Career Development of Tourism and Hospit

ISBN No.
: 962-367-517-8
The 7th Biennial Conference on Tourism in Asia

Tourism, Hospitality & Foodservice Industry in Asia:
Development, Marketing & Sustainability
1-14 May 2006, Jeonju, Korea
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
Proceedings Co-Editors:
Professor Kaye Chon, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Dr. Holly Hyun-jung Im, Jeonju University
Organized by:
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Jeonju University, Korea
Co-hosted by:
University of Angers, France University of Houston, USA
Conference Sponsors and Collaborating Organizations:
Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research

Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research
Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing
The 7th Biennial Conference on Tourism in Asia
Tourism, Hospitality & Foodservice Industry in Asia:
Development, Marketing & Sustainability
Preface
This is the conference proceedings of The 7th Biennial Conference on Tourism in Asia,
which was held in Jeonju, Korea on 11-14 May 2006. This conference is organized by The
Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR and Jeonju University, Korea.
The Biennial Conference, since its inception with the first conference organized in Vietnam
in 1993, has over the past 13 years contributed to better understanding of issues relating to
tourism in Asia, particularly in relation to those issues relating to challenges and
opportunities in tourism industry development, human resources deployment, marketing of
tourism services and sustainability of tourism industry.
The 7th Biennial Conference, as reflected in its theme - Tourism, Hospitality & Foodservice
Industry in Asia: Development, Marketing & Sustainability – reflected upon those issues
of dominant concern for hospitality, tourism and foodservice educators, researchers and
industry practitioners with interest in hospitality and tourism development in Asia. This
year’s conference featured close to 60 papers and panel presentations by researchers and
practitioners from more than 13 countries. All abstracts or papers were selected based on
blind review by a panel of experts, which primarily consisted of academic staff from six
universities and organizations internationally.
Organizing an international conference with published proceedings takes collective team

efforts by many people. We wish to take this opportunity to thank a number of individuals
who have contributed to the success of this forum. First, we would like to thank the paper and
panel presenters as well as paper session chairs for their contribution of expertise, time and
efforts. Second, we want to express our heartfelt thank you to our colleagues both at The
Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Jeonju University, especially by our Conference
Secretary Miss Antonia Wong, for their unheralded efforts and hard work in organizing the
conference. Finally, we wish to thank both industry and institutional sponsors of the
Conference for their financial and moral support that have made the Conference a success.
Professor Kaye Chon Dr. Holly Hyun-jung Im

Conference Chairman & Proceedings Co-Editor Conference Proceedings Co-Editor
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Jeonju University
Proceedings Editorial Team
Proceedings Co-Editors: Kaye Chon, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Holly Hyun-jung Im, Jeonju University
Editorial Assistant: Antonia Wong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Paper Review Committee:
Ilian Assenov, Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus

Wilco Chan, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Songshan Huang, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Holly Hyun-jung Im, Jeonju University
Samuel Seongseop Kim, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Rob Law, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Myong Jae Lee, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
BobMcKercher, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Mike Mena, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Steve Pan, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Siriporn Sujithamrak, Black Hills State University
Henry Tsai, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Peter Tse, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Simon Wong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Joanne Jung-Eun Yoo, Pacific Asia Travel Association
Joe Zhou, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Table of Contents
Section I: Extended Abstracts (In alphabetical order using titles of the papers) Page
Attitudes to Work of Generation Y Students in Hospitality Management in the USA: An 1

Empirical Analysis
Bharath M. Josiam & Johnny Sue Reynolds, University of North Texas; Sumeetra
Thozhur, University of Surrey; Tom Baum, University of Strathclyde; Frances G. Devine,
University of Ulster & Christy Crutsinger, University of North Texas
Career Development of Tourism & Hospitality Academics 4

Karin Weber, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University & Adele Ladkin, Bournemouth
University
Consuming Popular Culture, Consuming Places: The Transnational Impact of Popular 6

Culture on Destination Images and Visit Intention
Junghun Lee, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Section II: Full Papers (In alphabetical order using titles of the papers)
A Study on Current Features and Affected Factors of Outbound Tourism Market by 9

Mainland Chinese Pleasure Travelers
Yingzhi Guo & Yong Chen, Fudan University; Samuel Seongseop Kim, Sejong University
& The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
An Investigation of Service Quality Between the Licensed and Un-licensed Tour Leaders 19
Chao-Yun Tang & Jui-Chi Chang, Providence University
Analyzing Japan’s Outbound Tourism Policy 29

Tony S M Tse, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Brand Image Perceptions of European Travel Companies in Single Tourism Market 36

Concept
Erkan Sezgin, Anadolu University
Classificatons of Asian Complainers in Full Service Restaurants 45

Jong-Hyeong Kim & Jamieson Lynn, Indiana University
Customer Perceptions of Variable Pricing in the Lodging Industry: An Investigation of 55

the Role of Loyalty Programs
Punit Sanghavi, Aramark Services; Johnny Sue Reynolds & Bharath M. Josiam,
University of North Texas
Factors Affecting Passengers’ Selection of Low-Cost Airlines in Thailand 61

Ilian Assenov & Supachee Nopakhun, Prince of Songkla University
I
Table of Contents
Grooming Future International Hospitality Leaders: The Importance of Context 71

Alan Wong & Andrew Chan,, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Growth of Fast Food Industry in the Indian Scenario – A Result of the Socio-economic 83
Growth and Emerging Eating Out Habits
Y. G. Tharakan, Welcomegroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration
Human Resource Policy for Tourism 93

The Malaysian Case
Abby Liu, Aletheia University & Geoffrey Wall, University of Waterloo
Indicator Establishment for Resources Management in Sustainable Rural Tourism 102

Jinsun Kim, Pennsylvania State University; Soonjae Cho & Banghoon Kang, The
Institute of Rural Resources Development
Market Positioning Analysis of Asian Countries of Destination by Canadian Travellers 112

Marion Joppe, Dongkoo Yun & HS Chris Choi, University of Guelph
Measuring Risk 122

Risk Analyses and Risk Valuation for Special Real Estate Projects in the Tourism and
Leisure Industry
Heinz-Dieter Quack & Jens Philipsenburg, European Tourism Institute at the University
of Trier
Measuring the “Dining Experience” 136

Tsu-Hong Yen, San Jose State University; John R. Collins, University of North Texas;
Jocelina Santos, San Jose State University & Cheng Chen, Technology Consultant
Normative Influences on Theme Park Visitors’ Impulsive Merchandise-Buying Behavior 150

Hsin-You Chuo, Tunghai University
Quality Management Practices in Hotel and Lodging Organizations 154

Nor Khomar Ishak & Shahrin Saad, University of Malaya
Resident Attitudes toward Cultural Tourism Development: The Case of Hahoi and 164
Chonghak-Dong Villages
Myunghwan Cho, Dong-A University; Hwan-Suk Chris Choi, University of Guelph and
Heejung Jang, Silla University
Resident Attitudes toward Tourism Development: A Case of Heritage City in Taiwan 173
Ching-Fu Chen & Pei-Chun Chen, Nan Hua University
II
Table of Contents
Revolution in Food Industry: Transform the Paradigm of Conventional to Advanced 181

Cooking Process
Juke Sjukriana, Hotel Salak The Heritage
Service Quality, Systems Effective, and Customer Relationship Management: Evidence 192
from Taiwan’s Catering Industry
Edward C. S. Ku, Yu Da College of Business & Pei-Yun Yu, Tunghai University
The Analysis of Korean Traditional Color Range on Bibimbob 209

Kyung-Mi Seo, Kyungnam Information & Technology & In-Hwa Kim, Yuhan College
The Characteristics of Rural Tourism Development in China 216

Ai-ping Ma, Beijing International Studies University & People's University
The Current Status of Education and Training of MICE Industry Talents in China and in 222
Shanghai
Jingxian Jiang & Yingzhi Guo, Fudan University & Hailin Qu, Oklahoma State
University
The Economic Contribution of Convention Marketing Organization: The Case of Daegu, 232
Korea
Changsoo Park, Kongju National University; Deokhyun Jo, Korea National Tourism
Organization & Kyunghee University; Yoosik Yoon, Paichai University
The Effect of Temporal Distance between Purchase and Consumption on Purchase 246
Intention
Eunjoo Yoon, Hallym Institute of Advanced International Studies
The Empirical Study on the Relationship betweenTraining Needs and Training Outcomes 256
- In the Case of HR Professionals for Tourism and High Tech Industry in Taiwan
Shu-Hsiao Tsen & Tun-Jen Yang, Providence University
The Gap between Tourism Planning and Implementation: A Case of China 269
Yiping Li & Kun Lai, The University of Hong Kong & Xuegang Feng, East China
Normal University
The Impact of Tour Leaders' Service Performance: An Issue of Tipping 282

Chui-Peng Chiu & Jui-Chi Chang, Providence University
The Meaning of Place Attachment for Cultural Tourism Destination: An Exploratory 292
Study in Mei-nong Town, Taiwan
Hui-Jung Chen & Chih-Liang Chao, Providence University
III
Table of Contents
The Sensory Evaluation of Ginseng Base Sauce & Various Ginseng Sauce Using 302
Ginseng
Yeong-Hye Lee & Kyung-Soo Han, The Collage of Tourism Science Kyonggi University;
Kyung-Mi Seo, Kyungnam Information & Technology; Sang-Pi Hong & Hyun-A Lee,
Korea Food Research Institute
The Study of Discussing the Ecological Capacity of National Park by Applying 310
Ecological Footprint
Yungkun Chen, ChungChou Institute of Technology & National Cheng Kung University;
Chia-you Chen, National Cheng Kung University & Tsuifang Hsieh, Taiwan Hospitality
& Tourism College
The Study on Implementing HR Scorecard to Enhance the Organizational Performance 319

for the Tourism Industry
Shu-Hsiao Tsen, Wan-Yu Tseng & Jia-Ying Lin, Providence University
Tourism and Cultural Food Heritage of Malaysia 330

M.I. Zuraini, University Teknologi MARA Terengganu; P.S. Toh, University Teknologi
MARA; M. N. Norfezah, University Teknologi MARA Pulau Pinang & M. M. Abd. Azis,
University Teknologi MARA
Tourism Economic Impact: The Perception of Phuket Residents 337

Ilian Assenov & Arisara Tantivit, Prince of Songkla University
Tourists’ Psychophsiological Benefits from Recollection of Indigenous Ecotourism 350

Experiences
Chih-Liang Chao & Man-Ping Wu, Providence University
Traffic Accident Casualty among International Tourists Visiting Phuket City, The 360
Kingdom of Thailand
Anek Hirunraks & Kawin Limsakul, Prince of Songkla University
Travel 101 – A General Education or Elective Tourism Course 366

Stan McGahey, Saint Leo University
Travel Agencies' Service Performance vs. Customers’ Perceptions of Service Quality 371
Jui Chi Chang, Providence University
Underlying Activity Dimensions of Cultural Festival Participants 380

Kakyom Kim, Michigan State University; Jonggab Sun, Hyechon College; Giri
Jogaratnam, Eastern Michigan University & Ick-Keun Oh, Keimyung University
IV
Table of Contents
Section III: Poster Papers (In alphabetical order using titles of the papers)
A Study of Present Characteristics and Future Trends of International Strategy Adopted 388
by China’s Travel Service Group
A Study of the Positioning Analysis of Broth Products 391

Hyun-A Lee, Kyung-Soo Han, Eun-Jung Lee & Eun-Yong Pho, The Collage of Tourism
Science Kyonggi University
A Study on the Education and Training of Experts and Specialists for 2008 Beijing 399
Olympic Games
Lanya Peng & Yingzhi Guo, Fudan University & Kuo-Ching Wang, National Chiayi
University
A Study on the Industrialization of Korean Food as Part of the Tourism Industry 407
Nak-Jong Park, Ministry of Culture and Tourism & Hyang-ja Kim, Korea Culture and
Tourism Policy Institute
An Analysis of Competitive Advantages in the Development of Travel Service Value 417

Chain in China
An Overview of Hospitality Programs in South Korea 423

Yen-Soon Kim, University of Nevada Las Vegas; Nak Hwan Choi, Chonbuk National
University & Carola Raab, University of Nevada Las Vegas
Comparative Analysis of Expectations and Satisfaction of International Tourists by 432

Nationality
The Case of Jeju Island as an International Tourist Destination in Korea
Hyung-Mi Kim, Hanyang University; Sung-Jong Moon, Jeju Halla College & Jae-Il
Song, Daegu-Gyeongbuk Development Institute
Images of European Countries as Travel Destinations 449

Stereotypes and Associations of Chinese Tourism Students
Gerd Schwandner, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences; Wolfgang Arlt, University
of Applied Sciences Stralsund & Huimin Gu, Beijing International Studies University
Self-Presentation: The Visualization of Filipinoness in WOW Philippines’ Posters 461

Reggy Capacio Figer & Winton Lou G. Ynion , Far Eastern University
V
Table of Contents
Sensory Evaluation on the Developed Ginseng Sauces by American Consumers 473

Hyun-A Lee, Eun-Jung Lee, & Kyung-Soo Han, The Collage of Tourism Science Kyonggi
University & Sang-Pil Hong, Korea Food Research Institute
The Differences Between All-Inclusive and Non-Inclusive Resort Hotels in Turkey 480
Hakan Yilmaz, Anadolu University
Author Index 488
VI
Section I
Extended Abstracts
ATTITUDES TO WORK OF GENERATION Y STUDENTS IN HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
IN THE USA: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYIS
Bharath M. Josiam
Hospitality Management
Johnny Sue Reynolds

School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management
Sumeetra Thozhur
Hospitality Management
University of Surrey
Tom Baum
International Tourism & Hospitality Management
University of Strathclyde
Frances. G. Devine
School of Hotel, Leisure and Tourism
University of Ulster
Christy Crutsinger
Students currently in college are predominantly from “Generation Y” (GEN Y), born
between 1975 and 2002. Many researchers have said that this generation is different from previous
ones, as it has been shaped by different forces and events. As GEN Y members enter college and the
work force in large numbers, it is imperative that educators and employers gain deeper insights into
their mindset. Employers are particularly interested in their attitudes towards work. Such attitudes
have been shown to impact a host of human resource issues such as absenteeism, turnover, deviant
behaviors, and quality and quantity of work. The hospitality industry, being labor intensive, is not
immune to these problems.
The broad issues of attitudes to work have not been addressed in the literature in sufficient
detail. Furthermore, the specific issues of attitudes to work of college students preparing for careers
in the hospitality industry have not been addressed by any study in the past. Given the tremendous
costs and related problems associated with human resource management in the hospitality industry,
this study aims to address this gap in the literature and propose research based solutions.
The purpose of the study was to explore the attitudes towards work of Gen Y students in a
Hospitality Management program in the USA using multiple measures. Furthermore, the purpose of
the study was also to examine the relationship between attitudes to work and demographic and other
relevant variables.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The specific objectives for this study were to:
1. Determine the attitudes to work of Gen Y hospitality management college students using
multiple measures from the literature such as:
a. Positive Attitudes to Work
• Measured on a 10-item, 4-point Likert scale
1
b. Negative Attitudes to Work
Work Cynicism
• Measured on 10-item, 4-point Likert scale
Promotion Cynicism
• Measured on 3-item, 4-point Likert scale
c. Work Involvement
• Measured on a 4-item, 7-point bi-polar scale
d. Work Values
e. Work Ethic
2. Determine the relationships between different measures of attitudes to work
3. Identify the job factors of students
• Type and amount of prior work experience,
• Type of job and amount of current working hours,
• Lay-off experience
4. Determine the relationship between job factors and attitudes to work
5. Determine the relationship between demographics and work attitudes
6. Determine the relationships between parent’s demographics, their job factors and work
attitudes of students.
METHODOLOGY
A questionnaire was developed for the study, using guidelines and scales from applied
research in the areas of job satisfaction, job factors, work/job/occupational attitudes and human
resource management. The population was defined as Gen Y students enrolled in 4-year hospitality
management programs in the USA.
Data was collected utilizing a survey that was handed out to students in classes in a major
hospitality management program in the Southwestern USA. Participation was voluntary, anonymous,
and confidential. No compensation was provided. Of the total of 429 students enrolled in the
program, 211 were surveyed, 202 usable surveys were returned. This data was statistically processed
utilizing the SPSS statistical software.
FINDINGS
The majority of respondents were female (59%), Gen Y in the age range of 18-29 (100%).
The majority was white (69%). The sample was dominated by Seniors (41%), and Juniors (33%), with
lower representation of Sophomores (17%.), and Freshmen (9%).
Hospitality management students reported a high score on Positive Attitudes to Work (3.39/4)
and Work Ethic (3.6/4), and a correspondingly low score on Negative Attitudes to Work (1.92/4).
They were not cynical either about work (1.86/4) or about promotion (1.97/4). Students also reported
a high score on Work Involvement (5.3/7).
Not surprisingly, a strong and significant negative correlation was found between Positive
Attitudes to Work and Negative Attitudes to Work (r = -.472, p = .000). There were no significant
correlations between Positive Attitudes to Work and Work Value and Work Involvement scores,
suggesting that these measure different constructs.
Correlation analysis found that older students reported significantly higher scores on Positive
Attitudes to Work (r =.153, p = .01), and Work Values compared to younger students(r =.174, p =
.01), and were significantly less cynical about promotion at work(r = -.165, p = .01),. No significant
differences were found on any of the attitudinal scores between males and females or between racial
2
groups. Job factors, such as work experience and number of hours worked, did not have any
significant relationship to any of the attitudinal variables.
A large segment (20%) of the students had personally experienced a lay-off, as had a similar
segment of their mothers (20%), and their fathers (25%). However, no significant attitudinal
differences were found between those with personal or parental lay-off experience and those without
such an experience.
IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
Implications for educators, researchers and industry professionals are suggested. Ideas for
additional research are provided. This study will help the hospitality industry to address human
resource management issues in the coming years as Gen Y students enter the workforce in ever
greater numbers.
3
CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM & HOSPITALITY ACADEMICS
Karin Weber
School of Hotel and Tourism Management
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
and
Adele Ladkin
International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research
Bournemouth University
INTRODUCTION
In recent years there has been considerable growth in the number of undergraduate and
graduate tourism and hospitality programs at universities around the world. Consequently, there is a
greater demand for qualified people to fill academic positions in the field. Despite much research on
the demands and expectations of skills from the industry on tourism and hospitality graduates (e.g.,
Littlejohn & Watson, 2004), little is known about who is teaching these graduates, what their
backgrounds are, and the skills required of these professionals to advance their careers. This research
paper investigates the career development of tourism and hospitality academics.
LITERATURE REVIEW
A career refers to a series of jobs arranged over time (Riley & Ladkin, 1994). Careers are
concerned with personal direction in working life, and the future. In the broadest sense they are the
outcome of on one hand, structural opportunities made available to an individual, for example the size
of the industry, organisational structure, and knowledge specificity, and on the other hand, human
ability and ambition. The structural opportunities in an industry provide the framework for any
occupation, and individual ability and ambition determine how people make choices within the
structural opportunities. Within this general framework, career analysis attempts to uncover the
structure and motivations of a particular career by gaining information from those who are currently
engaged in the career. Central to the notion of career analysis is the idea that one can learn from the
past. Simply, career analysis assumes that past labour market conditions can give valuable
information on the current and future labour market.
Career analysis as a research method relies on the collection of career or job related data. The
collection of work history data has its origins in the life history approach, the developments and use of
which have been well documented (Dex, 1991). The literature identifies there are two main ways of
collecting work history data, either longitudinally over time, or through the use of memory recall. The
merits and difficulties of each of these are described fully by Dex (1991), while Ladkin (1999)
discusses the collection of work history data using the memory recall method.
Any exploration into the merits of using the longitudinal method of data collection versus the
memory recall method reveals the latter as being the most cost-effective and often most practical and
more widely used approach. Collecting work history data can then be undertaken through the use of
either questionnaires or interviews, depending on the specific aims of the study.
In terms of work history data, this can be collected on many aspects of a person's working
life. It can be quantitative in nature, for example the number of jobs a person has held, the length of
each job, and how many times they have moved jobs within the external or internal labor market.
Work history data can also be qualitative in terms of gathering data on career choice, ambition, and
personal career motivations. This list is not exhaustive, but it illustrates some of the options possible.
The end result of collecting work history data is a collection of career histories that contain many
different aspects of a person's working life.
4
Following the collection of work history data, career analysis is then performed in order to
discover patterns, and commonalties and differences in work histories. In order to do this, careers are
explored in their aggregate form. Put another way, whilst individual career histories are interesting in
their own right, it is when they are considered collectively that patterns and processes are revealed.
This is where career analysis becomes a valuable source of labor market information, as it reveals the
way in which people develop towards a particular occupation. Thus, career analysis as a research
method is an investigative manpower planning technique that can be applied to any given occupation
both within and outside the tourism and hospitality industry.
METHOD
Based on a review of pertinent literature on career development, a questionnaire was

