly in rural areas. Rural communities could benefit by collaborating with people from other places, mainly urban areas. Typical examples of visitors or tourists from urban areas in these cases are referred to as “kankei jinko.” The more fundamental issue, however, is that many rural residents have lost confidence in their ability to live in areas with declining and aging populations. It is important to note the potential for highly mobile people from urban areas to increase the civic pride of rural residents. This raises questions about who these nomadic people, or “affiliative nomads,” are and how they interact with residents. To answer these questions, we analyzed cases of affiliative nomads in previous studies. The nomadic people showed respect for the rural areas to the residents; as a result, they were perceived by the residents as being in a stage of growth. When the nomads and residents interact, they create common values such as nature conservation and economic and community revitalization. Thus, the nomads cultivate civic pride among the residents and could be regarded as affiliative nomads. Furthermore, some coordinators bridge residents and nomads to expand their relationships with other people. Affiliative nomads may be sustainable tourism stakeholders and contribute to solving the problems of depopulated areas in Japan and other developed or emerging countries.","PeriodicalId":107238,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140974872","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Local community perceptions on human wildlife interactions in the face of climate variability. A case of Nyaminyami community, Zimbabwe","authors":"Power Mupunga, Joseph Shoko","doi":"10.3389/frsut.2024.1328510","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsut.2024.1328510","url":null,"abstract":"Human interactions with wildlife, both positive and negative, have defined the nature of human wildlife relations throughout history. Along with human wildlife interaction, Climate change exacerbates the complexity and consequences of human wildlife interactions, particularly those that rely on flora and fauna for tourism and development. This study assesses the interrelatedness and causes of human wildlife interactions and climate variability and the impact they have on livelihood. Two hundred and fourteen people randomly selected from four wards in the Nyaminyami community in Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe were interviewed. Four focus group discussion sessions with randomly selected residents were also conducted in each ward. Results from the study show that respondents were concerned that human wildlife interactions resulted in human wildlife conflict, and that anthropogenic factors contributed immensely to an increase in the problems faced by local communities. Most of these concerns stemmed from specific areas (wards) where factors such as competition for resources, settlement in wildlife corridors, agricultural activities, tourism and increasing human induced climate change are accelerating human wildlife conflict. Results also show that human related practices contributed to human wildlife interaction in all the four wards. Discussants reported climate change, competition over resources and living close to protected areas as the major factors influencing human-wildlife conflict. It is recommended that communities be educated on, and need to embrace climate change and adapt to it. It is also important that any tourism ventures in the district involve the communities so that they directly benefit from and see the value of living with wildlife and learn to coexist. Proper land use planning is also paramount before any settlements are allocated to avoid living close to protected areas.","PeriodicalId":107238,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism","volume":"17 15","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140982755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Remembering for resilience: nature-based tourism, COVID-19, and green transitions","authors":"Matthew Tegelberg, Tom Griffin","doi":"10.3389/frsut.2024.1392566","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsut.2024.1392566","url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic had transformative effects on the tourism sector at an unparalleled scale. With the rapid onset of unprecedented travel restrictions, tourists were abruptly confined to experiences in their regional surroundings that led to new and refreshed relationships with local destinations. This paper draws on qualitative interviews with small tourism businesses in two distinct but proximate nature-based destinations in Ontario, Canada and considers how they responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings are positioned within Holling's Adaptive Cycle to consider implications for ongoing resiliency planning for disturbances relating to climate change. Over a 2-year period (2020–2022), SMEs revealed that after an initially turbulent period they quickly adapted to the absence of international long-haul visitors by embracing a surge in domestic demand for nature-based, outdoor experiences. The paper contributes to the literature on tourism SMEs by connecting experiences of COVID-19 to resiliency planning for future predictable disturbances. Two critical lessons for enhancing destination resiliency are identified: engagement of regional tourism demand, and destination level leadership, through investment in infrastructure and partnerships, can both be harnessed to support SMEs and their communities in transitioning toward a more sustainable, resilient and climate-friendly tourism future. Given the growing demand for tourism businesses to transition away from environmentally harmful practices and a longstanding dependency on economic growth, these resources can help destinations enhance preparedness for future changes to tourism flows driven by decarbonization scenarios and increased climatic impacts.","PeriodicalId":107238,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism","volume":"18 13","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140983004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The socio-ecological impacts of tourism development in the Western Ghats: the case of Wayanad, India","authors":"Philip Varghese, Yoji Natori","doi":"10.3389/frsut.2024.1384962","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsut.2024.1384962","url":null,"abstract":"Globally, tourism is advocated as a development tool with the potential to uplift socioeconomic conditions for marginalized populations and contribute to biodiversity conservation. The expectation is that the tourism model of development can bring about positive social changes in diverse communities by broadening livelihood opportunities and concurrently preserving crucial ecosystems, which are regarded as valuable assets in the tourism sector. We investigated Wayanad in the Western Ghats of India, challenging the notion of “tourism for development.” We examined the socio-ecological features of the region, the evolution of tourism and sustainable tourism, and the implications across various sectors. The research employed an empirical approach grounded in the critical examination of socio-ecological systems for tourism governance and sustainability. The data were obtained through in-depth interviews conducted in Wayanad and a review of the relevant literature. The results reveal that despite the prevalent and persuasive arguments favoring tourism, there are extensive multi-sectoral implications in tourism development that negatively affect both the environment and people at large. These impacts include the erosion of agrobiodiversity-linked traditional Adivasi lifestyles, the displacement of local communities, the encroachment of tourism projects into forests and increased human–animal conflicts, the absence of social security measures for marginalized communities, a decline in traditional livelihood options, and an overreliance on the tourism industry and the private sector. These discernible impacts have pushed the fragile region further into a socio-ecological imbalance. Tourism development