Thursday, August 30, 2007

Ethics and Sustainable Tourism - with David Fennell (Slidecast)

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Today's Geography for Travelers Podcast is a recording of a presentation by Prof. David Fennell of Brock University at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, 17-22 April 2007. The title of his presentation is:

Ethics: We're Stuck With It [in Tourism]...Whether We Like It Or Not!
This was a 45 minute plenary presentation sponsored by my journal, Tourism Geographies, and funded by the journal's publisher, Routledge/Taylor and Francis, Ltd.

Part 1 of this podcast is the actual presentation. Part 2 of this podcast will is the questions and answers that followed the presentation. I will post that in about 1 to 2 weeks as a separate podcast.

ALSO - A Slidecast version of this podcast, which is linked to David's Powerpoint slides, is available above, as well as at http://www.slideshare.net/alew.

Here is the Abstract of David Fennell's presentation from the conference program:

Trivers' (1971) theory of reciprocal altruism, emerging from animal behaviour studies, is premised on the belief that human social behaviour is said to have evolved in relatively small, stable communities where groups of people had opportunities to forge cooperative relationships over time through repeated interaction. The more time we have to engage in altruistic acts—acts that are returned in kind— the better chance for individuals and groups to set up longer term cooperative relationships. Cooperation of this sort can be challenged in tourism because of limited interactions based on restricted periods of time, with implications at the micro scale (tourist-host interactions) and at the macro scale (collective interactions within the region as a whole). Despite these challenges, ethics and trust have emerged from reciprocal altruism as mechanisms that induce both short-term and long-term cooperative relationships for mutual benefit. Implications of these relationships are discussed in the context of generating ways to improve cooperation for the tourism industry as a whole.
Keywords: ethics, reciprocal altruism, cooperation

Original Show Notes for this podcast are at: http://TravelGeography.info

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Travelography #87: Top 10 Travel Destinations: US, Food and Honeymoons

This is a PCN Travelography Podcast related post This is a PCN Travelography Podcast related post. Use the players on this page, or click the title above to listen to this podcast.

Three recent Top 10 Lists
  • Top 10 US Destinations
  • Top 10 World Foodie Cities
  • Top 10 Honeymoon Destinations ... and more

-- LINKS:

Monday, August 20, 2007

Travelography #86: Space Tourism Accident + UNESCO World Heritiage Issues

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Rocket accident shows dangers of space tourism. UNESCO considers tourism threats to World Heritage Sites, and hears calls for separate criteria for Asian World Heritage designations. And the Galapagos Islands tries to deal with threats from tourism and immigration.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Travelography #85: Overbooked, Delayed and Canceled Flight Tips

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Not really news this week, but some tips for how to avoid and deal with being bumped on oversold flights, delayed flights and canceled flights.


Originally posted by Alan A. Lew at http://travelgeography.info

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Travelography #83: Passport Cards + Errors - and - Cruise Deaths + Taxes

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A passport card will soon to be tested for US citizens traveling in North America. With the flood of new applications, about 1% of new US passports are found to contain errors. Along with a rise in passengers, cruise ship deaths are also increasing. And Alaska struggles to tax gaming revenues on cruise ships.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

G4T #56: A Soundseeing Trip to China's Danxiashan World Geopark

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Danxiashan is a sandstone mountain region adjacent to the city of Shaoguan in northern Guangdong Province in China (north of Hong Kong). The landform is similar to the sandstone regions of northern Arizona (Sedona) and southern Utah, but in a subtropical vegetation zone.

I was at the Danxiashan World Geopark last week and recorded this week's Geography for Travelers Podcast while hiking around on the top of one of the more visited peaks.

My photos of Danxiashan and the surrounding area can be found here:
- http://flickr.com/photos/alew/tags/danxiashan/



Notes:
  1. Due to time constraints we did not go to Danxiashan's two most famous rock formations -- the male rock and female rock. A search on those terms will find photos of these two less-than-family-suitable stone formations.
  2. This soundseeing tour was recorded on my Zoom H4 stereo recorder. Wear earphones for the best experience.
The Geography for Travelers Podcast is found at http://travelgeography.info

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Travelography #82: Return of the Travel Agent, Family Travel, and Gladiators

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Frustrated with the Internet, a growing number of travelers are returning to travel agencies. A poll of American Express travel agents found Family Travel to be one of the hottest growth areas this year. And a Roman Gladiator attacks a American Tourist in Rome.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Travelography #81: Private vs Commercial Jets - and - Airlines Banned in EU

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Commercial airlines accuse private jets of not paying their fair share of the cost of upgrading air traffic controls in the US. The European Union bans all Indonesian airlines from Europe. And US airlines get and "F" for corporate responsibility.