developed. First, the paper version of the questionnaire was pre-tested for content issues before the
on-line survey was pre-tested for presentation issues. Then, the final on-line survey was posted on a
designated university website of one of the co-authors. Next, an email list was compiled from
membership directories of various international tourism and hospitality associations and discussion
lists. Finally, an introductory email was sent to all tourism and hospitality academics on the email list,
together with a link to the on-line survey. The first email and subsequent follow-ups were sent in late
January 2006, mid-February 2006 and early March 2006 respectively.
RESULTS
Data were gathered from 342 tourism and hospitality academics from around the world. Study
results will provide insights into the career development of respondents. In particular, the authors will
discuss tourism and hospitality academics’
1. career history
2. adopted career strategies, and
3. perceptions on specific skills required
Implications of the study results will be discussed and directions for future research provided.
REFERENCES
Dex, S. (1991). Life and work history analysis: Qualitative and Quantitative Developments. London:
Routeledge.
Ladkin, A. (1999). Life and work history analysis: The value of this research method for hospitality
and tourism. Tourism Management, 20(1), 37-45.
Littlejohn, D. & Watson, S. (2004). Developing graduate managers for hospitality and tourism.
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 16(7), 408-412.
Riley, M., & Ladkin, A. (1994). Career development and tourism: The development of a basic
analytical framework, Progress in Tourism, Recreation and Hospitality Management, 6, 225-237
5
CONSUMING POPULAR CULTURE, CONSUMING PLACES: THE TRANSNATIONAL
IMPACT OF POPULAR CULTURE ON DESTINATION IMAGES AND VISIT INTENTION
Junghun Lee
Department of Recreation, Sport, and Tourism
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ABSTRACT
Unlike “high” culture, popular culture is regarded at its simplest as an everyday culture of
mass appeal (Gans, 1999). Popular culture is produced and consumed by the general public who
shares its values and meanings. The influence of popular culture is so enormous that it can affect
people’s thinking, speaking, fashion, and perspectives (Shirley & Biagi, 1996). Particularly, owing to
the global media networks, communication systems, and digital information technology, popular
culture can reach a wider audience than ever before. This, in turn, has led to a new phenomenon in the
tourism industry which can be called popular culture tourism.
As we have seen in recent years, various genres of popular culture such as music, music
videos, movies, soap operas, and digital games have influenced the transnational flows of tourism
worldwide (Griffin, 2002). For example, the home of Elvis Presley in Memphis, Tennessee still
attracts numerous tourists from all over the world. The filming locations of the movie, The Lord of
Rings, in New Zealand have also enjoyed increasing number of tourists. Recently, the number of
Asian tourists to South Korea has dramatically increased due to the popularity of South Korean pop
culture in several Asian countries. They visit Korea to have firsthand experience with their favorite
movie’s filming locations or attend fan meetings with Korean celebrities.
As a growing niche market, popular culture tourism has been the focus of several studies and
publications. Although these studies have contributed to opening the eyes of academicians and
practitioners in the industry to the potential of pop culture tourism, very few of them have paid close
attention to the impact of popular culture on tourist behavior in empirical manner (Busby & Klug,
2001). Most of all, previous works have covered only movie and soap opera-related phenomena, not
other genres of popular culture. Classic examples of these studies have initiated our interest by
discussing conceptual issues and tracking the increasing number of visitors to movie locations (Butler,
1990; Riley & Van Doren, 1992). Further studies have expanded our interests to such topics as travel
motivations, the impact of visitors on filming locations, and how movie watching experience changes
images of destination at a laboratory setting (Frost, 2006; Kim & Richardson, 2003; Tooke & Baker,
1996).
The current study empirically explores the transnational impact of popular culture on tourist
behavior. In particular, this study investigates how the levels of pop culture consumption in everyday
life influence appeal of overseas destinations which have strong associations with pop culture. This
study also examines the levels of visit intentions inspired by pop culture consumption. To understand
the impact of popular culture on destination images is an important task for marketers. First of all,
destination images play the most significant role in travel decision making (Baloglu & Mccleary,
1999; Bramwell & Rawding, 1996; Makay & Fesenmair, 2000; Sirgy & Su, 2000). People rely on
images of potential destinations when they plan where to go and what to do there (Chon, 1990).
Second, destination images are shaped or altered by people and places depicted in popular culture or
by people who contribute to pop culture, such as singers, actors/actress, and artists (Butler, 1990;
Evans, 1997). Due to the worldwide networks of media and communications, destination images can
be transmitted through pop culture to enormous numbers of people even at greater distances. As
Goodey suggests, popular culture conveyed through transnational media moulds images of place
which exists outside of those with which we are familiar (1973).
This study utilizes a survey conducted in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong by the Korea
National Tourism Organization (KNTO) in 2003. The survey used the combined methods of mail-
6
back questionnaire (China), self-administered questionnaire (Hong Kong), and semi-structured
interview (Taiwan). A total of 2,004 participants were surveyed across three countries and asked to
answer the same questions; preferred forms of media and genres of Korean pop culture, levels of
Korean pop culture consumption, levels of favorable images of Korea, and intentions of visit.
Across the three countries, it has been shown that the favorite media with which participants
enjoy Korean pop culture are TV, music CDs, and magazines that cover Korean popular culture.
Regarding the relationships between the levels of pop culture consumption and its impact on images
of Korea, the results shows that the more frequently participants enjoy Korean pop culture in their
everyday life, the more favorable images they have of Korea. The group of participants who enjoy
Korean pop culture (via watching soap operas, movies, reading magazine articles about Korea, and
listening to Korean pop singers CD) ‘almost everyday’ or ‘several times a week’ hold images of
Korea much more favorable than people who enjoy Korean pop culture artifacts just ‘once or twice a
month’ or ‘don’t enjoy at all’. When participants expose to Korean pop culture less than a year, they
hold more negative images of Korea. However, when they expose to Korean pop culture over a year
up to over five years, the level of favorable images of Korea dramatically increased. Thus, images of
Korea become more favorable when the length of Korean pop culture consumption period increases.
The levels of favorable images are also correlated to the levels of visit intention. The more favorable
images lead participants to hold the higher levels of visit intentions. The results further reveal that the
major motivations of visit intentions are to travel to filming locations, to attend pop singers’ concerts,
and to have chance to travel with favorite pop culture stars.
REFERENCES
Baloglu, S., & McCleary, K.W. (1999). A model of destination image formation, Annals of Tourism
Research, 26, 868-897.
Bramwell, B., & Rawding, L. (1996). Tourism marketing images of industrial cities, Annals of
tourism research, 23(1), 201-221.
Busby, G., & Klug, J. (2001). Movie-induce torusim: the Challenge of Measurement and Other Issues,
Journal of Vacation Marketing, 7(4), 316-332.
Butler, W.R. (1990). The influence of the media in shaping international tourist patterns, Tourism
Recreation Research, 15(2), 46-55.
Chon, K.S. (1990). The role of Destination image in tourism, The Tourist Review, 45, 2-9.
Evans, M., Pluggin into TV routism, Insights, March, pp. D35-D38.
Frost, W. (2006) Braveheart-ed Ned Kelly: historic films, heritage tourism and destination image,
Tourism management, 27, 247-254.
Gans, H.J. (1999). Popular culture & High culture, New York,
Goodey, B. (1973). Perception of the environment and a new way of discussing it, Area, 5, 287.
Griffin, M. (2002). From Cultural Imperialism to Transnational Commercialization: Shifting

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Korea National Tourism Organization (2004). Hallyu Tourist Marketing Report, Seoul, Korea.
7
Mackay, K.J., & Fesenmair, D. (2000) An Exploration of Cross-Cultural Destination image
Assessment, Journal of Travel Research, 38, 417-423.
Riley, W.R., & Van Doren, C.S. (1992). Movies as Tourism Promotion, Tourism management, 267-
274.
8
Section II
Full Papers
A STUDY ON CURRENT FEATURES AND AFFECTED FACTORS OF OUTBOUND TOURISM
MARKET BY MAINLAND CHINESE PLEASURE TRAVELERS
Yingzhi Guo
Tourism Department
Fudan University
Yong Chen
Tourism Department
Fudan University
and
Samuel Seongseop Kim

Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management
Sejong University
School of Hotel & Tourism Management
ABSTRACT
This study analyzed the impacts of Mainland Chinese outbound tourism market by the factors
such as policy, economy, environment, transportation, leisure and psychology. The features of source
origin, destination perception and organization for Mainland Chinese outbound market had also been
explained. From the macro economic environment of China to the social develop transforming
exterior, from the impetus progress of agencies for outbound tourism to the involution development of
civil aviation, it has been the most important part of outbound tourism. From Chinese restricted policy
to destinations’ marketing promotion, the tendency of Chinese outbound tourism will present huge
scale and powerful consumption.
Key Words: Mainland Chinese Outbound Tourism Market; Affected Factors; Current Features
INTRODUCTION
China’ economy had been developing rapidly since the reform and opening-up policy was
adopted in late 1978. With an increase in disposal income of Mainland Chinese households, their
outbound tourism demand has been increasing swiftly. In early 1983, Chinese citizens went to Hong
Kong and Macau for VFR marked the beginning of Chinese outbound tourism. The Chinese
government from 1990 through 1995 had permitted only Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Russia,
Mongolia, and the Philippines Approved Destination Status (ADS) for Mainland Chinese tourists who
principally wanted to visit their relatives and friends (VFR). Self-supported outbound travel of the
VFR for pleasure took place in Chinese outbound tourism market due to the fact “Provisional
Regulation on Self-supported Outbound Travel of Chinese Citizens” was issued by CNTA and
Ministry of Public Security in July of 1997. By the end of 2004, a total of 67 destination countries
had received Approved Destination Status (ADS) for Chinese outbound tourism. The number of
Mainland Chinese outbound tourists was 3.74 million travelers in 1993 increasing to more than 10
million Mainland Chinese outbound travelers by 2000. The number of Mainland Chinese tourists
amounted to 16.6 million outbound tourists in 2002. In spite of SARS in 2003, the number of total
outbound travelers had still been 20.22 million with an increasing rate of 21.8% comparing to that of
previous year. By the end of 2004, number of outbound destination travelers had reached 28.85
million with an increasing rate of 42.69% comparing to that in 2003. The total number of Chinese
outbound travelers had amounted to 128 million with an annual increasing rate of 22 percent from
1993 to 2004. A substantial increase of Mainland Chinese outbound tourists was stated in the World
9
Tourism Organization Tourism Vision 2020 Report, which forecast 100 million Mainland Chinese
outbound tourists by 2020. This number would account for 6.2 percent of the world’s outbound
tourist market and ranks fourth among outbound tourist generating countries, only next to those of
German, Japanese, and U.S.
As China has emerged as a major generating region in recent years, some researchers in
Chinese outbound tourism has been attracted the same level of attention. Studies in literatures were
conducted to include the five following aspects. Firstly, researches on current situations and
development trends of Chinese outbound tourism, and many efforts were made to illustrate the
phenomenon of the market (Chen, 1994; Dai, 1997; Ding, 1998; Du, 2002; Guo, 1994; Liu, 1999; Sun,
2003; Zhang, L., 2003). Secondly, behavior model and characteristics of Chinese outbound travelers,
researchers in this field examined the consumption decisions on destination selection, type of travel
activities, purchase channel, transportation, accommodation and shopping, etc. The behavior
characteristics of Chinese outbound travelers was also taken into account, which were house income,
social class, educational level, age, gender and other demographic factors (Team Group, 2003; Guo, et
al., 2004; Shu, 2004; Shu, et al., 2004). Thirdly, industrial polices and travel economy, impact study
of Chinese outbound tourism market when China’s entry into WTO was also included (Wang, 2004;
Xiao, 1997; Yi, 2001; Zhong & Guo, 2001). Fourthly, solutions to problems underlying rapid
development of Chinese outbound tourism had been discussed, including management system,
marketing strategies and practices (Cai, 2000; Gao, 2002; Li, 2004; Liu, 2004; Sun, 2003; Zhang,
2002). Fifthly, market strategies study based on market system, development strategies, e-
management and so on (Chen, 1999; Long, 2003; Sun, 2004; Xiao, & Zhen, et al., 2003; Xiao & Ren,
2003; Zhang, G., 2003).
It is obvious that development features, affected factors, behavior model of Chinese outbound
travelers, marketing strategies of Chinese outbound tourism market were not included in the previous
literatures as the author mentioned above despite of many devotions had been made to evaluate and
analyze the market in some domains. Hence, the aim of this study was to analyze the development
features, affected factors and marketing strategies of Chinese outbound tourism consumption based on
a comprehensive perspective in the initial step. The objectives of this study were: (1) to summarize
the development features of Chinese outbound tourism market; (2) to examine the affected factors of
the market.
When respect to the significance of this study, the sustainable development of Chinese
outbound tourism market resulted from prosperity of China’s economy would catch much more
attention of tourism operators and marketers in China’s ADS countries. In addition, it was essential
that some holistic study aspects such as development features, affected factors, problems, marketing
strategies of Chinese outbound tourism market will be also included in the study framework for these
destinations. Statistic data and materials applied in this study were collected from: (1) study
literatures in China; (2) tourism statistic materials in China. The results of this study would not only
help ADS countries to identify the underlying characteristics of Chinese outbound tourism market
including its development trends, affected factors, problems, behavior model and marketing strategies,
but also help Chinese government and tourism operators to predict the market demand as well as to
devising polices and strategies related to the destinations.
CURRENT FEATURES OF OUTBOUND TOURISM MARKET BY MAINLAND CHINESE

PLEASURES
Feature of Rapid Market Growth Rate without a Large Market Share
The increasing demand of Chinese outbound tourism market very much depends on
sustainable development of China’s economy and huge disposal income of Mainland Chinese
households due to the open polices and reforms since 1978. The number of Mainland Chinese
outbound tourists was 3.74 million travelers in 1993 increasing to more than 10 million Mainland
Chinese outbound travelers by 2000. This number amounted to 16.6 million outbound tourists in
10
2002. In spite of SARS in 2003, the number of total outbound travelers had still been 20.22 million
with an increasing rate of 21.8% comparing to that of previous year. By the end of 2004, number of
outbound destination travelers had reached 28.85 million with an increasing rate of 42.69%
comparing to that in 2003. The total number of Chinese outbound travelers had amounted to 128
million with an annual increasing rate of 22 percent from 1993 to 2004 (Table 1), which made China
an important generating area in Asia.
Table 1
Development Comparison among Mainland Chinese Outbound Tourism Market, Domestic Market
and Inbound Tourism Market
Year Number of Growth Total GDP Growth Per capital Growth Number of Growth
Number of
outbound rate (100 million) rate GDP rate Growth inbound rate
domestic
tourists (%) (%) (yuan/person) (%) rate tourists (%)
tourists
(10 thousand) (%) (10
(100million)
thousand)
1993 374.00 27.7 34634.4 30.02 2939 28.51 - - 4153 8.97
1994 373.36 -0.17 46759.4 35.02 3923 33.48 - - 4368 5.18
1995 452.05 21.08 58478.1 25.067 4854 23.73 6.29 20.0 4639 6.20
1996 506.07 11.95 67884.6 16.09 5576 14.87 6.39 1.6 5113 10.22
1997 532.39 5.20 74462.6 9.69 6054 8.57 6.44 0.8 5759 12.63
1998 842.56 58.26 78345.2 5.21 6308 4.20 6.94 7.8 6348 10.23
1999 923.16 9.57 82067.5 4.75 6551 3.85 7.19 3.5 7280 14.68
2000 1046.86 13.40 89468.1 9.02 7086 8.17 7.44 3.5 8344 14.66
2001 1213.31 15.90 97314.8 8.77 7651 7.97 7.84 5.3 8901 6.68
2002 1660.23 36.83 105172.3 8.07 8214 7.36 8.78 12.0 9791 9.99
2003 2022.00 21.80 117251.9 11.49 9101 10.80 8.70 -0.9 9166 -6.38
2004 2885.29 42.90 136515.0 16.43 10561 16.04 11.02 26.7 10904 18.96
Source: CNTA, National Bureau of Statistics of China (1993-2004).
However, it had demonstrated some valuable characteristics in Chinese outbound tourism

market different from that in other counties, which were: (1) the growth rate of the market surpassed
that of China’s national economy; (2) the growth rate of the market also surpassed those of inbound
tourism market and domestic tourism market, but the market share of outbound tourism was less than
3% of the former and equal to 26% of the latter respectively; and (3) the growth rate of outbound
tourism market in China also surpassed that in developed countries to some extend in same period,
and its market share accounted about 39% of that in Germany which was the biggest generating
countries in 2004 (Table 2).
Table 2
Number of Outbound Tourists and Its Growth Rate for Major Generating Countries (10 thousand)
Year Germany America Britain China Canada France Italy Japan

1993 7200 4440 3570 374 2060 1640 1700 1190
1994 7310 4750 3990 373 1830 1770 1650 1360
1995 7490 5000 4170 452 1750 1650 1600 1500
1996 6840 5210 4260 506 1790 1680 1630 1670
1997 6800 5409 4710 532 1850 1770 1720 1680
1998 8297 5273 5087 843 1764 1807 1432 1580
1999 7340 5732 5388 923 1837 1671 1896 1636
2000 7440 6133 5684 1047 1918 1989 2199 1782
2001 7640 5943 5828 1213 1836 1927 2242 1622
2002 7330 5805 5938 1660 1771 1740 2513 1652
2003 7460 5618 6142 2022 1774 1743 2682 1330
2004 2885
Growth rate
Germany America Britain China Canada France Italy Japan
(%)
1993 5.88 1.14 5.62 27.7 -5.07 -2.96 -6.59 0.85
1994 1.53 6.98 11.76 -0.17 -11.17 7.93 -2.94 14.29
1995 2.46 5.26 4.51 21.08 -4.37 -6.78 -3.03 10.29
11
1996 -8.68 4.20 2.16 11.95 2.29 1.82 1.88 11.33
1997 -0.58 3.82 10.56 5.20 3.35 5.36 5.52 0.59
1998 22.01 -2.51 8.00 58.26 -4.65 2.09 -16.74 -5.95
1999 -11.53 8.70 5.92 9.57 4.14 -7.53 32.40 3.54
2000 1.36 6.99 5.49 13.40 4.41 19.03 15.98 8.92
2001 2.69 -3.10 2.53 15.90 -4.28 -3.12 1.955 -8.98
2002 -4.06 -2.32 1.88 36.83 -3.54 -9.70 12.09 1.85
2003 1.77 -3.22 3.44 21.80 0.17 0.17 6.73 -19.49
2004 42.90
Source: International Statistical Yearbook (1993-2004);
Federal Statistical Office Germany: http://www.destatis.de/e_home.h=m-7-22-2005.
Feature of Self-supported Outbound Travel Dominated the Market
The number of Chinese outbound tourist for business had been equal to that for private
purpose (refer to self-supported outbound travel), and each accounted half of the market share. It was
not surprising that Chinese outbound tourism market for business had gain dramatically increase with
a growth rate of 84.6% because of America and Europe’s open polices in business travel market to
China in 1998. Nevertheless, self-supported outbound travel had kept a steady growth rate in the
same period. The number of self-supported outbound travelers surpassed that of outbound business
tourists at first time, amounting to 5.6 million in 2000. Though Chinese outbound business market
was affected by SARS in 2003, the self-supported outbound market continued to increase. The
number of self-supported outbound travelers reached 22.98 million accounting for 80% of the total
outbound market share and represented 3.9 times of outbound business travelers. The annual growth
rate of Chinese self-supported outbound tourism market had amounted to 29% during 1993-2004,
making self-supported outbound travel dominate whole outbound market of China (Table 3).
Table 3
Comparison of Mainland Chinese Outbound Tourism Market for Business and Private Purpose
Year For business Growth rate For private purpose Growth rate
(10 thousand) (%) (10 thousand) (%)
1992 180.94 - 111.93 -
1993 227.83 25.7 146.62 31.0
1994 209.13 -8.0 164.23 12.0
1995 246.60 17.9 205.39 25.1
1996 264.80 7.3 231.34 17.5
1997 288.43 9.0 243.96 1.1
1998 532.53 84.6 319.02 30.8
1999 496.63 -5.1 426.61 33.7
2000 484.18 -2.5 563.09 32.0
2001 518.77 7.2 694.54 23.3
2002 654.90 26.1 1006.14 44.7
2003 541.00 -17.0 1481.00 47.0
2004 587.38 8.7 2297.91 55.2
Source: CNTA (1992-2004).
Outbound Package Tours by Travel Agencies Have a Considerable Market Share
Firstly, outbound package tours by travel agencies had gained a considerable market share in
total outbound tourism market (Table 4). Consequently, Chinese outbound travelers for first time
would make more contribution to the total number of outbound tourists than those for many times.
Besides, the number of tourists traveled to a series of destinations was larger than that of tourists
travel only to one destination. There was an independent relation between development of Chinese
outbound tourism market and promotion of domestic travel agencies (Du, 2002). Secondly, after
relaxation on special licensing system of outbound tourism services, travel agencies would also cut
down the price of their outbound package tours by some promotion strategies such as charter flights,
full charter flights and charter flight courses in combination with domestic and foreign civil airlines in
order to strengthen their competitive abilities as well as enlarge their distant travel markets. Thirdly,
12
Chinese outbound travelers preferred to choose a series of countries as their destinations rather than
only one country or area when they took travel expenditures and time into consideration. This might
be verified by the fact that travel agencies always organize their outbound travel routes by mixing all
kinds of neighboring destinations so as to save money. Therefore, Chinese outbound tourists would
like to identify many countries as their one tourist product for overseas destinations when they travel
abroad.
Table 4
Package Outbound Tours of Travel Agencies in Total Mainland Chinese Outbound Tourism Market
Total number of Package outbound tourists by