in ecologically delicate areas should take into account socio-ecological impacts because a region's culture and nature are key components of its attractiveness as a tourist destination. Large-scale landscape planning should involve the perspectives of various stakeholders, including both direct and indirect participants who could be influenced by tourism. The marginalization of Adivasi communities that maintain the region's ecological integrity is unproductive for both the economic and regional development interests of tourism.","PeriodicalId":107238,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism","volume":" 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140994577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Perceived service quality and visitors' sustainable visit intentions in theme parks: empirical analysis on the THEMEQUAL scale","authors":"Jingjing Luo, Xiang Li","doi":"10.3389/frsut.2024.1387048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsut.2024.1387048","url":null,"abstract":"Theme parks, as indispensable commodities within the tourism industry, wield significant influence in fostering local and national economic development. However, despite their crucial role, there remains a dearth of comprehensive research concerning the determinants of theme park visits. Employing the THEMEQUAL scale, this study uses an ordered logit model and an in-depth interview method to investigate the effects of service quality on visitors' sustainable visit intentions (SVIs). The results show that service quality is the most pivotal determinant shaping SVIs and that the effects are moderated by COVID-19, i.e., a reduced emphasis on service quality in bolstering visitors' sustainable visit inclinations during this pandemic. In particular, the staff delivering assurances and being courteous markedly influence visitors' perceptions. This research contributes to a comprehensive interplay between service quality, COVID-19, and visitors' SVIs, providing references for policymakers and managers to develop theme park recovery policies in the post-pandemic era.","PeriodicalId":107238,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141020387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Transformative experiences in tourism: where, when, with whom, and how does tourists' transformation occur?","authors":"Maksim Godovykh","doi":"10.3389/frsut.2024.1377844","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsut.2024.1377844","url":null,"abstract":"Travel experiences have the potential to induce significant changes in tourists. This perspective paper aims to delineate directions for understanding the where, when, with whom, and why of transformative experiences in tourism, proposing future research directions across various dimensions of this multifaceted topic. The Transformative Experience Diagram is presented as a guide to addressing questions about where, when, with whom, and why travel transformation occurs. These propositions are grounded in a literature review spanning various disciplines, along with authors' quantitative and qualitative studies on the process of travel transformation and discussions with experts from diverse fields. Additional data, gathered from semi-structured interviews with people who previously had transformative travel experiences, inform the discussion on key questions of travel transformation and support the propositions for future research. In addition to conceptualizing the process of tourist transformation and proposing a framework for future research, this perspective paper has the potential to influence tourism management practices by guiding the design of experiences that trigger tourists' transformation, positively impacting personal growth, and enhancing the wellbeing of travelers.","PeriodicalId":107238,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism","volume":"62 20","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140264673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The authenticity of souvenirs: examples from Taiwan","authors":"Geoffrey Wall","doi":"10.3389/frsut.2024.1346641","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsut.2024.1346641","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that authenticity is a complicated and imprecise concept. Using autoethnography as an approach to the study and, in particular, a consideration of the meanings of aboriginal souvenirs originating in Taiwan that are in the authors' possession, it is shown that these objects do not fit snuggly into typical classifications that have been proposed to address authenticity. Authenticity is a concept that can hide issues of power and powerlessness. It is suggested that authentication, who says something is authentic and why they do so, is important as it facilitates consideration of access to power.","PeriodicalId":107238,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism","volume":"406 30","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139847885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The authenticity of souvenirs: examples from Taiwan","authors":"Geoffrey Wall","doi":"10.3389/frsut.2024.1346641","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsut.2024.1346641","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that authenticity is a complicated and imprecise concept. Using autoethnography as an approach to the study and, in particular, a consideration of the meanings of aboriginal souvenirs originating in Taiwan that are in the authors' possession, it is shown that these objects do not fit snuggly into typical classifications that have been proposed to address authenticity. Authenticity is a concept that can hide issues of power and powerlessness. It is suggested that authentication, who says something is authentic and why they do so, is important as it facilitates consideration of access to power.","PeriodicalId":107238,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism","volume":" 89","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139787965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Retrieval of cherry flowering phenology on Flickr and YouTube: a case study along the Tarumi railway, Gifu, Japan","authors":"Nagai Shin, Taku M. Saitoh, N. Tsutsumida","doi":"10.3389/frsut.2024.1280685","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsut.2024.1280685","url":null,"abstract":"To further develop the accuracy of monitoring cherry flowering dates, we require phenological records from multiple points in multiple years at the catchment scale, as well as conventional in situ phenological observations, phenological data published on the Internet, and analysis using statistics of Internet search engines. We tried to detect the dates of cherry flowering phenology along the Tarumi railway, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, by using Flickr, an image hosting service, and YouTube, an online video sharing and social media platform. We detected full bloom of Cerasus ×yedoensis and Cerasus jamasakura mainly at cherry blossom viewing spots (around some train stations) on Flickr and at both viewing spots and multiple points in the landscape along the railway on YouTube. Despite local climatological differences along the railway, the detected full blooming dates corresponded not only with each other, but also with the full bloom period of Neodani Usuzumi-zakura (Cerasus itosakura), a famous tree with long-term detailed records. We could not detect the date and location in many photographs on Flickr or in any videos on YouTube. However, the usefulness of both platforms is supported by the facts that we can evaluate the year-to-year variability of full bloom dates, especially at cherry blossom viewing spots, and detect flowering phenology even in a non-photogenic landscape. By applying our method to other railways, we expect to collect multi-year records of plant phenology dates at multiple points that cannot be collected by older methods.","PeriodicalId":107238,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism","volume":"7 22","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139795516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}