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ADDENDUM: Correction to my comments on US Airlines and Crisis Management: American Airlines gave $500 vouchers (with limitations) to customers who they left stranded at the DFW airport last December to compensate for the trouble they caused.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Travelography #80: Africa Tourism Growth; China & Singapore Open Their Doors

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Despite major challenges, Kenya's tourism revenues increase and Mozambique sees a rise in tourism numbers. China will fully open its domestic market to foreign travel agencies for the first time this year. And young tourists from selected developed countries can seek employment in Singapore during their holiday visits.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

G4T #55: Mike Pesses on Authentic Spaces of Bicycle Tourism

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This is another presentation from the Association of American Geographers annual meeting in San Francisco, California, April 12-21, 2007. Here is the abstract from the AAG.org website:

Author: Michael W. Pesses - California State University, Northridge

Abstract:
In the past thirty years, bicycle touring has become a legitimate form of tourism. This paper serves as an attempt to examine bicycle touring as an "authentic" form of tourism as well as to examine how the trip affects the bicycle tourist's sense of identity. Through a qualitative analysis of the journals of bicycle tourists, this paper will look into how authentic space and authentic experiences affect the individual's concept of identity and self. The authenticity of the toured space is in constant tension with existential authenticity; one cannot exist without the other in bicycle touring. To find meaning in one's travels, and consequently in one's life, both forms of authenticity are constantly being challenged by the experience and the landscape.
Keywords: Tourism-bicycle, authenticity, landscape, produced spaces

Also mentioned in the podcast intro:


Friday, June 29, 2007

Travelography #79: Can Islam be Re-Branded? How about Fiji + Cuba?

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Turkmenistan welcome tourists -- and cell phones. Pakistan's tourism minister resigns after death sentence is is issued for hugging her elderly male teacher. Can Islam be re-branded for the better? Fiji hoteliers call on their military government to lighten-up. And Cuban tourism declines due to new US restrictions and higher air prices from Europe.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Travelography #78: Gas Prices, Travel Trends, and Climate Concerns

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US automobile travelers will change summer vacation plans if gas prices reach $3.50+. Australia is developing a tourism action plan on climate change, but is it enough. Travel and tourism industry leaders identify key trends affecting their industry this year, and stress over climate change perceptions.

Listen to the podcast and click on the links below for these stories.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Travelography #77: Worlds Best/Worst Tourists + Top of the World Destination

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Japanese tourists were ranked the best, but who was the worst? Record numbers of people are climbing Mt. Everest this year. An American tourist streaks nude through Nuremburg, and is caught with lame excuse. Madrid Spain Airport holds its biannual Lost and Found Auction.



NEW: Chris Christensen of the Amateur Traveler podcast sent me links to two US-based airport auctions. These are a bit dated, but it is my guess that these happen all the time, for those who are in the know:

Monday, June 04, 2007

Travelography #76: Airline News: FAA, Virgin USA, Greenland, North Pole, China

This is a PCN Travelography Podcast related post Use the players on this page, or click the title above to listen to this podcast.

  1. The US FAA will give airlines the option to either wait a storm out or fly around it.
  2. Richard Branson has received approval to start his Virgin America budget airline this summer 2007.
  3. Air Greenland launches first direct flight between the US and Greenland.
  4. LTU starts the first scenic flights to the North Pole.
  5. Direct US-China flights are set to more than double within the next five years.

Links to these five stories can be found at Travelography on PodcasterNews.com on Monday, 4 June 2007.

Friday, June 01, 2007

G4T #54: Student Podcasts: Maui, New York's Hudson Valley, Tourism News, and Yosemite NP

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Three NAU students podcast on Maui, New York's Hudson Valley, Tourism News, and Yosemite National Park.

This come out of my Spring 2007 semester class on Sustainable Tourism, and was part of the students' final project. A description of this class can be found here:

http://www.geog.nau.edu/courses/alew/pl376/schedule.html