Growth rate Growth rate
Year outbound tourists travel agencies % of Total
(%) (%)
(10 thousand) (10 thousand)
1993 374.00 27.7 72.36 19.3 -
1994 373.36 -0.17 109.84 29.4 51.8
1995 452.05 21.08 125.99 27.9 14.7
1996 506.07 11.95 164 32.4 30.2
1997 532.39 5.20 143.07 26.9 -12.8
1998 842.56 58.26 181.09 21.5 26.6
1999 923.16 9.57 249.56 27.0 37.8
2000 1046.86 13.40 430.25 41.1 72.4
2001 1213.31 15.90 369.53 30.5 -14.1
2002 1660.23 36.83 372.16 22.4 0.7
2003 2022.00 21.80 387.01 19.1 4.0
2004 2885.29 42.90 558.60 19.4 44.3
Source: CNTA (1993-2004).
AFFECTED FACTORS OF MAINLAND CHINESE OUTBOUND TOURISM MARKET
Affected Factor of Tourism Policies
The Mainland Chinese government has indicated the following seven guidelines for countries
to meet in order for these countries to receive Approved Destination Status (ADS) so that Mainland
Chinese tourists can travel. First, the countries should generate outbound tourists to China. Second,
they should have a favorable political relationship with China. Third, the countries should have
attractive tourist resources and suitable facilities for Chinese travelers. Fourth, the safety of the
Chinese travelers should be guaranteed along with freedom of discrimination. Fifth, the destination
countries should be easily accessible by transportation. Sixth, the outbound tourists from the
destination countries should have a balance with Mainland China in terms of tourists’ expenditures.
Seventh, the market share of tourists from foreign countries to China, along with tourists from China
to these countries should be increased reciprocally.
China’s outbound tourism has gone through the process of travel to Hong Kong and Macau
since 1983. In the initial stage of outbound tourism, the Mainland Chinese government decided to
only permit its people to visit their relatives and friends. The Chinese government from 1990 through
1995 had permitted only Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Russia, Mongolia, and the Philippines
Approved Destination Status (ADS) for Mainland Chinese tourists who principally wanted to visit
their relatives and friends. By 2003, a total of 32 destination countries had received Approved
Destination Status (ADS) for Chinese outbound tourism. They included Singapore, Malaysia,
Thailand, Philippines, Russia, Mongolia, North Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South
Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma, Brunei, Nepal, Indonesia, Turkey,
Egypt, Malta, Germany, Sri Lanka, Maldives, India, South Africa, Cuba, Croatia, Hungry, and
Pakistan. By 2004, another twenty-six European countries and eight African countries (Ethiopia,
Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia, Zimbabwe) as well as Jordan had been
approved as Chinese Destination Countries (Chen, 2004). Until now, there had been totally 83
countries being approved as Chinese outbound destination countries.
13
Affected Factor of Economic Factors
Chinese urban citizens dominated both common consumption market and outbound tourism
market of China because of their large disposable incomes. The growth of Chinese citizens’
disposable income would also become an important stimulant to increase expenditures in education,
cultural and recreation services, which could be attributed to significant relations between
expenditures of Chinese outbound tourism and that of recreation services, average GDP as well as
disposable income of each urban household. The average disposable income of Chinese urban
household increased from RMB1700.6 in 1991 to Chinese RMB 9421.6 Yuan in 2004, while Engel
coefficient decreased from 0.5433 to 0.3773 as a result of expenditures in education, cultural and
recreation services increased from Chinese RMB 194.01 Yuan to Chinese RMB 1032.8 Yuan in the
same period. In conclusion, the high growth rate of Chinese outbound tourism market was motivated
by main two factors that were represented as follows. Firstly, there had been lower Engel coefficient
for Chinese urban households. Secondly, there had been improvement and upgrade in Maslow’s
demand structure of Chinese people (Table 5).
Table 5
Per Capital Annual Disposable Income and Living Expenditure by Mainland Chinese Urban
Households (Chinese RMB Yuan)
Year 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Disposable
income 1700.6 2026.6 2577.4 3496.24 4282.95 4838.9 5160.32 5425.05 5854.02 6279.98 6859.58 7702.8 8472.2 9421.6
(per person)
Living
1453.81 1671.73 2110.81 2851.34 3537.57 3919.47 4185.64 4331.61 4615.91 4998.0 5309.01 6029.88 6510.94 7182.1
expenditure
Food 782.5 883.65 1058.2 1422.49 1766.02 1904.71 1942.59 1926.89 1932.1 1958.31 2014.02 2271.84 2416.92 2709.6
Engel
0.5433 0.5307 0.5035 0.5027 0.5427 0.4857 0.4683 0.4495 0.4186 0.3918 0.3794 0.3768 0.3712 0.3773
coefficient
Education,
cultural and
** 147.45 194.01 250.75 312.71 374.95 448.38 499.39 567.05 627.82 690.00 902.28 934.38 1032.8
recreation
services
# Consumer
Goods for
** 33.17 42.01 55.06 69.14 81.15 98.26 125.99 135.33 146.92 139.35 245.16 264.47 256.7
Recreational
Use
**
Data were not available.
Source: China Statistical Yearbook (1996-2004); Data Center of China Economic Information (2005).
Affected Factor of Legal Factors
China joined the World Trade Organization in November 2001. This may provide other
opportunities for its tourism development, including fewer formalities and barriers for cross-border
travelers, reductions in traveling costs as a result of global competition, removal of some protectionist
policies, and upgrade of communication, financial, and information facilities (Zhang, et al., 2003).
According to WTO, Chinese government must reduce regulation on forbidding foreign travel
agencies to operate Chinese tourism business, and limitations on percentage of foreign capital in stock
shares of joint ventures were also canceled before 31 Dec, 2003; the government must also reduce
regulation on branch companies of foreign travel agencies and cut down registered capital of joint
venture travel agencies, granting them the national treatment before 31 Dec, 2005. More and more
travel agencies in China had received the permission from the authorities to organize outbound
tourism for Chinese citizens, and their number increased from 76 to 582 in 2002. In addition, the
government launched various aspects of reforms on Chinese outbound tourism market. For instance, it
was not necessary to present an invitation from outbound destinations when travel abroad for private
purpose. And passport attached with filling outbound registration card was also canceled when you
14
made your first outbound visit. A licensing system of granting outbound tourism service by CNTA
had been introduced for travel agencies in China, and all travel agencies would have to make a good
performance before they could be granted certificates. In this way, orders of Chinese outbound
tourism market was kept, and consumers’ rights as well as business interests were also protected,
which helped to encourage Chinese outbound pleasure travel and realize the potential of outbound
tourism demand (Gao, 2002).
Affected Factor of Managerial Factors
The official Chinese policy on outbound tourism was one of controlled development.
Primarily, the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) exercises the control, which was the
official body in charge of tourism. This might due to the fact that outbound tourism has a negative
impact on economy that can result in economic leakage. But relative free foreign currency system
and transactions had been introduced into Chinese outbound tourism market nowadays. According to
STATS, the amount of Chinese foreign exchange reserves increased from US$ 19 billion dollars in
1992 to US$ 609.9 billion dollars in 2004. This facilitated the transaction of purchasing foreign
goods and services, resulting in the future encouragement of overseas travel. Moreover, State
Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) launched some new polices of relaxing limitations on
Chinese citizens’ purchasing Foreign Exchange Certificate (FEC) with Renminbi (RMB) in order to
regulate transactions of FEC. Following the overall open door policy of Chinese outbound travel
market in 2005, China begin to prepare a better managerial environment for travelers which also help
to encourage development of China’s outbound tourism. Recently, China government allowed its
currency to appreciate by 2.1% in late July of 2005 would also incentive Chinese to go abroad (CNTA,
2005).
Affected Factor of Marketing Factors
The recent growth of China’s outbound travel marked by visiting South Korea, Singapore,
Malaysia and Thailand, and Australia was linked to politic and economic relations between China and
other destination countries. Thus some countries had Diplomatic relations with China were
considered as ADS and allowed to market their travel products in Mainland China. For example,
Australia had attracted much more Chinese outbound travelers by holding travel products exhibition
and marketer training class with a total cost of RMB500 thousand each year. Travel agencies in South
Korea launched their promotion activities based on 2002FIFA World Cup hold in Japan and South
Korea. Among all the major tourism source markets of Singapore, Mainland China was always
considered as an important target market segment and many efforts were made to exploit the market.
In addition, other destination countries in Southeast Asia also took some actions including free visas,
developing travel products, offering Chinese travel information services as well as purchasing goods
with RMB for those holding Chinese passport. As most important destinations in Europe, Germany
and France initiated their marketing procedures to China as other countries did.
Affected Factor of Tourism Transportations
Airline expenditures made a much more contribution to the total cost of outbound travelers
because of its inelasticity. The economic barriers exited in Chinese outbound tourism market
especially in self-supported travel market segment was mainly attributed to the high cost of airline
services which represented approximately 50-70% of total outbound expenditures. However, most of
Chinese outbound travelers could also purchase airline services in recent years because both domestic
and foreign airlines could cut down their cost by corporation, competition and extending the routs to
attract more passengers, which led to an acceptable price.
Affected Factor of Leisure Factors
Firstly, after 1997, Chinese government had made up some relative policies for more holidays
15
with salary such as some long holidays of three “golden weeks” and two-day weekend, which leads to
a total 114-holiday in a whole year. Hence, it would be possible for Chinese to go abroad to have a
long journey. Secondly, some beneficial preferable enterprises and units in China would like to
organize incentive outbound package tours for their employees so that travelers could stay longer
when they go abroad.
Affected Factor of Psychological Factors
Firstly, as to motivations of Chinese outbound travelers, (1) Chinese people traveled abroad
were motivated by various types of factors rather than only one factor, shifting from sightseeing,
spending holidays, VFR to education, cultural communication and visiting historical sites. (2) They
preferred to take part in or visit some international sports and cultural festivals by overseas travel due
to their higher consumption levels. (3) It must be noted that education is an important motivation
factor for Chinese young people, which can be a stimulus to China’s outbound tourism. (4) Shopping
was also perceived as an important motivation factor by Chinese outbound travelers due to the lower
price and tariffs of commodities in some countries. (5) Chinese people had demand to appreciate all
kinds of foreign culture resulting in pull force to Chinese potential outbound travelers.
Secondly, when respect to pleasure travel of Chinese outbound tourists, (1) Vacation time of
Chinese citizens amounted to 114days in a whole year after the government’s “Golden Travel Week”
polices in 1997, which make distant outbound travel possible for tourists. (2) Some enterprises with
better benefit could provide their employers and client incentive vacations abroad. (3) The increasing
income of higher-level class citizens made their ability to pay rise. (4) After bucking up their tourism
ideas, Chinese people also would like to seek novelties and adventures. (5) The low price of
outbound travel products attracted many Chinese tourists due to marketing and promotion activities
conducted by travel agencies, etc.
Thirdly, as to affected factors of Chinese outbound tourism, the important motivation factors,
perceived by Chinese outbound travelers, were “escaping from daily routine and increasing
friendship”, followed by “enjoying travel resources”, “seeking adventure and novelty” and
“demonstrating my prestige”. It indicated that those factors such as escaping from daily routine,
enjoying natural resources, increasing friendship and seeking adventure were major psychological
factors underlying Chinese outbound travelers’ activities (Guo, 2004).
CONCLUSION AND LIMITATION
In summary, this study structure was reviewed again as follows. Firstly, this study analyzed
the Chinese outbound tourism development characteristics from pace and constitution. Secondly, the
impact for Chinese outbound tourism form economy, industry, psychology, law, management,
transportation, environment and leisure were analyzed.
Along with the increasing earning of one’s command, the number of Chinese outbound
tourists will grow up. More Chinese tourists will travel overseas. By the end of 2005, the approved
destination countries by Chinese government have been up to 83, and the potential demands of
Chinese outbound are huge. From the macro economic environment of China to the social develop
transforming exterior, from the impetus progress of agencies for outbound tourism to the involution
development of civil aviation, it has been the most important part of outbound tourism. From Chinese
restricted policy to destinations’ marketing promotion, the tendency of Chinese outbound tourism will
present huge scale and powerful consumption.
However, this study still needed update data and further research to adapt the development
and changing of changeable china outbound tourism market. The study helped Chinese government
tourism organizations and tourism enterprises to make corresponding marketing strategies of tourism
so as to appeal more Chinese outbound tourists traveling abroad within the furious competition of
outbound destination countries.
16
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Shu, B., & Wang, H. (2004). A study on consumption behavior and industrial polices of China’s
outbound tourism. Finance & Trade Economics, 8, 59-61. (in Chinese)
Sun, Y. (2003). Current situation and strategies of China’s outbound tourism after China’s entering
WTO. Jiangxi Social Sciences, 4, 238-241. (in Chinese)
Sun, Y., & Dong, S. (2003). Solutions to development of China’s outbound tourism. Journal of Jiangxi
University of Finance and Economics, 4, 58-59. (in Chinese)
Wang, W. (2004). An analysis on the current Chinese outbound tourism by the trending changes of
foreign exchange management. Southwestern Finance, 10, 13-14. (in Chinese)
Xiao, D., Zhen, L., Zhang, L., & Yu, Y. (2003). Managing method quotation of China’s outbound
tourism market. Journal of Dandong Teachers’ College, 25(4), 53-54. (in Chinese)
17
Xiao, J., & Ren, J. (2003). An analysis on the current Chinese outbound tourism market and
development policies. Journal of Yunnan Geographical Environment Research, 15(1), 2-11. (in
Chinese)
Xu, Q., & Chen, H. (2003). A Probe into the Tourism Marketing Policies of the Chinese Aged, The
transaction of Guilin Tourism Higher Technological Academy, 4, 36-39. (in Chinese)
Yu, Y., Zhang, J., & Ren, L. (2003). A Study on the Tour Behavior Decision----A Case of the Aged
Tourism Market in Jiangxi Province, Tourism Tribune, 3, 38-41. (in Chinese)
Zhang, G., et al. (2003). Tourism in China. NY: The Haworth Hospitality Press, 10.
Zhang, H., Li, X., & Qin Y. (2003). On the present situation and trend of China’s outbound tourism.
Commercial Research, 2, 147-151. (in Chinese)
Zhang, L. (2003). The design & application for the administrative system of out-of-country tourist
market. Journal of Liaoning Institute of Technology, 5(2), 33-35. (in Chinese)
Zhong, H., & Guo, Y. (2001). Demand and development for China Tourism Market. Guangzhou:
Guangdong Tourism Press. (in Chinese)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This study was supported by Shanghai Scientific Committee (Shanghai Pujiang Program),
China Oversea Fund of Educational Administration, Shanghai Tourism Administration, and Asia
Research Center of Fudan University.
18
AN INVESTIGATION OF SERVICE QUALITY BETWEEN THE LICENSED AND
UN-LICENSED TOUR LEADERS
Chao-Yun Tang
Department of Tourism
Providence University
and
Jui-Chi Chang
ABSTRACT
Although the post of tour leader is highly regulated by the government of Taiwan, it seems
impossible for travel agencies to follow the regulations due to many reasons, particularly the long
debate whether a licensed tour leader can perform better than an un-licensed tour leader? The purpose
of this study is to examine the quality of service between the licensed and un-licensed tour leaders. It
also investigates travel agencies’ expectations from their tour leaders in terms of job performances.
Semi-structured interviews with travel agencies managerial staffs and the licensed and un-licensed
tour leaders will be carried out. Furthermore, questionnaires will be sent to travelers who have joined
at least a guided package tour. The results of this study could help the travel agencies and government
to identify what types of tour leader can perform better in order to help them to develop a superior
training program for tour leaders.
Key Words: Tour leader, License, Service quality, SERVQUAL
INTRODUCTION
Taiwanese people are interested in seeing the outside world. According to the Tourism Bureau
(2006) in Taiwan, the number of outbound travelers has grown rapidly. In 2005, it exceeded 8 million
and approximately 36 out of every 100 Taiwanese residents traveled abroad that remains a high
percentage and frequency compared with their counterparts. After years of development of outbound
travel, travelers have become more independent and more aware of their rights and concern about the
quality of the tours, in particular the service performance of the tour leader (Chang, 2004).
Good service quality produces immeasurable benefit, cost savings, and market share. Besides,
service quality is highly dependent on the performance of employees as well as organizational
resources (Kotler, Philip, Armstrong, Cunningham, & Warren, 1996). Among them, the performance
of the tour leader has a significant influence on the tour members’ satisfaction due to the frequent
contact with tour participants. Mossberg (1995) has pointed out that the tour leader’s performance
within the service encounter can affect the company’s image, customer loyalty and word-of-mouth
communication. However, the performance of tour leaders has received many criticisms in Taiwan.
According to the Travel Quality Assurance Association R.O.C (2005), there were 731 disputes which
were related to the tour leader/tour guide’s service performance from 1990 to 2005. Among them, a
few cases were associated with un-licensed tour leaders.
Based on Chen and Lin’s (2004) study, many travel agencies have concluded that a tour leader
19
must have a license in order to guide a tour overseas. However, some travel agencies still do not
believe that a certified tour leader is capable of doing a better job and prefer to employ experienced
employees who have positive service attitudes and extensive tourism knowledge, regardless of
whether or not they have a license. Besides, in certain destinations, such as those in Southeast Asia,
they do not need to have language skills, where are required for licensed tour leaders, since they can
get help from local guides (Chang, 2004).
LITERATURE REVIEW
Tour Leaders’ Performance
The role of a tour leader (also known as tour manager, tour conductor or tour escort) is to
make operational decisions as well as to look after the welfare of all tour participants. In Taiwan, tour
leaders are divided into full-time tour leaders and special tour leaders. Full-time tour leaders refer to
those who are employed by a travel agency and engage in tour leading. Special tour leaders refer to
those people who work on a temporary basis for travel agencies (Tourism Bureau, 2005).
To be successful, certain qualifications are essential. Many studies indicated that the tour
leader is the factor contributing most to the success of a guided package trip (Holloway, 1981;
Whipple, & Teach, 1988; Quiroga, 1990). Geva and Goldman (1991) noted that the intense contact
and constant interaction with the participants gives the tour leader a positive advantage to affect tour
members’ satisfaction. Tour leaders’ performance can generate repeat business and also affect the
image of their tour companies (Zhang, & Chow, 2004). Weiler and Davis (1993) recognized that the
tour leader contributes both environmentally and socially to the general experience of the tourists.
Pond (1993) explored the roles of tour guides (tour leaders) and suggested that the tour guides can be
classified as leader, educator, public relations, host and conduit. He considered that leadership and
social skills are significant features for tour guides for their guiding experience.
The professionalism of tour leader is widely discussed by researchers. Mossberg (1995)

emphasized that a tour leader’s performance is a key factor to differentiate one tour from another of a
competitor. Tshai (1996) stated that customers’ complaints about tour leaders/local guides were
mainly on their service attitudes, service enthusiasm, professional skills, poor management, and
forcing customers to tip. Mossberg (1995) considered that a tour leader should possess many skills
including reliability, the ability to handle complaints, the willingness to take part at any time, ease of
contact, the ability to inform about manners and customs, the ability to handle difficult situations,
being knowledgeable about sights, and pleasantness and helpfulness. Quiroga (1990) considered that
the person should be intelligent and cultured friendly and kind, and personable. Webster (1993) noted
that “keeping the participants happy” and “making sure that all services are provided as contracted”
are the main responsibilities of the “escort”. Furthermore, Heung and Wong (2005) identified four
factors with 16 attributes of a successful tour leader. These four factors were presentation and
communication ability, problem solving ability, professional knowledge and personal integrity. The
results of their study also indicated that tourists had high expectations from tour leaders in the field of
punctuality, clear information on security and safety and daily briefing on tour itinerary, but relatively
lower expectations when it came to the ability to solve problems, arranging all the services promised
on the itinerary, honesty and trustworthiness.
Tour Leader’s License
There are many discussions regarding the qualification of the tour guide but not much
20
literature has been found relating to the licensing system of the tour leader. However, the tour leader
has been considered as an important person in the group tour for travelers who are advanced in age, or
lack language skills, or travel alone, and for first time travelers (Mancini, 1996). Ap and Wong (2001)
examined the tour guide professionalism in Hong Kong, and found that the registration or licensing
system of the tour leader/tour guide is crucial.
Actually, different countries have different rules for certification of tour leaders. For example,
in Hong Kong, tour leader is also called tour escort. The contract for tour escorts’ certification is held
by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC) since 01 July, 1999.Tour escorts who want to lead
outbound package tours must first pass an examination and obtain a Tour Escort Pass (formerly
known as "Certified Tour Escort Card") (Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong ,2006). The TIC also
organizes training courses for outbound tour escorts, which includes “requirements for an outstanding
tour escort”, “roles and duties of a tour escort”, “effective skills in escorting a tour group”, “useful
guide for departure and arrival”, “basic principles and skills in crisis management”, “handling of
emergencies”, “first aid and health”. On the other hand in Mainland China, those who want to lead a
tour overseas must take a training courses provided by the travel agency but do not need to take any
further exams (China National Tourism Administration, 2006).
Tour leader is called tour manager in Europe. They could get a certificate from associations,
such as International Association of Tour Managers Ltd (IATM) or European Tour Operators
Association (ETOA). To be a tour manager, a person needs to pass the exam in order to get a license
from IATM (International Association of Tour Managers Ltd, 2004) or just apply from the ETOA
(European Tour Operators Association, 2004). In the UK, to be tour managers they need to attend a
short induction course provided by their companies. The induction course includes an introduction to
the main destinations, company policies and procedures of operating a tour. Furthermore, they are
required to participate in “on-tour training” which is known as a 'dry run' (Fennell, 2003).
In Taiwan, the government has imposed many restrictions on the tour leader and has put into
law that, a touring license is required for those who want to conduct an overseas package tour. Before
the year of 2003, the R.O.C. Tourism Leader Association was commissioned by the Taiwan Tourism
Bureau to institute a qualification test for those who want to be a tour leader. The exam was not
opened to the general public; only registered travel agencies’ employees were entitled to be the
candidates (Chang, 2004). However, in the year of 2004, the policy was changed. The exam is opened
to the general public and is conducted by Ministry of Examination. The written exam includes three
subjects: introduction to tourism resources, tourism knowledge in general, and a foreign language test
(English, Japanese, French, German or Spanish) (Tourism Bureau Ministry, 2006). Once a person has
passed the exam, he or she has to attend a 60-hour-training-course in order to get the license (Yang,
1994). In year 2004, a total of 1,466 people received their license and became certified tour leaders
(Ministry of Examination, 2004). To ensure tour leaders’ service quality, a tour leader who has not
practiced for three years should join a training course again. In addition, if tour leaders violate the
regulations, they could lose their certification (Taiwan Daily, 2002). Although the position of the tour
leader is highly regulated, in fact, many travel agencies still do not follow the regulations and blame
the Tourism Bureau for this impractical policy.
SERVQUAL
In the hospitality industry, many service quality models have been developed. Among existing
service quality models, the best well-known model is SERVQUAL which was developed by
Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985) and refined in 1988. The model is used primarily for
21
identifying the key dimensions of service quality. The refined SERVQUAL (Parasuraman, Zeithaml
and Berry, 1988) dimensions are as follows:
z Tangibility: physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel;

z Reliability: ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately;
z Responsiveness: willingness to help customers and provide prompt service;
z Assurance: knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and
confidence;
z Empathy: caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers.
Parasuraman et al. (1988) discussed the five dimensions; reliability has consistently been
found to be the primary influence for the service outcome and is recognized as the most critical
service quality among the five service dimensions. Several researchers have concluded that the
dimensions of assurance, reliability and tangibles are the most important characteristics in the
hospitality industries (Saleh, & Ryan, 1991; Fick, & Richie, 1991; Bojanic, & Rosen, 1994). Gabbie
and O’Neill (1997), in their research in the hotel sector, reported that the dimensions of reliability and
assurance received the highest expectation of consumers while the dimensions of tangibility and
empathy were lowest in their rankings.
Although SERVQUAL instrument has been widely recognized and tested in various service
industries for measuring service quality, and customer satisfaction (Dube, Renaghan, & Miller, 1994;
Pizam, & Ellis, 1999), it has received many criticisms. Several studies revealed the defects of
SERVQUAL. Babakus and Boller (1992) identified a number of methodological problems with the
SERVQUAL scale. Carman (1990) stated that the 22 SERVQUAL items could not be used exactly as
designed unless modifications to items and wordings were made to accommodate the new settings.
Finn and Lamb (1991) suggested that the dimensions of SERVQUAL should be changed when
evaluating product services (department store) rather than the pure services (banks).
Nevertheless, SERVQUAL instrument can be used to a degree in the travel and hospitality
industry. For example, Saleh and Ryan (1991) developed a modified SERVQUAL questionnaire to
measure hotel service quality. Fick and Ritchie (1991) used SERVQUAL to measure the quality of
service provided by airlines, hotels, restaurants, and ski areas. They found that the scale was not
entirely valid for all tourism service sectors and the number of dimensions on the present version of
the SERVQUAL scale seems too limiting. Luk, Leon, Leong and Li (1993) modified the SERVQUAL
scale to investigate tourists’ expectations of an organized tour service quality and found that among
the 18 items, sociability was the crucial factor. Le Blanc (1992) provided lists of factors used by
customers to evaluate the service quality for travel agencies in Canada, six factors that explain service
quality were identified as follows: corporate image, competitiveness, courtesy, responsiveness,
accessibility, and competence. Ryan and Cliff (1997) suggested that the five-dimension cannot be
replicated to measure travel agencies’ quality. Apparently, examinations of the service quality
dimensions of SERVQUAL have produced mixed results across the service industry and a modified
SWRVQUAL scale seems necessary in order to maintain its validity and reliability in measuring a
specific service: for example, DINESERV for restaurant (Stevens, Knutson, & Patton, 1995),
LODGSERV for lodging industry.
In this study, SERVQUAL dimensions will be used to evaluate licensed and un-licensed tour
leaders’ service quality with tour participants. Chang (2004) investigated customers’ satisfaction in a
long-haul package tour and suggested that the aspect of ‘communication’ should not be omitted. The
six dimensions of service quality used in this study are showed as follows (see Table 1).
22
Table 1
SERVQUAL determinants for tour leaders
Tangibility: 1. Visually appealing

2. Physical facilities
Reliability: 1. Able to provide the service as promised
2. Dependable in handling customers’ problems
3. Well-trained
4. Aware of travel safety
5. Familiar with first aid
Responsiveness: 1. Prompt service
2. Able to provide service right the first time
Assurance: 1. Knowledgeable in geography,
2. Knowledgeable in tourism laws and regulations
3. Language skills
4. Leadership skills
5. Interpretation skills
6. Courtesy
Empathy: 1. Willing to help customers
2. Able to respond customers’ requests
3. Able to provide individual attention
Communication 1. Able to provide enough/correct information or convincing explanation
2. Sociability
Sources: adapted from Parasuraman et al. (1988)
METHODOLOGY
There are very few studies related to the performance of un-licensed tour leaders. This study
aims to evaluate the service quality differences between the licensed and un-licensed tour leaders in
guided package tours. Travel agencies’ views in relation to tour leaders’ job performance will be
examined. In addition, customers’ views regarding service quality of licensed/un-licensed tour leaders
will be further investigated. This research will use both qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Three stages of data collection will be undertaken and a pilot interview will be used to ensure
the reliability of data collection. The first stage involves semi-structured interviews with travel
agencies’ managerial staffs. Four travel agencies will be chosen from a convenient and purposive
selection procedure. In the second stage, it involves semi-structured interviews with tour leaders.
Sixteen tour leaders (2 licensed tour leaders and 2 un-licensed tour leaders from each travel agency)
will be asked to express their views about tour leader’s qualification and service performance. Each
interview will take about 30 minutes. The interview questions are based on the subjects of the tour
leader’s written exam and the dimensions of SERVQUAL model. In the third stage, one hundred fifty
questionnaires will be sent out to those customers who have participated at lease one outbound guided
package tours. The interview questions are shown in Table 2 and Table 3.
23
Table 2
Semi-structured interview questions with management in travel agencies
Q1 How does the company select and train the tour leader?
Q2 What does the company expect from the tour leader?
Q3 What is your view of company’s clients in relation to tour leaders’ performance?
Q4 What is your opinion regarding tour leader’s qualification exams?
Q5 Any differences between license and un-license tour leaders in terms of their performance
skills?
Q6 Do you think that your tour leaders’ performance skills are able to satisfy customer needs?
Table 3
Semi-structured interview questions with tour leaders
Q1 Background information: gender, years of experience, current positions, certified tour

leaders?
Q2 What makes you a tour leader?
Q3 What is your opinion in terms of qualification exams?
Q4 What kinds of qualification should a tour leader have?
Q5 What do you think about your customers?
A PILOT INTERVIEW
A pilot test was carried out in March 8, 2006. Four travel agencies were chosen from a
convenient and purposive selection. One managerial staff member and one tour leader (see Table 4)
from each travel agency were selected for interview. Each interview took about 30 minutes, and the
place of interview was the travel agency’s office. A phone call was made before the interview to
ensure that participants were aware of the procedure and knew that the conversation be would be
tape-recorded for academic purposes. Base on ethical considerations, all the interviewees were
anonymous in this study and the conversations would remain confidential.
Table 4
The sample of travel agencies and interviewees
Time and date Interviewees Titles seniority license

12:00, 08 Mar. Thomas Assistant manager 5 years
15:00, 08 Mar. Kate Assistant manager 9 years
13:00, 18 Mar. Julie Vice manager 8 years
15:00, 21 Mar. Andy Manager 10 years
14:00, 08 Mar. Lin Tour leader 2 years No
18:30, 08 Mar. Wendy Tour leader 12 years Yes
14:00, 18 Mar. Kevin Tour leader 8 years Yes
16:30, 21 Mar. David Tour leader 5 years Yes
FINDINGS FROM PILOT INTERVIEWS
Interviews with Travel Agencies’ Managerial Staffs
The data show that the most important factor the travel agency select their tour leader is
whether they are “friendly”. They consider that an obliging and amiable tour leader could make the
tour more smoothly. Additionally the tour leader must have good communication skills and the ability
to handle problems. One manger, Julie, expressed that a good tour leader should solve problems
immediately on the tour, otherwise the problems may get worse.
24
All the interviewed managerial staff members indicated that their companies had provided
practical training for new tour leaders. They believed that this is the best way to train a new tour
leader. In addition, they indicated that their tour leader should perform well and satisfy customers in
order to generate repeat business. One interviewed manager said that ‘our tour leaders should devote
themselves to the job and ensure the safety of tour participants.’ Another interviewed manger
indicated that the tour leader must be sociable and treat every customer fairly. All the interviewed
travel agencies indicated that they would send questionnaires to customers to investigate their levels
of satisfaction.
Most managers agreed with the license system but considered that the licensed examination is
too difficult to pass. They believed that the questions of examination are too theoretical and do not fit
into reality. Two interviewed managers suggested that the government could offer a special certificate
for experienced staff that could not pass the exam. In general, they indicated that un-licensed tour
leaders are prevalent in Taiwan and they will continue to be used as tour leaders because of their vast
experience. However, one manger, Andy, expressed that some un-licensed tour leaders may cause
many problems due to the lack of experience. Andy thought that the existence of the un-licensed tour
leaders’ could be attributing to government’s impractical policy.
Interview with Licensed and Un-Licensed Tour Leaders
Three licensed tour leaders and one un-licensed tour leader were interviewed. They indicated
that the job of tour leader is colorful and enabled them to travel around the world without cost.
However, the job is not easy and requires lots of efforts. Two of the interviewed tour leaders - Lin and
David - agreed that the licensed system is needed. However, Lin and David indicated that the written
exam is not easy to pass and is impractical. Another interviewed tour leader - Kevin –agreeing with
Lin and David on the difficulty of the test also indicated that experience, in particular the service
attitude, is more important than having a license. Lin – a un-license tour leader – is used to provide
personal attention to her customers. One interviewed tour leader said that ‘honesty is important and
tour leaders could provide service from their heart.’ Lin expressed that professional knowledge and
skills are crucial. These would include interpretation skills, leadership skills, and problem solving
skills, knowledge of geography and tourism laws. In addition, Wendy expressed that tour leaders, who
lead Japanese and Europe tours, need more professional skills since they would not have local guides
to help. Furthermore, David indicated that customers also need to be educated. For example, they
should be told that a low price package tour does not often provide good quality.
DISSCUSSIONS
A pilot interview was conducted prior to the interviews of the travel agencies and tour leaders.
However, this study has not been completed yet. The results of the pilot interview show the following
indication: 1. travel agencies expect their tour leaders to provide good service and develop good
relationship with their customers; 2. un-licensed tour leaders are still prevalent in Taiwan and
practitioners do not feel that they are incapable of leading outbound package tours just because they
are not licensed; 3. the contents of the exam need to be modified in order to meet with the needs of the
tour leader; 4. the qualifications between the long-haul tour leader and the short-haul tour leader
should be distinguished; 5. the comments of respondents will be used to form the questions for
questionnaire survey to customers.
It seems that the views between license and un-license tour leader in terms of their job
performance will not reach conformity. However, the contemporary licensing system of the tour
25
leader has received many criticisms and should be reviewed – to be able to fit into the real world or to
provide a certificate for those who could not pass the exam but have the experience necessary to
successfully escort a tour.
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28
ANALYZING JAPAN’S OUTBOUND TOURISM POLICY
Tony S M Tse
School of Hotel & Tourism Management
INTRODUCTION
Japan generated 17.4 million visitors in 2005, making it the number two tourist generating
country in Asia after China. If the visitors from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to China,
which could be considered as domestic visitors, were discounted, Japan would become the number
one tourist generating country in Asia. This paper is a study of how Japan’s tourism policy has shaped
the development of the outbound market and contributed to its strong position.
OVERVIEW OF JAPAN’S OUTBOUND TOURISM
Figure 1 shows the number of Japanese traveling abroad from 1985 to 2004. The growth in
outbound international tourist flows from Japan started to pick up in 1986 when the government
began to adopt a clear outbound tourism policy of promoting outbound travel officially. The outbound
market reached its peak in 2000 with 17,819,000 travelers. The outflow of Japanese tourists declined
in 2001, suffered setback in 2003 because of the epidemics SARS, and began to pick up again in 2004.
The outbound travel showed significant growth in the ten years from 1986 to 1997, with an average
annual growth rate of 12%. USA, China and Korea are the top three destinations among Japanese
travelers.
Figure 1
Number of Japanese traveling abroad (‘000)
18000
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
85
86
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
20
20
20
20
20
20
Source: JTB Report 2005: All About Japanese Overseas Travelers
PHILOSOPHICAL COMMITMENT TO OUTBOUND TOURISM
Japan recovered from World War II very quickly and emerged as an economic superpower in
the sixties. Over the two decades after World War II, Japan averaged an annual growth rate of 8%,
enabling it to become the first country to move from ‘less developed’ to ‘developed’ status in the
29
postwar-era. In 1968, the Japanese economy became the world’s second largest, behind that of the
United States (Japan Access, 2005). The Japanese government was not content with being an
economic superpower only. The country would also like to become a ‘wealthy and happy society’ and
‘a society that gives me space to do my own thing’ (McCormack, 1996). The country was
appreciative of the leisure culture of holidaying overseas, which is deeply engrained in the more
developed countries like United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. Japan consciously
sought to become an advanced country, and having Japanese taking holidays overseas was considered
a way of being an advanced country. Japanese economic policymakers in 1970s began to latch onto
the idea that leisure could lead the way for the national’s continuing growth. They saw that ‘the West’
seemed to display the natural progress of economic change and leisure development represented part
of a crucial shift towards a mass consumer society (Leheny, 2003 a). Leheny argued that there were
two ideas underlying the Japanese leisure policy. The first idea was the intention of the Japanese
government for its people to adopt the Western practices of enjoying leisure and taking a holiday
overseas as part of a ‘normal’ lifestyle. The second idea was the government’s recognition that
Japanese people and culture were unique and the ‘Japaneseness’ should be protected. There was
conflict between the two ideas, and the leisure policy had to carefully balance the impact of the two
ideas.
The Japanese government created public relations campaign in 1987 to tell its people that
they can (and should) travel abroad. In 1991, Prime Minister Miyazawa Kiichi announced that Japan,
having achieved its status as an economic superpower, would need to become a ‘lifestyle superpower’.
The following review statement in 1994 by the Ministry of Transport (MOT), which looks after the
tourism portfolio, exemplifies the thinking:
With improvements in income levels and the growth of free time, the spread of the package
tour, etc., the number of Japanese outbound tourists is definitely growing. Especially with the
appreciation of the yen and the relatively cheap prices, there was a big jump, up to 5.52 million
travelers in 1986, the first time this number has exceeded 5 million. Even so, if examined as a
percentage of the population, by 1986 only 4% of Japanese traveled abroad annually, compared with
the other advanced countries: 39% of UK citizens, 34% of the West Germans, 16% of French, and
12% of Americans, meaning that it is definitely a low level for us. Even when compared with another
Pacific country, Australia, we travel abroad less than half their rate of 10%. Drawing up the
promotion of outbound travel would increase international mutual understanding and would mean the
cultivation of our people’s sense of the international. It would furthermore promote the economies of
other countries, result in an improved balance of payments between our country and others, and will
definitely help our country secure a stable existence in international society with greater
interdependence. For this reason, the Ministry of Transport, in cooperation with other relevant
ministries and agencies, has created the Overseas Trip Doubling Program and aims with five years to
bring the number of Japanese outbound travelers to the level of at least ten million per year. This
would bring us, as a percentage of the population, to about the level in Australia. (Leheny, 2003 b)
The Japanese government believes in the importance of being a ‘leisure superpower’ in

addition to an ‘economic superpower’, and that its people should enjoy the same kind of leisure travel
as the ‘advanced’ countries. Japan was actively seeking club membership among the advanced
industrial nations, and having a large outbound market is a good indicator of being an advanced
industrial nation.
STRONG GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY SUPPORT
As a result of the philosophical commitment to outbound tourism, there is conscious and

strong support by the Japanese government promoting outbound travel. The government effort is led
by MTO’s launching the Ten Million Programme aiming at doubling the number of Japanese
outbound figure from five million in 1986 to ten million by 1991. The government publicizes locally
and overseas Japan’s commitment to outbound travel. Originally established in 1959 as the marketing
organization responsible for attracting foreign tourists to Japan and the promotion of domestic tourism,
30
the Japan National Tourism Office (JNTO) has been charged, since 1979, with offering services to
facilitate the travel of Japanese overseas (Hall, 1994 ). While it is generally recognized that most
national tourist organizations are created to promote inbound tourism, the fact that there is
government organization in Japan promoting outbound activities is quite remarkable. The government
organization provides assistance programmes to help other countries, particularly South-east countries,
to develop their tourism infra-structure and ability to receive Japanese tourists in terms of culture and
language. MOT has created a special foundation, the International Tourism Development Institute of
Japan (ITDIJ) to train people in destination countries the skills necessary to deal adequately with
Japanese visitors. For example, the ITDIJ arranged young Malaysians in the tourism industries to be
trained in Japan of Japanese culture such as bowing slowly and saying ‘Irasshaimase’ to welcome
Japanese visitors.
Another example of government support is the establishment of the ASEAN-Japan Centre in

1981 by Japan and nine ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,
Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia and Lao), to promote export from ASEAN to Japan, accelerate
investment of Japan in ASEAN and vitalize tourist traffic from Japan to ASEAN. The Centre is
headquartered in Japan with permanent exhibition hall serving to introduce ASEAN and their
products and tourist attractions. The Centre provides travel information on ASEAN countries to
individual travelers, the travel industry and the media. The Centre offers training programmes and
Japanese language classes for people working in the tourists industries in ASEAN countries so that
they know better how to deal with Japanese travelers. The Centre organizes press trips and dispatch
writers/photographers from the Japanese print media to ASEAN tourism destinations for exclusive
coverage. The Centre sends out members of the travel industry to take part in tourist-related
exhibitions, shows and the ASEAN Tourism Forum. The Centre holds the ASEAN Tourism Festival
every year, introducing people about the traditions and cultures of ASEAN (ASEAN-Japan Centre,
2005). At a meeting with the ASEAN heads of Government in Manila in 1987, the Prime Minister of
Japan announced that Japan would increase its voluntary contributions to double the Centre’s current
budget of about US$2 million for the coming fiscal year (ASEAN, 2005). While this is a relatively
small amount of contribution on the part of the Japanese government, it is nonetheless a rare gesture
of a country supporting outbound tourism.
Established in 1912, Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) has grown from a government bureau into
not just Japan’s, but the world's largest travel company with more than 3,000 offices in 24 countries.
JTP Corp. has now become a commercial entity and earned a reputation in international travel
services. To facilitate the understanding of Japanese overseas travelers, JTB has established Japan
Tourism Marketing (JTM) Co. to research and report on the latest trends of Japanese overseas travel
market through annual survey and joint study with overseas partners. JTM hosts seminars and
provides research reports to international tourism industry representatives and government officials.
For example, JTM publishes the annual ‘JTB Report: All About Japanese Overseas Travelers’, which
is a bilingual (Japanese and English) publication summarizing and analyzing data about and surveys
of Japanese overseas travel. The report provides details of the traveler demographics, types of trips,
reasons for making trips, overseas experience and preference of potential overseas travel. JTM
publishes the report “Japanese International Travelers: Trends and Shopping Behavior,” which
provides valuable information for the consumption of tourism-related industries both in Japan and
overseas. JTM maintains an informative website www.tourism.jp which contains up-to-date outbound
statistics and reports.
The depth of information about Japanese overseas travelers available shows the strong
support rendered by not just the government but also the industry of the outbound tourism market.
Unlike some other countries such as China and Korea where there were many restrictions in the initial
stage of opening up of the outbound market, Japanese government has been very supportive of
outbound market ever since it opens up. The travel industry, which is dominated by JTB, is supportive
of the government policy of encouraging outbound travel.
31
ECONOMIC POLICY ON TRADE SURPLUS
Japan’s outbound tourism is heavily influenced by the country’s economy and economic
policy. According to Japan Access (2005) the Japanese economy went through a ‘High-Growth Era’
between 1950 and 1970, became a ‘Mature Economy’ in the 1970s and 1980s, and witnessed the
‘Bubble Economy’ since early 1990s. Between 1950 and 1970, the percentage of Japanese living in
cities rose from 38% to 72%, which provided a large industrial work force. The competitive strength
of Japanese industry increased steadily, with exports growing, on average 18.4% per year during the
1960s. After the mid-1960s, a current account balance surplus was achieved every year except for a
couple of years following the oil crisis of 1973. Japan’s major export industries maintained its
competitiveness by cutting costs and increasing efficiency in the 1970s. Exports reached its all time
high of 42 trillion yen in 1985, and a trade surplus of 11 trillion yen. Despite the ‘Bubble Economy’,
exports continued to be strong and reached 52 trillion yen and maintained a positive trade surplus of
11 trillion yen in 2000. The trade friction that accompanied Japan’s growing balance of payments
surplus brought increasingly strident calls for Japan to focus more on domestic demand as an engine
of economic growth and to increase imports.
In conjunction with a strong export economy, the value of yen rose considerably. The value of
yen climbed steadily since Japan shifted from the fixed exchange rate system to the floating exchange
rate system in 1973. The value rose 2.5 times from 238 yen to the U.S. dollar in 1985 to 94 yen in
1995. The strong yen helped ease the pressure on trade surplus by (1) encouraging imports, and (2)
creating a damping effect on exports.
Japan was under strong pressure from its trading partner countries to reduce the huge trade
surplus as a result of its strong exports of vehicles, machinery and electronic goods in the eighties. In
addition to letting the yen rise in value, Japan chose to encourage outbound tourism, which had the
same effect of increasing import without reducing export. The implicit assumption of using outbound
tourism to offset trade surplus is that the spending offshore by Japanese overseas travelers is
significant in comparison to the country’s trade surplus. Figure 2 shows the contribution of Japanese
outbound tourism spending to offsetting trade surplus from 1985 to 2000.
Figure 2
Contribution of Japanese outbound tourism spending to offsetting trade surplus
Year Exports Imports Trade No. of Estimated Total Percentage of

(billion (billion surplus Japanese spending spending trade surplus
yen) yen) (billion traveling per traveler (billion
yen) abroad (yen) yen)
(000)
A B A-B C D CxD (CxD)/(A-B)

1985 41,956 31,085 10,871 4,948 300,000 1,484 13.7%
1990 41,457 33,855 7,602 10,997 300,000 3,299 43.3%
1995 41,531 31,549 9,982 15,298 300,000 4,589 46.0%
2000 51,654 40,938 10,716 17,819 300,000 5,346 49.9%
2005 60,005 49,170 10,835 17,401 300,000 5,220 48.2%
Source: Japan Statistical Yearbook 2006, JTB Report 2005, and CIA-The World Factbook
32
The above figures show that Japanese outbound tourism plays a significant role in balancing
the country’s trade surplus. The spending of Japanese traveling overseas offset a low of 13.7% of the
trade surplus in 1985 and a high of nearly 50% in 2000. The contribution of outbound tourism
spending to offsetting trade surplus was consistently over 40% from 1990 to 2005. There is however
limitation with the above calculation in the assumption that all the spending by Japanese traveling
overseas is equivalent to imports, although in reality some of the spending is captured by Japanese
companies rather than overseas. Nevertheless, even if only half of the spending is equivalent to
imports, the contribution still amounts to over 20%. The figures show that the Japanese government
has the economic policy of using outbound tourism to counterbalance the country’s large trade surplus,
and the policy has been consistent and successful in achieving its purpose.
INVESTMENT ORIENTED POLICY
Tourism development in Japan is closely related to the country’s investment environment and
investment policy. As Japan moved towards the end of the ‘Mature Economy’ stage in late 1980s, the
country faced high labour cost, strong yen, high property value, and abundant money supply. The
country is looking for investment opportunities, both locally and overseas. One of the reasons for
promoting tourism, including inbound, domestic and outbound, is to create investment opportunities
and economic activities. In order to sustain economic growth or to avoid economic depression, Japan
has been actively seeking investment opportunities for its private sectors. Tourism is considered a
‘desirable’ industry not just because of its leisure nature, but also because of it labour-intensive nature
thus a good industry in terms of job creation. It is an industry welcome by local governments and
environmentalists because such developments are relatively pollution free. The use of tourism in
attracting investment can be appreciated by the passing of The Resort Law in 1987. The Resort Law
provided tax concession and subsidy programmes to encourage the development of ski resorts, golf
clubs, marina, etc. in Japan, which support domestic and inbound tourism. Similarly, outbound
tourism also contributes to the economy by generating business for airlines, transportation companies,
travel agents, not just in Japan, but also for Japanese companies offshore.
Travel-related businesses such as Japan Air Lines, All Nippon Airways, New Kansai
International Airport, Nikko Hotel, companies investing in hotels, construction companies involved in
resort development, and travel agencies such as Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) had to look for investment
opportunities overseas towards the end of ‘Mature Economy’ stage. Local investment opportunities
are becoming scarce and less attractive. All these companies stood to benefit from increased outbound
tourism, and there is no reason why the government would not support such investment strategy. Hall
(1994 ) observed that the investment strategy of Japanese transnational corporations in the Asia-
Pacific region involves the vertical integration of travel and tourism related services in the generating
region, in transit, and in the tourist destination. In other words, it is not uncommon that a Japanese
tourist books an oversea holiday through a Japanese travel agent, flies a Japanese airline, stays in a
Japanese hotel overseas, is escorted by a Japanese guide, travels in a Japanese coach and shops in a
Japanese run outlet.
Another factor encouraging investors to look beyond the Japanese shores for tourism and
recreational interests is the small geographic size of Japan. With its high population density and the
small available amount of land in Japan to live on, many Japanese travel to other countries to
participate in Western sports such as golf and skiing. This has led to an outflow of money from Japan
to invest in such recreation places. A strong Japanese economy and currency has helped make
investments in cheaper overseas properties a popular investment (TED Case Studies, 2005). The Case
Study further illustrates how the burgeoning interest in golf and increasingly affordable air travel
created a new type of tourism: Japanese golf tourism. Relatively inexpensive golf courses in Indonesia,
Thailand and the Philippines are welcome alternatives to the 12 million golfers in Japan. Development
of golf courses in developing nations of Southeast Asia by Japanese investors is seen my many as a
way to overcome the limited investment opportunities and scare land available locally.
33
CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
Unlike those countries which see outbound tourism as draining foreign exchange and hence
impose restrictions on outbound travel, Japanese has the policy of supporting outbound tourism. The
Japanese government sees strong outbound tourism as a condition of being a world superpower. The
travel industry sees the business potential of outbound tourism being much greater than inbound
tourism also supports outbound tourism. Both the government and the industry provide detailed
research information and data for facilitating the development of outbound tourism. The outbound
tourism plays a significant part in offsetting the huge trade surplus and reducing the international trade
conflict. Japan supports and encourages investment in outbound tourism also because of the economic
activities and employment it generates. The lack of investment opportunities in Japan when the
country emerged from the ‘Mature Economy’ stage was another reason for the country looking for
investment opportunities offshore.
The Japanese government and industry is so supportive of outbound tourism that there are
many more Japanese traveling outbound than visitor arrivals. In 1990, there were 11 million outbound
travelers and 3 million visitors to Japan. In 2005, there were 17.4 million outbound travelers and 6.7
million visitors to Japan. Japanese were spending outside the country on tourism than foreign visitors
were spending in Japan (OECD, 2002). According to Hall (1994 ), Japanese government will continue
to see inbound travel primarily in diplomatic and cultural terms rather than as a source of foreign
exchange, and government attention has, and will continue to be, focused primarily on outbound
travel. The focus is by no means incidental, but has its root in economic and investment policies.
One would expect that Japan enjoys very positive image with its outflow of international
tourists and their spending, because outbound tourism is usually associated with enhanced
international relationship between source and destination countries, and bilateral agreements on
increased flights and cultural exchange. However, Japan’s tourism investment and aids offshore were
often viewed with some skepticism and anti-Japanese sentiment because of its economic dominance
over the region. Many countries, particularly, the South-east Asian countries, are cautious of
accepting Japanese aids which might lead to Japanese influence and control over infra-structural and
tourism development in their own countries. There is skepticism that Japan invested in golf courses
overseas as a result of the opposition by Japanese environmentalists with regard to the destruction of
natural environment and use of insecticide in golf course development in Japan.
A more serious problem regarding Japanese tourism is the image of male Japanese tourists
associated with sex tourism. According to a report in New Internationalist (1993), the original
destination of Japanese sex tourists was Taiwan because it was once a Japanese colony. Later travel
agents directed sex-tours to South Korea. In the late 1970s, Japanese sex tours expanded to the
Philippines and Thailand. Visits by the Japanese Prime Minister to these countries were greeted by
protesters chanting ‘No more sex tours!’
The ‘Research Report on the Cheju Island Tourism Development Plan’ by MOT was
discredited in the Japanese Lower House in 1973, for associating tourism with sex. The report
suggested developing ‘nightlife’ in Cheju Island and was rejected with the comment ‘Korea is not a
sex toilet for the Japanese, and it’s not our vomitorium’ by a committee member.
In December 2003, a group of 200 male Japanese male tourists, mostly employees of Kooki, a
construction company based in Osaka, took part in a sex holiday in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province,
China. A hotel employee and a brothel keeper were sentenced to life imprisonment and another 12
were jailed for up to 15 years, for organizing what was described as an orgy for the Japanese tourists.
The incidence caused public uproar and an upsurge of anti-Japanese feeling in China (Guardian
Unlimited, 2005).
For Japan to continue to develop its strong outbound tourism, it is important for the country to
address its negative image associated with sex tourism. While there is no available official statistics
34
about how serious the problem is, the image creates negative sentiment towards Japanese tourists and
is an impediment to healthy and sustainable tourism growth. The government could mount a domestic
public relations campaign to educate outbound tourists of the proper behaviour as tourists in another
country. In order to enhance the image, the government (MOT and JNTO) could work with the
industry, including Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) and Japan Travel Promotion
Association (JPTA), to host forums to raise the consciousness of the outbound travelers.
REFERENCES
ASEAN (2005). [Online] Retrieved December 28, 2005, from http://www.aseansec.org
ASEAN-Japan Centre (2005). [Online] Retrieved December 28, 2005, from http://www.asean.or.jp
Guardian Unlimited (2005). Chinese get life for arranging sex tour for Japanese. [Online] Retrieved
December 28, 2005, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,7369,1109258.htm
Hall, C. M. (1994). Tourism in the Pacific Rim: Development, impacts and markets. Melbourne:
Longman Cheshire.
Japan Access (2005). [Online] Retrieved December 28, 2005, from http://www.sg.emb-
japan.go.jp/JapanAccess/economy.htm
JTB report (2005). All about Japanese overseas travelers. JTB Corp. Japan Tourism Marketing Co.
Leheny, D. (2003). The rule of play: National identity and the shaping of Japanese leisure. Ithaca:
Cornell University Press.
McCormack, G. (1996). The emptiness of Japanese affluence. New York: Armonk.
New internationalist (1993). The sex tourist’s Yen. [Online] Retrieved December 28, 2005, from
http://www.newint.org/issue245/sex.htm
Organization for economic cooperation and development (2002). [Online] National tourism policy
review of Japan. Retrieved March 27, 2006, from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/43/48/33649824.pdf
TED case studies (2005). Japan and golf. [Online] Retrieved December 28, 2005, from
http://www.american.edu/TED/japgolf.htm
35
BRAND IMAGE PERCEPTIONS OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL COMPANIES IN SINGLE
TOURISM MARKET CONCEPT
Erkan Sezgin
The School of Tourism and Hotel Management
Anadolu University
ABSTRACT
This study emphasized brand imaging perceived by European travel companies which were
categorized as their working fields, branding strategies, and integration strategies. There were
significant differences found in the results when separating companies into domestic-international,
single branded-multi branded, and non-vertically integrated-vertically integrated. Although it seems
that companies believe in brand imaging and its’ positive effects in general, some companies may
keep applying traditional strategies according to their integration policies etc.
Key Words: Brand, image, travel companies, vertical integrations, horizontal integrations
1. INTRODUCTION
In many fields, brands coexist with other signs of quality. A strong brand is one that projects
its values and manages to segment the market according to its own standards. It seeks to impose these
standards and to become the reference. It therefore keeps its distance from collective means of
segmentation (Kapferer, 1994). According to a famous businessman (Sabah, 2004); “consumers
requiring the product with its brand name means that the branding process has been completed”. On
the other hand, Nickerson and Moisey (1999) define branding as “what images people have of the
state and what kind of relationship they have with it”.
Truly enough, the terms brand and image have never been so popular worldwide. This
popularity is maybe because of the improvements on communication technologies, the tendencies for
unifying –either among countries or companies-, and as a whole globalization which has been
changing a great deal of trading habits. Globalization itself has created a couple of manipulating
concepts: global firms and global products. Global products do not necessarily signify a global brand.
The transition from global product to global brand –in other words, to a single symbol- needs further
discussion on the subject of economy of symbols (Kapferer, 1994).
As an international industry with its moving consumers and information internationally,

tourism has easily adapted to globalization process. Tough, it took some while for European tour
operator based conglomerates to settle new trends in tourism industry. The industrial tourism which
consists of all suppliers, wholesalers, and retailers representatives is rather characteristics of European
tourism business. Therefore, the larger conglomerates of tourism business –which are mostly dealing
with all sectors of tourism industry-, are basically European originated companies. Developing
strategies of these companies’ have been so simple until early nineties; different brands in different
countries, in different sectors, and even in the same sectors by horizontal and vertical integrations
(Theuvsen 2004). The companies adopting this type of developing strategies are called as
multinational companies by Esener (1997). TUI as a leading travel company of Europe was also in the
lead ten years ago and was integrated in many European tourist generating and tourist incoming
countries. However, the TUI brand was hardly known in Europe because of its multinational
expanding policy and this was also the fact for other leading European travel companies.
With the other preparing factors for globalization process, the Maastricht Criteria which came
in to force in 1993 including common currency (euro) application (2002), common foreign policy and
common justice policy has accelerated the United States of Europe (USE) process (Sezgin, 2004). The
new formations of Eastern European countries were the completing reason for multinational travel
36
companies to reorganize their integration policy. Thus, brand imaging efforts have been one of the
most important parts of this reorganization period.
The purpose of this study (1) is to identify the preparing factors for branding process of
European travel companies on their point of view and (2) identify the potential advantages of brand
image on which travel companies agreed. The study may contribute to travel companies’ brand
imaging literature in two ways. First, the sample research population of this study are the largest and
institutional travel companies of Europe whose applications could be followed by other developing
travel companies. Second, there has been no study found in the literature that related to travel
companies’ branding. Therefore the study could help researchers and other professionals for further
detailed studies.
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Brand and image related studies in tourism draws extensively on destination countries’
branding and imaging efforts. It has been studied by a number of academicians in years that finally
Gallorza, Saura and Garcia (2002) framed the academic papers related to tourism destination image.
The authors scanning the literature have found 65 researches in the process, the first paper was written
by Hunt (1971) and the last was written by Ruiz, Olarte and Iglesias (1999).
Gartner and Bachri (1994) have chosen the US based tour operators as participants and
discussed the image of Indonesia with the position of tour operators in the tourism distribution
network. As a result of the study, Gartner and Bachri (1994) found that the image of Indonesia was
strong in terms of attractions and hospitality while it was poor on the service efficiency and the
overall experience.
Another study taking the US based tour operators as sample was held by Baloglu and
Mangaloglu (1999). The authors argued the images of four Mediterranean tourist destination countries
(Turkey, Greece, Italy and Egypt) taking the participants ideas into a consideration. Comparing the
perceptions of companies about four destination countries’ images, Baloglu and Mangaloglu (1999)
found significant differences. The structured and unstructured images which the authors defined
helped identifying common and unique characteristics as well as strengths and weaknesses of
countries. Baloglu and Mangaloglu (1999) claimed in the article that the results provided some
important directions for the governments and tourism authorities of Turkey, Greece, Italy and Egypt.
Baloglu and Mc Cleary (1997) emphasized how perceptions of a destination are formed on
the part of tourists. As a result, the authors claimed that the study provide important implications for
strategic image management and can aid in designing and implementing marketing programs for
creating and enhancing tourism destination images. The researchers also added that the sample for the
study was homogeneous in terms of characteristics; therefore, the findings related to age, education
and socio-psychological motivations in the model was to be viewed under this limitation.
According to Cai (2002), destination branding can be defined as selecting a consistent

element mix to identify and distinguish it through positive image building. Arguing on a conceptual
model of destination branding, Cai (2002) developed five hypothesis and used two multidimensional
scaling methods. The author suggested as a result of the study that cooperative branding results in a
consistent attributes based image across multiple rural communities as perceived by tourists, but
building stronger linkages of the image to the brand identity and more favourable affective and
attitudes based brand associations for a region than for individual communities.
Hui and Wan (2003) examining the image of Singapore, asked participants to describe in their
own words the unique aspects of Singapore. The researchers implied as a result that they found
significant differences among gender, age, and educational level categories. Hughes and Allen (2005)
on the other hand, discussed that tourist board representatives in tourist generating countries are key
agents in the image formation process. The authors studied with tourist board representatives of
37
Central and Eastern European countries and defended as a result that cultural tourism was seen very
positively and it was of importance to all but it was seen in market rather than in political terms.
Classifying them primary and secondary, Beerli and Martin (2004) have defined the factors
influencing destination image whereas Dahles (2002) discussed tourist guides attitudes for image
management in Indonesia.
Apart from the destination branding and imaging related studies in the literature, there are
limited studies about corporate branding and imaging in tourism industry. Naming the strategic
partnership between recognized hotels and restaurants as co-branding, Boone (1997) aimed to
establish in her study whether there was qualitative and quantitative value created for both a hotel and
restaurant when co-branding occurs as compared with what each entity could achieve independently
of the other. The author suggested that co-branding offers many opportunities for hoteliers and
restaurateurs to increase revenues, profits, customer loyalty, and operating efficiencies when properly
implemented. The data of a research sample was statistically insignificant (N=5). However, the
findings of Boone (1997) stated that the average increase in restaurant net profit after replacement
with branded concept was 220%. Although their study is not directly related with tourism, Guerrero
and others (2000) examined consumer attitudes towards store brands and they claimed that consumers
have clear beliefs about store brands, but probably at supermarkets they behave in ways which do not
necessarily correspond with their beliefs.
3. METHODOLOGY
3.1. Sample
The sample data of the study consists of top 150 European Tour Operators (ETO) ranked
according to companies’ total turnovers in year 2003 (FVW Magazine, 2004). Especially, the top 20
ETO’s are rather integrated conglomerates operating in every sector of tourism industry around
Europe and even around the world. The total turnover of the top 20 ETO is approximately 77 billion
euros in 2003, while the following 130 ETO has some 27 billion euros turnover in the same year
which is less than a half of the top 20. One charming figure about the ETO’s turnover is possible
when comparing the world’s total tourism receipts for the same year. The world’s total tourism
receipts of 2003 are almost 437 billion euros (WTO, 2004) and the top 20 ETO’s share in that amount
is 18 % while the top 150 ETO’s share is 24 %.
The other significant characteristics about the companies according to the FVW’s report is
that 43 companies out of 150 are German originated while 29 from Italy, 14 from Switzerland, 13
from France, and 10 from Great Britain. Since the companies are settled all around Europe, the
collecting process of questionnaires took some long time. Furthermore, some companies (e.g. My
Travel from Great Britain) have declared that they do not respond questionnaires as a company
policy. As a result 41 out of 150 top ETO’s have agreed for participation and response rate for the
study has become 27.3 %.
3.2. Measurement
The three page questionnaire included 22 questions, was either administered through face to
face interviews (applicable for the companies have branches in Turkey) or sent to respondents by fax
or e-mail. The literature and the suggestions of the researchers have helped preparation of the
questionnaire. The questionnaire was piloted with 10 Turkish domestic tour operators in order to test
the comprehensibility of the items placed in the questionnaire. The respondents were asked to answer
three types of questions which were multiple choice questions, rank order questions and 5-point scale
questions.
Respondents were asked to rate fourteen questions on a 5-point scale where 1= offers strongly
disagree, 2= offers disagree, 3= offers neutral, 4= offers agree and 5= offers strongly agree. Mean
scores of point scale questions were also determined in the findings section of the study.
38
4. FINDINGS
The companies have been classified according to their working fields, branding strategies, and
integration strategies in Table 1. Since the responding companies are mainly institutional
representatives, the results show that ETO’s are rather international, multi branded and integrated in
more than one sector of tourism industry.
Table 1
Profiles of Travel Companies
N: 41
Working Fields Domestic n: 9
International n: 32
Branding Strategies Single Brand n: 10
Multi Brands n: 31
Integration Strategies Single Sector n: 10
Multi Sectors n: 31
Seventy percent of the expected values have to be seen as either 5 or more than 5 values for
Table 2, Table 3, and Table 4. To ignore meeting the opposite situation, Fisher’s Exact Test was
applied with 1000 iterations Monte Carlo simulation. The chi-square values under 95 % of reliability
gap were shown in tables as significance.
39
Table 2
Comparison of Domestic and International Travel Companies’ Brand Image Perceptions
Domestic International
n=9 n=32 Significance
Mean S.D. Mean S.D.
Globalization affects branding efforts 3,89 ,928 3,81 ,931 ,947
USE process affects branding efforts 3,33 1,118 3,44 1,366 ,528
European tourism conglomerates have accelerated 3,11 1,764 3,39 1,120 ,087
their branding efforts in recent years
“A Single Market” concept has caused companies 3,11 1,269 2,69 1,120 ,809
to think about “Single Brand” concept
Brand image is important for consumers’ behaviour 3,22 1,093 3,94 ,840 ,209
Horizontal integrations such as franchising and 3,78 1,093 3,47 1,016 ,577
management contract are affective for imaging
efforts
A group of companies’ single-branded vertical 2,56 1,130 3,00 1,344 ,089
integrations in tourism industry is more affective
than its multi-branded vertical integrations
Brand image is affective for companies’ higher 3,67 1,414 3,91 ,893 ,211
market value and higher credibility
Brand image has positive effect for companies’ go 3,78 1,302 3,75 1,164 ,802
on public
Single currency (Euro) process put pressure on 3,44 1,014 3,63 1,157 ,325
companies’ branding efforts
Brand image has positive effects on product pricing 3,89 ,333 4,28 ,813 ,042
Brand image has positive effects for entering new 2,44 1,014 3,69 1,148 ,072
markets
Brand image has positive effects on reducing 2,33 1,118 3,44 1,014 ,029
political and economical risk factors
Brand image provides advantages for less risky 3,33 1,000 3,72 ,958 ,691
integration methods
(Chi-Square Test, p < 0.05)
Domestic and international travel companies’ brand image perceptions were compared in
Table 2. “Brand image has positive effects on product pricing” and “brand image has positive effects
on reducing political and economical risk factors” items were significant at 0.05 levels. Besides, for
the item “brand image has positive effects for entering new markets” domestic companies’ mean
score was 2.44 –which is between disagree and neutral- whereas international companies’ mean score
was 3.69 –which is almost agree level-.
40
Table 3
Comparison of Single Branded and Multi Branded Travel Companies’ Brand Image Perceptions
Single Multi
Brand Brands
Mean S.D. Mean S.D.
Globalization affects branding efforts 3,90 ,876 3,81 ,946 1,000
USE Process affects branding efforts 3,10 1,287 3,52 1,313 ,456
European tourism conglomerates have accelerated 2,80 1,317 3,42 1,232 ,796
“A Single Market” concept has caused companies to 3,80 1,033 2,45 ,995 ,012
think about “Single Brand” concept
Brand image is important for consumers’ behaviour 3,30 1,059 3,94 ,854 ,204
Horizontal integrations such as franchising and 3,80 1,135 3,85 ,995 ,215
efforts
Brand image is affective for companies’ higher 4,20 ,789 3,74 1,064 ,778
Brand image has positive effect for companies’ go on 3,80 1,317 3,74 1,154 ,713
public
Single currency (euro) process put pressure on 3,10 ,738 3,74 1,182 ,033
Brand image has positive affects on product pricing 4,10 ,568 4,23 ,805 ,561
Brand image has positive affects for entering new 2,80 1,317 3,61 1,145 ,515
markets
Brand image has positive affects on reducing 2,80 1,135 3,32 1,107 ,597
Brand image provides advantages for less risky 3,50 1,080 3,69 ,945 ,868
integration methods
The single branded and multi branded travel companies were compared with the same
fourteen items in Table 3. According to the chi-square results, “a single market concept has caused
companies to think about ‘single brand’ concept” and “single currency (euro) process put pressure on
companies’ branding efforts” items were significant at 0.05 level. It is fair enough that multi branded
travel companies disagree with the item claiming single brand tendency. Furthermore, these
companies are not very much fond of vertical integrations under a single brand as they have 2.77
mean score for “a group of companies’ single branded vertical integrations in tourism industry is more
effective than its multi branded vertical integrations” item.
41
Table 4
Comparison of Non-vertically Integrated and Vertically Integrated Travel Companies’ Brand Image
Perceptions
Single Multi
N=41 Sector Sectors
Mean S.D. Mean S.D.
Globalization affects branding efforts 4,30 ,823 3,68 ,909 ,312
USE process affects branding efforts 3,40 1,578 3,42 1,232 ,743
European tourism conglomerates have accelerated 2,00 ,816 3,68 1,107 ,000
“A Single Market” concept has caused companies to 2,90 1,524 2,74 1,032 ,288
think about “Single Brand” concept
Brand image is important for consumers’ behaviour 4,10 ,568 3,68 1,013 ,681
Horizontal integrations such as franchising and 3,50 ,850 3,55 1,091 ,700
efforts
Brand image is affective for companies’ higher 4,10 1,197 3,77 ,956 ,314
Brand image has positive effect for companies’ go on 4,40 ,699 3,55 1,234 ,308
public
Single currency (Euro) process put pressure on 3,20 1,033 3,71 1,131 ,531
Brand image has positive affects on product pricing 4,00 ,667 4,26 ,773 ,650
Brand image has positive affects for entering new 3,30 1,252 3,45 1,234 ,556
markets
Brand image has positive affects on reducing 3,40 ,966 3,13 1,176 ,838
Brand image provides advantages for less risky 3,70 ,823 3,61 1,022 ,488
integration methods
The same 41 respondent companies were compared in Table 4, taking their integration policy
into account. The companies integrated in only one of the tourism sectors disagreed with the item
claiming “European tourism conglomerates have accelerated their branding efforts in recent years”,
while vertically integrated companies were almost on the same side with the item. Supporting Table 3,
it is also clear in Table 4 that vertically integrated travel companies as multi branded companies are
not constant enough to go for a single brand yet.
Consolidation of all three tables (Table 2, 3, and 4) show that participating travel companies
believe in brand image and its necessity. However, there were some significant differences found
when companies’ structures have been classified.
5. CONCLUSION
Brand and image terms intersect tourism on two points. The first one is rather related with the
main tourism product. This product could be either a destination country itself, an attractive-historical
building which has its own consumer attraction (e.g. Blue Mosque, Big Ben, and Eiffel Tower) or any
42
reminding object such as Double Decker of Great Britain and Gondolas of Italy. Circuit tourism and
traveler tourists are the subjects for these images and there is a heterogeneous market for this kind of
tourism. The second point on the other hand is related with the firms operating in industrial tourism.
Holiday tourism is the subject and the market is more liked homogeneous with its similar sandy
beaches and holiday villages. When the market is more homogeneous, the stronger competition
between suppliers is unavoidable. Consumers in holiday tourism travel in bulks and seek reliable
travel companies to arrange everything for them. These companies have been arranging travels for
almost fifty years in Europe and they have been changing in the process as the environmental,
political, and technological factors have changed.
This study emphasized the European travel companies’ brand imaging perceptions in
changing tourism market. It is clear today that those similar services, new companies, and
technological developments have caused narrowing profit margin in travel sector therefore the
competition among travel suppliers became ruthless for the last decade. Integrations vertically and
horizontally for scale economies have turned out to be mergers for a larger market share in years.
Finally, USE processes in Europe and globalization have pushed travel companies for seeking new
markets, different products, and basically higher profits. Today’s travel company professionals are
certain enough that consumers are more conscious, selecting, and they require safe holidays with
prestigious companies. They also know that the nuances are defining for market leadership and brand
image is one of the most important. Therefore, this study interrogated travel companies’ branding
efforts by examining their perceptions. The results indicated that some of the companies which are
insisting on vertical integrations are not defending the single brand policy. It was also seen in the
results that ‘the single market’ tendency is not brief enough for some companies that they prefer
integrating with different brands in different markets.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author would like to thank S. Olgac for supervising statistics and giving information.
44
CLASSIFICATIONS OF ASIAN COMPLAINERS IN FULL SERVICE RESTAURANTS
Jong-Hyeong Kim
Recreation and Park Administration
Indiana University
and
Jamieson Lynn
Recreation and Park Administration
Indiana University
ABSTRACT
In restaurant businesses, customer dissatisfaction must be accounted for and thus avoided in
order to generate revenue. In the literature, researchers have confirmed a positive relationship between
complaint behavior and consumer dissatisfaction (Hirschman, 1970; Heung & Lam, 2003). Three
types of complaint behavior were discussed in previous studies: voice response, private response, and
third party response. This study targeted Asian internationals (n=300) and segmented them based on
their complaint behavior. These results signify that Asian internationals complaint behavior is not
homogenous and can therefore be segmented in terms of their complaint behavior. Personal
characteristics as well as socio-demographics were also investigated with CCB of research
participants.
Key Words: Consumer Complaint Behavior; Asian Internationals; Segments; Personal Characteristics
INTRODUCTION
Restaurant businesses, which sell food as well as services, are more significantly influenced
by consumers’ word of mouth than by other types of consumer responses. Due to the unique
characteristics of restaurant businesses, people cannot evaluate the products of restaurants before they
actually purchase them. Consequently, people rely heavily on reputations and are influenced by
others’ word of mouth. Therefore, for restaurants, it is necessary to ensure customers are satisfied with
their purchase; however, no service is perfect all the time and the failure to deliver appropriate service
will lead to consumer dissatisfaction. According to previous research, ninety one percent of
dissatisfied customers will switch to a competitor for their next purchase (Peters, 1988). In managing
restaurants, when service failure occurs, managers need to find the problem and rectify it before
consumers leave. This process not only retains current consumers but also prevents the loss of losing
future consumers because unsatisfied consumers are more likely to express their feelings than
satisfied ones (Richins, 1983; TARP, 1986; Sheth et al., 1999).
Therefore, consumer complaint behavior (CCB), the response to unsatisfactory experience

with purchased goods, has been perceived as an important topic in the marketing field. However,
previous CCB literature mainly focused on Western consumers and has not targeted Asian consumers.
This study specifically targets Asian consumers in the U.S. and classifies them based on their CCB.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
This study describes the different CCB of Asian consumers by comparing mean scores of
complaining attribution and behavior, with a focus on answering five research questions: (a) Can
Asian international students be characterized as complainers and non-complainers based on their
CCB?, (b) Can complainers be specifically categorized based on their CCB? (c) Do personal
characteristics affect CCB?, (d) What are the situational factors that consumers feel more likely to
complain?, and (e) Can the complainers be described by socio-demographic characteristics?
45
LITERATURE REVIEW
Researchers have given more attention to profiling Western consumers’ complaint behavior in
terms of socio-demographic information, such as gender, age, income, and education level; however,
in recent years, there have been many studies exploring consumers’ complaint behavior from different
cultural backgrounds, yet most of the studies were limited to profiling consumer complaint behavior
within a specific national group. Moreover, there have not been multi-cultural studies comparing
different national groups of consumers’ complaint behavior at the same time and in the same place.
Thus, this study is developed to target Asian internationals outside of their countries in order to
understand the relationship between complaint behavior and their socio-demographic information,
such as country of origin, age, income, and gender. For organizational purposes, the literature review
is divided into (a) nature of consumer complaint behavior, (b) influences and determinants of
consumer complaint behavior, and (c) complaint behavior and consumer socio-demographics.
Consumer complaint behavior
Even though previous researchers defined consumer complaint behavior in slightly different
terms, they all agreed that unsatisfactory experience with a product or service is the main cause of
consumer complaint behavior (Day, 1977; Day et al., 1981; Singh, 1988, 1990; Rogers, Ross, &
Williams, 1992; Mowen, 1993, Singh and Wilkes, 1996). Many of them pointed out that customers’
expectations are a standard in both evaluating a product or service and making them feel satisfied or
unsatisfied with their purchased goods. Throughout the evaluation process, once consumers feel that
the obtained value or benefits from the purchased products are undesirable and below their
expectations, they will choose an action from multiple options: voice responses, private responses, or
third party responses (Singh, 1990). Consumer complaint behavior refers to the action taken among
these options.
There are several taxonomies of consumer complaint behavior responses in the previous
literature (Hirschman, 1970; Singh, 1990; Lovelock et al., 2001). Even though “do nothing” is also
classified as a complaint behavior in some research (Day, 1984; Day et al., 1981; Richins, 1983;
Lovelock et al., 2001), it is not considered as a type of CCB in this study. As for other options,
according to Singh’s typology, dissatisfied consumers have three choices: voice responses, private
responses, and third party responses (1990). Voice responses refer to the consumers’ expression of
their unsatisfactory feelings to the sellers. Consumers usually expect the problems would be redressed
by the sellers. Private responses involve consumers using word-of-mouth. Switching a business, a
passive form of CCB, is classified in this response. Third-party responses include taking legal action
and reporting the incident to a consumer agency. Due to the amount of time and efforts consumed, this
response is the last resort for unsatisfied consumers, and as such, very few people take this action in
their first unsatisfactory experience. No matter what action a dissatisfied consumer chooses among
these responses, all of these listed behaviors are collectively called CCB.
Influences & Determinants of consumer complaint behavior
The primary reason for consumer complaint behavior is dissatisfaction with purchased goods.
However, as the previous studies repeatedly found, the majority of unsatisfied consumers kept silent
(Best and Andreasen, 1977; Day, Grabicke, Schaetzle, & Staubach, 1981; TARP, 1996). Many factors
influence consumers’ responses to their dissatisfied feelings (Day, 1977) and decisions whether or not
to complain. In the previous literature, many scholars have discussed the reasons or causes of
complaint behavior. Keaveney (1995) found eight major underlying causes of consumers’ decisions to
switch businesses. These causes are pricing, inconvenience, core service failure, service encounter
failures, responses to service failure, competition, ethical problems, and involuntary switching
(unavoidable breakdown). Since this classification determines whether the cause is avoidable or
unavoidable, it seems to be helpful, especially to managers in preventing consumer complaint
behavior. In addition, the SOCAP / TARP (1995) study emphasized the influence of product types as
well as cost and social involvement on consumers’ propensity to complain. For example, if the
46
purchased product is important to a consumer or is of relatively high cost and social involvement, the
probability of making a complaint is high.
Besides the studies listed above, other researchers found factors influencing CCB. In
summarizing these findings, the authors list and briefly describe the factors. They are listed below:
1. Dissatisfaction levels of consumers (Landon, 1977; Zemke and Schaaf, 1989; Granbois,
1993; Craig-Lees et al., 1995; Lovelock et al., 2001). The severity of dissatisfaction that
consumers felt will influence their decision of whether they are going to complain or not. If
the degree of dissatisfaction is low, they will not make a complaint.
2. Importance of a product (Hirschman, 1970; Bloch & Richins, 1983; Folkes, 1984; Blodgett et
al., 1993). Consumers may neglect the problems if a product is trivial or not important to
them. On the other hand, consumers are more likely to complain about an important product.
3. Expecting benefits from complaining (Landon, 1977; Zemke and Schaaf, 1989; Granbois,
1993; Craig-Lees et al., 1995; Lovelock et al., 2001). It is obvious that consumers will not
waste their time in complaining if they do not expect any difference or benefit as a result of
their complaining.
4. Cost of complaint (Day & Landon, 1977; Zemke and Schaaf, 1989; Granbois, 1993; Craig-
Lees et al., 1995; Lovelock et al., 2001). Consumers will compare the cost & benefits of
complaining before deciding whether or not they are going to complain. If one perceives that
the cost is higher than the expected benefits, he or she will remain silent and take no action.
5. Consumers’ personalities (Landon, 1977; Richins, 1983; Morganosky & Buckley, 1986;
Davidow & Dacin, 1997). In the previous studies, complainers’ common personality traits
have been well described. They are socially responsible, assertive, individualistic,
independent, and risk taking.
6. Consumers’ attitude toward complaint (Landon, 1977; Richins, 1983; Dearden & Mason,
1984; Davidow & Dacin, 1997; Huppertz et al., 2003). Consumers’ attitude toward
complaining is another determinant of CCB. Consumers who have a positive attitude toward
complaining feel it is easy to complain to sellers, while those with a negative attitude toward
complaining hesitate to communicate their dissatisfaction.
7. Attribution of blame (Krishnan & Valle, 1979; Weiner, 1980; Richins, 1983; Zemke and
Schaaf, 1989; Granbois, 1993; Craig-Lees et al., 1995; Lovelock et al., 2001). When
consumers are dissatisfied with purchased products, they will first consider who they should
blame: either themselves for making the wrong decision or product sellers for selling the
products.
8. Previous experiences with both the product and complaint (Landon, 1977; Richins, 1983).
Familiarity with a product and experience with CCB help consumers voice their
dissatisfaction because through their experience they already have knowledge about the
product and the process of complaining. If consumers have positive experiences with their
complaints, they are more likely to complain and feel it is less stressful.
9. Cost and social involvement in purchasing goods (Day, 1977; SOCAP/TARP, 1995). It is
natural for consumers to expect that higher-priced products work better than lower-priced
ones. Therefore, consumers tend to complain more about the products that require relatively
considerable cost and time to acquire.
47
Socio-demographics and consumer complaint behavior
Socio-demographic information is one of the found variables that influences consumers’ CCB.
Warland, et.al (1975) found a relationship between the consumers’ responses when they were
dissatisfied and their socio-economic classes, including factors such as education, income, and
occupation. Bearden, et. al (1980) supported the preceding relationship based on the characteristics of
people in higher social class and perceived risk arguments. Consumers in higher social classes are
more self-confident, rely heavily on external information, and perceive less risk or embarrassment in
complaining. In previous CCB studies that dealt with consumers’ demographic variables, researchers
obtained consistent results. They found that income (Day & Landon, 1977; Barnes & Kelloway, 1980;
Morganosky & Buckley, 1986; Lam & Tang, 2003), age (Warland et al., 1975; Bearden & Mason,
1984; Lam & Tang, 2003), gender (Kau et al., 1995; Heung and Lam, 2003), and education level
(Jacoby and Jaccard, 1981; Heung and Lam, 2003, Lam & Tang, 2003) are the relevant factors
affecting consumer complaint behavior. Therefore, according to the findings, consumers who are
younger, have a higher income, and have a higher education level tend to complain more.
METHODOLOGY
Based on personal interviews with 20 people and the findings from previous complaint
studies, the author developed a survey instrument. The instrument consists of four sections: Consumer
complaint behavior, situations, personality and attitude, and socio-demographic information. The first
section of questionnaires is comprised of five different actions that can be taken by dissatisfied
customers: passivity, direct complaint, exit, word of mouth, and third party action. In the second part
of the questionnaire, the author presented some imaginary situations and asked the respondents which
of these situations would make them more likely to complain. The third part of the questionnaire is
about respondents’ personalities and their attitude toward complaining. The final section of the survey
instrument contained questions regarding participants’ demographic information, such as gender,
nationality, level of education, and personal income. These questions were asked to determine whether
or not socio-demographic information has an influence on the complaint behavior of restaurant
customers.
The target population of this study is comprised of three major Asian international student
groups—Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans—who enrolled during the fall semester in 2005 at a large
Midwestern university. Three hundred Asian international students were selected using systematic
random sampling. Participants were asked to answer the questionnaires on their complaint behavior
and socio-demographic information. Data were analyzed using SPSS 13.0. In the analysis, factor
analysis was first conducted to sort out relevant complaint behavior factors with the research subjects.
K-means cluster analysis was then implemented to identify the underlying segments. Then,
discriminant analysis was followed to examine the differences in terms of the consumer complaint
behavior associated with each cluster. In this analysis, the clusters were designated as the dependent
variable and each one of the complaint behavior items used to derive the clusters was the independent
variable. The purpose of the discriminant analysis was to identify those complaint behavior items that
were best able to distinguish the predefined groups and interpret these findings (Duarte Silva & Stam,
2000). Finally, cross-tabulations were utilized to compare the socio-demographic information and
personal characteristics of the clusters. Five socio-demographic variables, such as gender, age,
nationality, income, and education level, were examined to determine whether a statistically
significant difference existed among the groups.
RESULTS
The purpose of this research was to segment Asian ethnic groups based on their complaint
behavior in full service restaurants as well as to identify differentiating Asian-international student
segments. Profiling each segment based on the participants’ demographic information was also the
study object. The results are described in the sections below: sample description, factor analysis,
complaint behavior segments of Asian-international students, differentiating factors, personal
48
characteristics & situations, and socio-demographics.
Sample description
The male and female respondents equally participated in this study. Since the sampling frame
was designed to acquire data from Asian internationals, respondents were in the same age range and
the gap between each age group was relatively narrower than in other studies. An examination of
overall respondent age indicates that 72.2% of the samples fall into the range of 18-25. High school
graduates (49.0%) were the majority of respondents followed by college graduates (34.4%), and those
who hold advanced degrees (16.6%).
Factor analysis
Factor analysis was conducted using orthogonal rotation, which maintains independence
among factors. Specifically, VARIMAX method was used for the analysis. Ten consumer complaint
items were loaded to identify underlying dimensions associated with Asian ethnic groups’ complaint
behavior in full service restaurants. Three complaint behavior factors were derived from them. The
first complaint behavior factor, labeled the “Third party response,” factor contained three items:
“complain to a consumer agency”, “write a letter to a local newspaper,” and “take legal action.” It had
an eigenvalue of 2.530, which accounted for 25.30 percent of the variance. The second factor was
labeled “private response,” and it accounted for 23.30 percent of the variance in the consumer
complaint behavior. “Convince family and friends not to go to the restaurant,” “tell family and friends
about the bad experience,” “Avoid coming to the restaurant from then on,” and “Switch to another
restaurant” were the items belonging to this factor. The third factor, concerned with the “voice
response,” was composed of two items, “complain to the waiter or waitress” and “Complain to the
manager or the owner of the restaurant,” which explained 21.73 percent of the variance. In sum, those
three complaint behavior factors accounted for 70.33 percent of the total variance.
Complaint behavior segments of Asian-international students
Sets of cluster analysis were conducted. The first cluster analysis produced three distinct
groups, complainer, non-complainer, and moderate, on the basis of the mean score on the complaint
behavior factor. The result shows that the complainer segment, of which people take an action in a
certain way to resolve their dissatisfied experience, made up the largest portion of the respondents
(48.67%), followed by non-complainers (34.66%), and the moderates (16.67%), those who complain
depending on the situation. After classifying the participants, the second cluster analysis was
conducted especially targeting the complainers (Table 1). Three clusters were named after the highest
cluster coefficients on complaint behavior factors. Each cluster was labeled as (1) voice response
takers, (2) private response takers, and (3) third party response takers. The private action takers, who
are more likely to engage in private actions resulted from the dissatisfied experience in restaurants,
made up the largest portion of the respondents (50.0%), followed by the voice response takers
(37.0%) and the third party response takers (13.0%). This cluster solution was further validated
through the use of ANOVA test in which cluster membership was designated as the independent
variable and the complaint behavior items used to derive the clusters was the dependent variable. In
each item, the clusters’ mean scores were significantly different.
The private response takers prefer to share the unpleasant experience with their family and
friends as well as switch restaurants. The third party response takers are interested in contacting
consumer agencies to appeal their complaints. They considered writing a letter to a local newspaper
and taking legal action to resolve their dissatisfaction. The voice response takers want to resolve their
complaint immediately and seek compensation, either emotional or economic, at the front door of the
restaurant. The means of the consumer complaint behavior items for each of the cluster groups are
shown in Table 2. A closer examination of the mean scores attributed to each complaint behavior item
provides additional information by which the three clusters differ. Significant differences in the mean
scores were detected among all pairings of the three clusters over three complaint behavior factors:
49
“private response,” “third party response,” and “voice response”. The results provided clear evidence
that consumer complaint behavior represents a potentially useful base to segment Asian internationals.
The research participants were subsequently classified into three distinct groups on the basis of their
consumer complaint behavior.
Differentiating factors
Multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) was performed on the three clusters (Table 2). The
purpose of the MDA was to identify the consumer complaint behavior items that best differentiated
the three groups. Two canonical discriminant functions were calculated to discriminate among the
three groups. The two functions were statistically significant, as measured by the chi-square and
corresponding p-values. With an eigenvalue of 2.946, Function 1 explained 59.1% of the variation.
Function 2 had an eigenvalue of 2.037 and explained 40.9% of the total variation. Together the two
functions explained 100% of the variance.
In determining which predictor variable contributed the most to each function, discriminant
loadings of each function were analyzed. The score of discriminant loadings on each function
revealed that in Function 1, third party response factors differentiated clusters most. In function 2, the
private response factor had the differentiating power. Respondents, when they have an unpleasant
experience in full service restaurants will choose an action from multiple options and could be
classified into distinct clusters on the basis of those different complaint behaviors.
To test whether the functions were valid predictors of cluster memberships, the classification
matrices were examined (Table 3). The discriminant functions achieved a high degree of classification
accuracy, especially with the third party responders such that 100% of the participants were correctly
included in the cluster. The overall percentage of respondents correctly classified by the discriminant
factor was 97.9%.
Table 1
Cluster Analysis
Cluster segments
Consumer Complaint Behavior I II III F- Significance
Items N=54 n=73 n=19 value Level
Complaint to the waiter or waitress 6 5 4 12.468 .000
Complaint to the manager or the owner of the 5.085 .007
5 4 4
restaurant
Avoid coming to the restaurant from then on 4 6 5 47.107 .000
Switch to another restaurant 4 6 5 40.126 .000
Tell family and friends about the bad 29.861 .000
4 6 5
experience
Convince family and friends not to go the 75.881 .000
3 6 4
restaurant
Write a letter to a local newspaper 2 2 4 77.834 .000
Complain to a consumer agency 1 2 5 96.420 .000
Take legal action 1 1 4 93.857 .000
Personal Characteristics & Situations
Analyzing Pearson correlation coefficient (p<0.05), the researchers found some personal
characteristics that have positive relationships with complaint behavior. People who have stronger
beliefs in themselves and their thoughts as well as who are assertive tend to complain more than
50
others. Similarly, people, who pursue their own styles and want to be different from others, are more
likely to be complainers rather than non-complainers. The specific type of complaint behavior that
they prefer is voice response. In other words, they want to directly inform the people who are engaged
in the restaurant of their complaints.
Comparing the mean scores of eight situations in which the respondents are more likely to
feel unpleasant and therefore complain, the researcher found some meaningful results. The amount of
waiting time for the meal had the greatest correlation followed by the amount of effort in planning the
meal, dinning on a special occasion, ordering expensive food. Besides these factors, individuals’
familiarity with the food or restaurant, and positive expectations and experiences from complaints,
make people complain more.
Table 2
Summary of three-group discriminant analysis results
Function Eigenvalue % of Variance Wilks' Lambda Chi-square Sig.

1 2.946 59.1 .083 345.246 .000
2 2.037 40.9 .329 154.433 .000
Table 3
Classification Results of MDA
Predicted Group Membership

Original Group I II III Total count
1 96.3% 3.7% .0% 54
2 .0% 98.6% 1.4% 73
3 .0% .0% 100.0% 19
Socio-demographics
This research supported the previous CCB studies by finding the causal connection between
socio-demographics and complaint behavior, the findings. Specifically, gender and the level of income
are related to CCB in classifying complainers and non-complainers. Comparing a socio-demographic
profile of each cluster through cross-tabulations, the author found that three clusters were significantly
different in terms of gender and nationality. Compared with the other two clusters, relatively more
males were involved in cluster III (third party response takers). Interestingly, cluster II contained the
most Chinese respondents, while at the same time the least Japanese respondents.
CONCLUSION & IMPLICATION
This study first separated Asian international students into complainers and non-complainers.
Then, in depth analyses were conducted targeting complainers. The complainers were re-segmented
into three groups on the basis of their complaint behavior. The results found that Asian internationals
act differently to resolve their dissatisfaction: private response, voice response, and third party
response. The voice response takers prefer to complain in the front of the restaurant. They are the
people who directly complain to the waiter, waitress, or the manager of the restaurant. The private
response takers, which made up the largest portion of the respondents, prefer to inform their family
and friends of their dissatisfied experience. The last segment, third party response takers, is composed
of relatively small number of respondents. The people in this segment will take legal action and report
the incident to a consumer agency. As it is already discussed in previous studies, due to the amount of
51
time and efforts consumed, this response is the last resort for unsatisfied consumers. In this study,
using complaint behavior factors, the researcher produced meaningful segments that can be
differentiated in Asian internationals CCB. Based on the study results, it is clear that the Asian
internationals CCB is not homogenous and can be segmented in terms of their complaint behavior.
These findings are valuable to marketers in the restaurant and hospitality business field.
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54
CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS OF VARIABLE PRICING IN THE LODGING INDUSTRY: AN
INVESTIGATION OF THE ROLE OF LOYALTY PROGRAMS
Punit Sanghavi
Aramark Services
Johnny Sue Reynolds

and
Bharath M. Josiam
ABSTRACT
With the proliferation of channels of distribution in the hotel industry, rate integrity is
certainly an issue. Prices vary with season, with website, with 800-numbers, with transparent and
opaque intermediaries. Is it any surprise that customers are confused and angry? Members of loyalty
programs are often upset upon discovering that loyalty is not necessarily rewarded with lower rates or
better rooms.
This study attempted to examine the issues of customer perceptions of variable pricing in the
hotel industry, particularly the ethics of such practices and the perceived fairness of such practices. It
looked at these perceptions through the lens of membership in airline and hotel loyalty programs. The
research has shown that customers do recognize the right of hotels to vary prices in a market-based
capitalistic economy. However, there is still an element of confusion and resentment over price
variation depending on the channel of distribution (Internet vs. 800-number). Along the same lines,
satisfaction levels are higher when HRM practices are disclosed to customers at the time of booking.
Key Words: loyalty programs, hospitality industry, customer perceptions, variable pricing
INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Revenue management, also called yield management or real–time pricing, is an indispensable

tactical tool in the business world. It is a business practice used for selling the right inventory units, at
the right time, to the right customers, for the right price (Choi and Mattila, 2003). In its simplest
form, revenue management in the hotel industry states that during low-demand periods, rooms
become available to all customers at a discounted rate; on the other hand, during peak periods, rooms
become available to only a certain segment of customers who are willing to pay a higher room rate.
The goal of revenue management is to maximize profits by obtaining revenues from rooms that would
otherwise go unsold (Choi and Mattila, 2003). Customers appear to have accepted this concept in the
airline industry, but they have not yet accepted it in lodging or other industries.
In the hotel industry, customer perceptions of being treated fairly have not been studied
sufficiently by researchers (Kimes, 2002). A customer’s perception of being treated fairly could
change greatly, as they respond to variable room pricing flowing from yield management practices.
Furthermore, this type of variable pricing could antagonize customers due to perceived unfairness,
leading to decreased customer satisfaction and lower revenues in the long term. Customers believe
that firms are entitled to some profits, but when the profit margin of room rates increases substantially
without any explicit reason, customers feel that this is unfair treatment and may take their business
elsewhere. Kimes (2002, p.3) mentions, “Customers believe that the value to the firm should equal the
value to the customers.” Researchers have shown that it is important for the hotel industry to maintain
55
good relationships with customers, not only for the short term but also for the long term, in order to
generate more revenue (Bolton al et., 2003). It is vital that customers perceive Hotel Revenue
Management (HRM) practices as fair, in order for this practice to be viewed positively (Kimes, 2002).
However, research has shown that hotel operators using HRM processes tend to focus on short-term
profits rather than long-term profits, ignoring the issue of customer perception of fairness. This
imbalance between long-term profits and short-term profits has led to appalling results in the hotel
industry (Lieberman, 2002). Additionally, according to Zeithaml (1988), monetary price is not equal
to the target price in customer minds. While computers can be utilized to easily change prices,
changing customer perception about variable pricing remains a challenging dilemma.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
A key step in changing customer perceptions is to first identify current perceptions. The
purpose of this study was to determine customer perceptions of variable pricing in the lodging
industry. Membership in loyalty programs was identified as a key variable and a potential proxy for
level of “travel sophistication” of the respondent. Membership in loyalty programs of the hotel
industry – Hotel Frequent Guest Programs (HFGP), and that of the airline industry – Airline Frequent
Flyer Programs (AFFP) were studied. Analyses were done through the lens of membership in these
loyalty programs to determine their impact on customer perceptions.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
Accordingly, the specific research objectives of this study were:

1. To determine the relationship between the demographic profile of respondents and
membership in HFGP and AFFP loyalty programs.
2. To determine the relationship between membership in loyalty programs and customer

perceptions of the ethics of:
a. variable pricing in the lodging industry in a capitalist economy,
b. variable pricing based on seasonality, and
c. variable pricing based on marketing/distribution channels.

perceptions of variable hotel pricing in different scenarios:
a. Hotel quoted a higher price than last visit
b. Hotel quoted a lower price than last visit
c. Friend paid a higher room rate for same type room
d. Friend paid a lower room rate for same type room, and
e. Friend in the same hotel, paid same room rate, but friend was upgraded to a suite
because of their membership in a loyalty program.

perceptions based on the hotel providing/not providing information about HRM practices
during the room booking process
METHODOLOGY
The airport was identified as an ideal place to sample travelers likely to use hotels.
Accordingly, a convenience sampling method was employed to survey 460 people at an airport in a
large city in the Southwest of the USA, using a self-administered questionnaire, over a period of one
month. The survey contained questions relating to customer perceptions of HRM based on different
scenarios, ethics of variable pricing in the hotel industry, demographics, and membership in hotel and
airline loyalty programs. Participation was voluntary, anonymous, and confidential. No compensation
was paid to respondents.
56
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Objective 1: The intercept method produced 460 valid responses with 233 male (51.1%) and
233 female (48.9%) respondents. The typical respondent was male, 18-29 years of age (40.4%),
Caucasian (67.6%), and held a bachelor’s degree (31.9%). The majority of respondents (53.6%) had
traveled for business two or less times in the past year, while 40.2% had traveled for leisure 3-5 times
in the past year.
Of the respondents, 184 (40.2%) were enrolled in a HFGP, while 263 (57.9%) were enrolled
in an AFFP. Those enrolled in loyalty programs were significantly more likely to be male, Caucasian
or Asian, older, better educated and wealthier.
Objective 2: An overwhelming majority (88.6%) agreed that the USA is a capitalist

economy, and hotels are entitled to vary their prices to maximize revenues. A large majority of the
respondents (75.2%) felt that it is ethical to increase and decrease hotel room prices during high and
low seasons (75.2%). Interestingly, only a slim majority (54.3%) felt that it is ethical to for the hotel
to charge two different prices for booking over two different channels (telephone or the Internet).
These responses were then analyzed through the lens of membership in loyalty programs. No
significant differences were found between members and non-members of loyalty programs with
reference to the right of hotels to vary their prices. With reference to seasonal price variation,
members of AFFPs were significantly more likely to agree that it was an ethical practice (Chi. Sq. =
5.38, p = .014). The most dramatic difference between groups was seen with reference to price
variations between channels, with members of both AFFPs and HFGPs significantly more likely to
agree that it was an ethical practice (Chi. Sq. = 3.168, p = .04; Chi. Sq. = 6.246, p = .008). Not
surprisingly, loyalty program members are more familiar with the business practices in the industry
and more ready to accept it. Furthermore, members probably perceive that they are likely to get the
benefits of variable pricing in the form of better prices and/or upgrades and hence feel that it is an
equitable practice. Non-members, are both unfamiliar with such practices and unlikely to receive the
benefits, hence they are probably more ready to criticize such practices.
Objective 3: Respondents were asked about their response to inconsistencies in hotel room
pricing across different scenarios. They responded to each of the scenarios on a 7-point Likert-type
scale (range: 1 = excited to 7 = angry).
Scenario a & b: Not surprisingly, an overwhelming majority (73%) was angry if quoted a
higher price on a return visit. A comparable majority (78.2%) would be excited if quoted a lower
price than the previous visit.
When analyzed through the lens of loyalty program membership, a clear pattern emerges.
When quoted a higher price on a return visit, AFFP members were significantly more likely to be angry
than non-members. On the other hand, when quoted a lower price than in a previous visit, those who
had redeemed their HFGPs were significantly less likely to be excited. Perhaps because they expect
special favors as loyalty program members, they are angry when they end up paying more, but not
particularly thrilled when paying less.
Scenario c & d: The majority of participants (68.8%) said that they would be angry if a
friend/colleague paid a higher room rate than they did for the same room. A comparable majority
(71.4%) of the respondents said they would be angry if they were charged more than their friend or
colleague.
When the respondent’s friend pays a higher price, those not-enrolled in HFGPs are angrier
than those enrolled (Chi. Sq. = 18.34, p = .005). Perhaps, those enrolled expect special benefits, while
those not enrolled are surprised and/or resentful.
57
Similarly, respondents enrolled in FFP who pay a higher rate for a room than his/her friend
are angrier than those not enrolled (F = 6.09, p = .014). Perhaps, the loyalty program member feels
betrayed, rather than rewarded for membership, hence the anger.
Scenario e: The majority of respondents (52.2%) said they would be indifferent if a friend
was upgraded to a suite because of their HFGP membership. Surprisingly, about a third (31.3%) said
they would be excited if a friend/colleague was upgraded to a suite because of their enrollment in a
loyalty program. It is noteworthy that the rest (16.5%) said that this action would make them angry.
In this scenario, there are no significant differences between the perceptions of airline and hotel
loyalty program members and non-members. Perhaps, this is because most respondents expect that
loyalty program members would get extra benefits; so they are not surprised when it does indeed
happen.
Objective 4: The respondents were asked how they would feel if they were provided with
information about the process of HRM when they were making a reservation. A big majority (68%)
were satisfied, a fourth (25%) were neutral, while a very small segment (7%) was dissatisfied. When
asked about their reaction, when HRM information was not provided a slim majority (52%) were
dissatisfied, a third (34%) was neutral, while a big segment (14%) was satisfied.
Membership in hotel or airline loyalty programs was not a significant factor in the satisfaction
levels of respondents when HRM information was provided. However, when HRM information was
not provided, HFGP members expressed significantly higher rates of dissatisfaction (F = 4.60, p =
.03). Perhaps, members expect higher levels of control over pricing in return for their loyalty.
SUMMARY, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
With the proliferation of channels of distribution in the hotel industry, rate integrity is
certainly an issue. Prices vary with season, with website, with 800-numbers, with transparent and
opaque intermediaries. Is it any surprise that customers are confused and angry? Members of loyalty
programs are often upset upon discovering that loyalty is not necessarily rewarded with lower rates or
better rooms.
This study attempted to examine the issues of customer perceptions of variable pricing in the
hotel industry, particularly the ethics of such practices and the perceived fairness of such practices. It
looked at these perceptions through the lens of membership in airline and hotel loyalty programs.
The research has shown that customers do recognize the right of hotels to vary prices in a
market-based capitalistic economy. However, there is still an element of confusion and resentment
over price variation depending on the channel of distribution (Internet vs. 800-number). Along the
same lines, satisfaction levels are higher when HRM practices are disclosed to customers at the time
of booking.
Loyalty program members, who may be considered to be “more sophisticated” travelers, are
likely to be familiar with HRM practices. This research, however, showed that such familiarity does
not breed consent; rather, it may foster resentment. While program members are ready to accept
variable pricing when it benefits them, they resent being left out when non-members are the
beneficiaries. The hotel industry would be well advised to widely disseminate the logic and necessity
of HRM practices if they want to gain widespread acceptance. For example, when many airlines put
the customer on hold during a reservation call, a message often heard is, “lower prices may be
available on our website.” Along the same lines, the action of some leading hotel companies to
guarantee the lowest rates on their own websites is a step in the right direction.
This survey was conducted in only one airport in the United States, but it could be expanded
to sample customers from Asia, Australia, and Europe to see if perceptions differ across the globe.
Customer reactions could also be studied in economies that are more tightly controlled or socialist in
58
orientation. Perhaps, perceptions will be different from those in the free-wheeling capitalistic USA
model.
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60
FACTORS AFFECTING PASSENGERS’ SELECTION
OF LOW-COST AIRLINES IN THAILAND
Ilian Assenov
Faculty of Service Industries
Prince of Songkla University
and
Supachee Nopakhun
ABSTRACT
The aim of this research was to study the factors affecting customers’ selection of Low-Cost
Airlines (LCA) in Thailand. Data was collected through questionnaires distributed to Thai and foreign
passengers of both LCAs and traditional network airlines. The findings suggest that cost competition
and addressing security concerns, more than differentiation, are needed for attracting new customers
by LCAs. Our recommendations include developing a safety image as part of their marketing
strategies, and improving punctuality through fleet increase and better time management. While low
cost implies no frills, this is different from poor service, the perception of which could be changed in
particular through better ground operations and pre-flight and in-flight services, and better-informed
and customer-oriented staff.
Key Words: Low-Cost Airlines, Consumer behavior, Thailand
INTRODUCTION
One of the major developments in the aviation and travel industries in the past decades has
been the emergence and proliferation of Low-Cost Airlines (LCA). Having gone through a period of
evolution, they have now turned into a sustainable and distinct sector of the airline industry,
competing with, but also complementing, traditional network airlines (NA). The LCA model has
revolutionised aviation through changing a number of the traditional features of network airlines.
Discount carriers have driven the industry to rethink its business model.
The LCA model was first successfully applied in the US, due to the early deregulation of the
aviation industry there. Its expansion in Europe only became possible after the deregulation of the
markets in the 1990s. Due to the late deregulation of the Asian market LCAs entered the continent
even later, but within just several years have managed to become the transportation of choice for
many, and have pressed changes in traditional airlines struggling to adapt to the new era of
competition in the industry.
One important difference between LCAs and NAs is that the low-cost airlines’ principal
objectives are to control costs and offer simpler fare structures whereas traditional network airlines
had followed a complex pricing model emphasising revenue maximisation. But this is just one of the
differences between the two. Many other factors have determined the success of the LCA model.
These could be divided into three groups: simple product, positioning, and low operating costs
(Schneiderbauer and Fainsilber 2002, Knorr and Arndt 2002):
Simple Product. The fare system of most LCAs is simple, generally rewarding early bookings;
routes are also simple, emphasising point-to-point transit. The message of many discount carriers has
been: “Feel as if you are boarding a coach. We offer you only to take you from point A to point B; if
you want more than this you will have to pay for it extra”.
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Positioning. One major difference with NAs is the offer of point-to-point traffic, in distinction
with the traditional hub approach. The focus has been mostly on non-business passengers, although
recently more and more cost-minded business passengers have started using low-cost carriers. The
LCAs have positioned themselves as competitors not only to traditional airlines, but to all
transportation carriers, and have been able in some cases to offer prices comparable to those of
coaches or trains.
Low Costs. This is undoubtedly the main reason for the success of the LCA model, and a long
list of possible cost-cutting measures can be drawn (Knorr and Arndt 2002, Lawton 2003):
- No-frills (drinks and meals are not included in the airfare);
- A single passenger class with high density seating;
- A single type of airplane, reducing training and servicing costs;
- Use of secondary airports, which offer lower airport fees and less congestion (fewer traffic
delays);
- Unreserved seating, encouraging passengers to board early and quickly;
- Strict enforcement of extra luggage fees, and, more recently, charges for any piece of check-in
luggage;
- Short flights and fast turnaround times, allowing maximum utilisation of planes;
- Low wages;
- Emphasis on direct sales of tickets, especially over the Internet;
- Use of electronic tickets (e-tickets), cutting the high costs of issuing paper tickets;
- Multiple roles for employees (e.g. flight attendants cleaning the aircraft or working as gate
agents);
- No frequent-flyer programmes;
- No interlining agreements with other airlines and no participation in code sharing;
- Difficult, impossible, or costly cancellations and ticket changes.
There are exceptions to this model, and the low cost airlines have been evolving. Some of
them are actually offering drinks and snacks, others have introduced frequent-flyer programmes, some
use paper tickets and some may use travel agents or own outlets to sell tickets. We discuss some of
these for the case of Thailand later on.
But interestingly, some of those features have actually been imitated by network airlines.
Facing increasing competition from LCAs, some NAs have stopped offering some frills, increased the
use of e-tickets, and emphasised more direct Internet sales to their passengers. Others have done just
the opposite, and repositioned themselves as higher-value, rather than low-cost, airlines, offering extra
services and emphasising quality in their marketing campaigns. In all cases, one may conclude that
the industry has changed a lot since the arrival of the LCAs, and especially in the past decade.
The changes in Asia started relatively recently. Asia was a late adopter of the low-cost airline
model mostly due to the late deregulation of the industry, and also due to the fewer opportunities for
cost cutting (for example, unlike in the US and Europe, most cities in Asia lack secondary airports -
which typically charge lower airport fees). The first serious entry was made by the Malaysian AirAsia
in 2002, and since then a number of players have emerged, including Tiger Airways and JetStar Asia
Airways. Interestingly, both of these companies were set by existing network airlines, Singapore
Airways and Qantas, respectively, as a strategy to enter the lucrative LCA market without
jeopardizing their own high-value-provider image.
In Thailand, three such airlines operate already (these are reviewed later in the paper). They
have proved highly popular, attracting both passengers from the traditional airlines and from other
transportation companies – busses, vans and railroad. They fly mostly to the established tourist
destinations of Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai, but have also covered some destinations deemed
unattractive by the network airlines. With their growing popularity, low-cost carriers have started
competing not only with NAs, but also between themselves. While they have the obvious advantage
of lower costs than the network airlines, they have found it more difficult to differentiate from each
62
other, given their similar cost structure. Furthermore, NAs have reduced their ticket prices, and often
with special promotions they may sometimes offer lower fares than LCAs.
At present, the main challenges to the LCAs in Thailand are related to improving their image
relative to the network airlines – who have managed to preserve passenger numbers with emphasis on
issues such as safety, punctuality and extra services, and differentiating themselves from the other
low-cost airlines in the country. Prices are a major decision variable for customers, but many other
factors influence customer decisions (these are reviewed in next section).
It would be interesting therefore to establish the main factors influencing consumers’ choice
between network airlines and low-cost airlines, and the choice of specific LCAs in Thailand. Doing so
is the aim of this research. To achieve its aims, the paper is structured as follows. The next two
sections briefly review the development of the LCA industry in Thailand, and discuss the factors that
can influence airline selection. Then the methodology of our survey is described. Section 5 presents
and discusses the findings. The last part makes specific recommendations based on our findings, and
concludes the paper.
LOW-COST AIRLINES IN THAILAND
Before the emergence of the low-cost airlines, the aviation industry in Thailand was
dominated by Thai Airways International – the national carrier since 1959. Smaller airlines included
Bangkok Airways – specialising in popular tourist destinations in Thailand and neighbouring
countries, Phuket Air – which has almost ceased operations since experiencing a number of technical
and financial problems in 2005, and the smallest competitor - PB Air.
Three budget airlines have been established in the country since 2003. The first to start
operations, in February 2003, was Thai AirAsia – a joint venture of Malaysia’s AirAsia and Thailand’s
Shin Corp Plc. Until today it has remained the carrier with most aggressive marketing campaigns and
deepest price cuts. At present, it flies to several domestic destinations, including Bangkok, Phuket,
Chiang Mai and Hat Yai, as well as to some international ones – Kuala Lumpur, Macao, Singapore,
Phnom Penh, Xiamen and Hanoi. The company has also proven to be a risk taker, not only by
exposing itself to internationa flights, but also by taking over some routes abandoned or considered
unattractive by other carriers, such as Bangkok-Narathiwat (the latter situated in the troubled South of
the country). It also covers by far more routes than its competitors.
The second entrant in the market was One-Two-Go by Orient Thai, in December 2003. Orient
Thai Airlines had already established domestic and international charter operations before entering the
budget airlines market under the One-Two-Go brand. It covers several domestic destinations –
Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai and Surat Thani, and also has flights to Hong Kong and Seoul.
However, the international flights are branded as Orient Thai Airlines flights, not as low-cost ones.
The last entrant, Nok Air, was the response of Thai Airways International to the threat of the
low-cost competitors. It started operations in July, and managed to capitalize, as a daughter company
of Thai Airways, on its safety image and good service quality reputation. Among the other advantages
of being associated with Thai Airways is the fact then when its flights are fully booked the company
sometimes sells seats in Thai Airways flights to the same destination at Nok Air prices. It offers only
domestic flights, from Bangkok to destinations including Phuket, Chiang Mai, Trang and Hat Yai. To
a degree, it serves as a feeder company to the main hub of Thai Airways in Bangkok, from where
passengers may continue on the latter’s international flights.
Low-cost airlines in Thailand have followed the general model of discount carriers around the
world, and have all relied on low prices in attracting customers. At the same time, they have been
trying to differentiate themselves from each other through offering features that may help customers
distinguish them better when selecting an airline. A few such differences include:
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- Business class (Nok Air offers both economy class and business class – branded Nok Plus -
seats);
- Airfare structure (Orient Thai’s One-Two-Go offers fixed prices only for each route,
regardless of seasons, early bookings, weekdays, etc.);
- Discounts offered (Thai AirAsia is the most aggressive discounted, often offering fares of 499
baht - USD 12, 99 baht, or even zero baht for some promotions);
- Emphasis on safety and quality (Nok Air has exploited its relationship with the network
carrier ThaiAirways to emphasise quality, and this has allowed it to maintain relatively higher
prices);
- Seating reservations (AirAsia has a free seating policy, One-Two-Go has fixed seats, and Nok
Air allows online selection of seats by the passengers);
- Frills (One-Two-Go offers free snacks, and Nok Air offers snacks to its business class
passengers);
- Charges for ticket changes (free for One-Two-Go and the business passengers of Nok Air);
- Sales channels (all offer online sales and have call centres and ticket booths; in addition
AirAsia and One-Two-Go use travel agents);
- Payment methods (all offer direct bank transfers, cash payments at ticket booths and online
credit card payments; Nok Air and One-Two-Go also offer credit card payments via call
centres; and Nok Air allows payments at 7-eleven stores and by some bank ATMs); and
- Airline performance statistics (Anecdotal evidence suggests that AirAsia and One-Two-Go
have more frequent delays than Nok Air, but reliable statistics is hard to find. AirAsia and
Nok Air offer on their websites information about their punctuality performance - percentage
of flight arrivals on time, and AirAsia also offers statistics on its baggage handling
performance).
Airlines have also tried more innovative ways of attracting customers. Nok Air offered to its
Phuket passengers “beachside check-in”, issuing boarding passes at selected hotels in Phuket and
providing transportation to the airport just in time for the flight, thus prolonging the vacation of its
passengers. However, this service was discontinued after the December 2004 tsunami. AirAsia has
tried live in-flight entertainment by its air hostesses and hosts, and giving presents to passengers with
birthdays on the flight day.
It is obvious from the above that the low-cost airlines in Thailand have tried different means
of differentiating themselves from each other. It is not clear, however, to what degree this has
influenced passengers’ choices. After all, evidence from elsewhere (reviewed in the next section)
suggests that often prices are the main factor in passenger selection, together with airline safety
records and punctuality. The scope for cost competition is even greater given the fact that all airlines
have clean safety records (although Nok Air benefits from implied higher safety standards due to its
association with the national carrier), and that for some of their passengers they are not so much an
alternative to network airlines but to other, cheaper, transportation means (busses and trains).
FACTORS AFFECTING AIRLINE SELECTION
The customer decision-making process includes several stages. It starts with awareness of the
need, goes through information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase, and post-purchase
evaluation (Palmer, 2001). In the context of LCA selection in Thailand, the information search often
64
relies on word-of-mouth and the Internet. Here safety image can be an important factor. The
evaluation of alternatives needs to be carried out even by frequent passengers who have experienced
all LCAs, mostly due to the variance of one important factor – ticket prices. Finally, the post-purchase
evaluation is related to assessing experience against their prior expectations. The role of airline
service is crucial for this stage.
The passengers’ behaviour in the flight selection process is aimed at maximizing their “air
travel utility”, which is a function of such elements as market presence, service quality, fare levels,
travel restrictions, frequent flier membership, and schedule convenience offered by each available
flight (Proussaloglou and Koppelman, 1999).
Together with price, service is the most emphasised competitive variable in air transportation
and major factor in “travel utility” maximisation (Comm, 1997). This can be divided in pre-flight
service, in-flight service, and post-flight service (Lovelock et al., 2001). Pre-flight service can be
related to activities including reservation, payment, issuing a ticket, documentation/receipt, travel to
the airport, check-in of passenger and luggage, waiting for the flight, boarding the plane, finding the
seat and stowing hand baggage. In-flight activities include safety demonstrations and other mandatory
announcements, subsequent information announcements, in-flight amenities such as toilets, in-flight
diversions (newspapers, audio and video entertainment, games), food and beverage servicing, medical
help, shopping, etc. Finally, post-flight services include disembarking and transfer to the airport
building, bag retrieval, leaving the airport, booking/reconfirming of next flight, etc. One can easily see
how most of these services may be affected negatively by understaffed and cost-conscious low-cost
airlines.
Therefore, while the advantages of low-cost carriers are obvious to most passengers, it could
be that observed service failures influence customer choices too. These failures relate to flight delays,
baggage mishandling, and problems with seating. Yet Suzuki (2004) observes that passengers are
often not influenced by past experience, and tend to be forward-looking – maximizing their utility
regardless of past service failures. Similar observation is made by Soong (1999) for the case of
network airlines.
Earlier research has found largely consistent results. Factors of importance include frequency
of flights, punctuality, timing, good in-flight service and safety records (Gilbert and Wong, 2003).
Holland (2001) rates as most important factors price, safety and customer care. Older people are less
likely to be influenced by prices but focus more on safety issues. Female passengers are also more
concerned about safety than male ones. Interestingly, for passengers who travel more often price is a
less important factor. The importance of punctuality is underlined by a trend of airlines quoting their
“on time” arrival times in commercials and on their websites (Comm, 1997).
Prices are important as well, but – for obvious reasons – business travelers are less sensitive
to this factor (Soong, 1999). Still, Schoenberg and Collins (2003) find that over 40 percent of
surveyed businesses identifyy budgetary concern as the more important factor in their travel planning.
Archambault and Roy (2003) also discuss the increasing popularity of budget airlines with business
travelers, but point that they are more concerned about punctuality, flight frequency and flexible ticket
conditions than other passengers.
METHODOLOGY
The data was collected through a face-to-face survey method in the period April-May 2005.
Two versions of questionnaires were prepared, in Thai and English, inquiring after personal
characteristics of the respondents, their experience with LCAs, the main factors influencing their
choice of airlines, the major problems they have experienced in the past with Thai LCAs, and their
related comments, suggestions and recommendations. A pilot study was carried out with a limited
number of respondents, and the questionnaires were improved to reflect its findings.
65
The researchers and their assistants approached 400 Thai and foreign passengers at Phuket
airport. The sample was divided in four equal groups: passengers of domestic network airlines and
passengers of the three Thai low-cost airlines: Thai AirAsia, One-Two-Go by Orient Thai, and Nok
Air. ANOVA, Chi-square and Independent T-tests were used for data analysis.
RESEARCH FINDINGS
Passengers (300 of which were boarding LCAs) were asked what airlines they usually prefer
for domestic destinations. A quarter of them had strong preferences for low-cost airlines, and a quarter
– for network airlines (Table 1). Most of the remaining passengers answered that they could choose
either, depending on the flight availability and the prices for flights around the desired departure time.
Some answered that they tended to use budget carriers for private travel and network airlines for
business trips. This behaviour is understandable, and it is also advanced by the policy of most public
organizations to encourage the use of Thai Airways by their staff on business trips.
Table 1
Transportation Usually Preferred for Domestic Destinations
Preference Frequency %
Low-Cost Airline 97 24.25
Network Airline 107 26.75
Either, depending on availability of flight and seats 177 44.25
and price
LCA for private travel & NA for business travel 19 4.75
It was interesting to find out the travel habits of the surveyed passengers before the
emergence of the LCAs in Thailand. As all of them were boarding flights from Phuket to Bangkok, or
were arriving from Bangkok in Phuket, they were asked how they used to travel on the same route
before the first discount flights were started in 2003, or, in case they had not traveled on the same
route, how they would have traveled on the day of the survey if there were no LCAs. Over 60 percent
of the LCA passengers had switched from network airlines, but over a third of them used to travel by
bus or by car (Table 2).
Assuming that these were the more cost-conscious passengers, we carried out statistical tests
on whether their answers to subsequent questions on factors influencing airline choice, and main
concerns when selecting airlines, differed from passengers who had used network airlines. The
differences, however, were not statistically significant for most results except for booking behaviour,
indicating perhaps how changes in the aviation market have changed consumer behaviour and
preferences.
Questions related to booking and purchasing preferences indicated that using a company
website was the most popular reservation method, chosen by 39% of the LCA passengers. Another
41% bought tickets either through a ticket booth of the airline (28%), or travel agents (13%). The rest
reverted to the call centres of the airlines. The popularity of online bookings has prompted the airlines
to upgrade their websites, and significant improvements have been observed since their launch. Orient
Thai, which in the beginning was not offering Internet bookings at all, had to introduce them due to
growing customer preferences for online bookings.
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Table 2
Main Transportation Mode Used for the Bangkok-Phuket Route Before the Introduction of LCAs
Transportation Mode LCAs Passengers (300) NAs Passengers Total (400)

(100)
Frequency % Frequency % Frequency %
Network Airline 185 61.67 74 74.00 259 64.75
Bus 67 22.33 15 15.00 82 20.50
Own Car 44 14.67 9 9.00 53 13.25
Other 4 1.33 2 2.00 6 1.50
Total 300 100 100 100 400 100
Note: difference between groups is not statistically significant (Chi-square test, p=0.123)
The passengers who had mostly used network airlines before the emergence of LCAs were
more likely to use the Internet for bookings, while the ones who had mostly used busses or cars –
generally lower-income and lower-education respondents – had preferences for the ticket booths and
call centres. There were no significant differences between genders, nationalities, or professions.
Elderly passengers, however, were more likely to choose the airline booths, which are usually
conveniently located in supermarkets and shopping malls.
Passengers were further asked about the main factors they considered when selecting airlines
(Table 3; minimum score is 1 and maximum score is 3). The top factors, in order of importance, were
safety, punctuality, luggage handling (most likely related to the strict luggage limits imposed by
LCAs), receiving value for money, flight availability and ease of booking/payment. The lowest
scoring factor, somewhat surprisingly, was in-flight service – possibly due to the fact that most
domestic flights in Thailand last less than an hour and a half. Importantly, “value for money” ranked
higher than “airfare”, indicating the willingness of passengers to pay some premium if the airline
scores better on the main factors, such a safety and punctuality.
There were variations in the priorities of the different groups of respondents. LCA passengers
emphasized more “value for money” and “airfare” than NA passengers, while “in-flight service” and
“fixed seating policies” were less important to them. Female respondents put more emphasis on
“value for money” than male ones, but were more flexible about “flight timing”.
Surprisingly, given the traditionally loose attitude of Thais towards time and punctuality, for
them airline punctuality mattered more than for foreign passengers. But this result could probably be
explained by the fact that the Thai respondents had used Thai discount airlines more often than
foreigners, and had therefore experienced more frustrations in the past with flight delays.
There is one caveat about the above results. They were all based on a somewhat general
question on the importance of certain factors in airline selection, where respondents had to indicate
the importance of each of a number of factors. We expected we would get additional insight into
customer behaviour by asking the LCA passengers what were the three most important factors that
determined their choice of the particular carrier they were using on the day of the survey. This nuance
should help avoid the possibility of passengers giving “correct” answers to the question, and make
them declare their actual, rather than normative, motives.
Indeed the factor ranking based on the responses to this question was different from the
earlier results (Table 4). Notably, price emerged as the most important factor for airline selection,
more in line with the authors’ expectations. Next came flight availability and ease of booking and
payment. Interestingly, safety was only the sixth most important factor. Presumably, this low score is
due to the fact that although passengers value safety most,for obvious reasons, they are less concerned
about it given that all low-cost carriers in Thailand have so far enjoyed clean safe records. Should a
major disaster occur, this factor would certainly rank as a far more important decision variable than
67
now. Another reason for this result is that respondents to this question did not include the presumably
more safety-conscious NA passengers.
Table 3
Factors Considered in Airline Selection (Importance Scores)
All Airline Used Nationality Gender

Factor Passengers LCAs NAs Thai Foreigners Male Female
(400) (300) (100) (311) (89) (192) (208)
Safety and security 2.77 2.77 2.77 2.78 2.73 2.74 2.80
Punctuality 2.65 2.63 2.71 2.68*** 2.52*** 2.66 2.64
Luggage handling 2.56 2.56 2.54 2.59* 2.46* 2.55 2.57
Value for money 2.51 2.56** 2.39** 2.50 2.56 2.46* 2.56*
Flight availability 2.49 2.47 2.55 2.46** 2.60** 2.56** 2.42**
Ease of booking & 2.49 2.51 2.43 2.49 2.49 2.45 2.53
payment
Easy / fast check-in 2.47 2.46 2.51 2.49 2.39 2.44 2.50
Low fare 2.41 2.45** 2.30** 2.39 2.49 2.36 2.46
Airline reputation 2.21 2.18 2.30 2.18* 2.34* 2.24 2.19
Ticket restrictions 2.13 2.12 2.16 2.15 2.08 2.09 2.17
Fixed seats 2.05 2.00** 2.20** 2.06 2.01 1.96** 2.13**
In-flight services 1.81 1.77** 1.95** 1.83 1.76 1.77 1.86
Note: Factors importance was ranked on a Likert scale of 1 to 3, where 3 stays for “very important”
and 1 - for “Not important”.
*** Indicates statistically significant differences between groups at 99% significance level (p<0.01)
** Indicates statistically significant differences between groups at 95% significance level (p<0.05)
* Indicates statistically significant differences between groups at 90% significance level (p<0.10)
Table 4
Reasons For Choosing LCA For This Trip (frequency)
Factor Orient Thai Nok Air Air Asia Total

Ticket price 81 72 86 239
Flight availability 26 27 26 79
Ease of booking & payment *** 24 23 31 78
Value for money ** 11 14 22 47
Friends’ or relatives’ recommendation 9 12 9 30
Safety and security ** 14 8 5 27
On-time record 6 13 5 24
Fixed seats 10 14 n.a. 24
Travel agent recommendation 9 6 1 16
Airline’s reputation *** 6 6 3 15
Brand recognition 3 5 5 13
In-flight service 5 4 2 11
Fewer ticket restrictions than other airlines *** 5 1 4 10
Others 2 1 4 7
Note: Respondents were allowed to choose the top three factors influencing their decision.
Finally, respondents were asked what factors had prevented, or would prevent, them from
choosing to fly with low-cost airlines in general, or with a specific low cost airline. The users of NAs
had as their main concern the unsafe image of the low-cost carriers, followed by frequent delays,
inconvenient flight times and ticket restrictions. The passengers of LCAs pointed as their main
68
concerns delays, followed by high airfares and safety issues. The latter perhaps was again a more
generalized addressing of the safety issue, rather than specific comment on previous experience.
However, it suggests that airlines need to work at least on their safety image in the eyes of the public,
if not on the actual safety performance.
Table 5
Respondents’ Main Concerns With LCAs
NA LCA
Factor Passengers (100) Passengers (300)
Frequency % Frequency %
Not safe image 47 47 118 39.33
Frequent delays * 43 43 162 54.00
Poor luggage handling * 14 14 66 22.00
No frills 16 16 34 11.33
Bad in-fright services 22 22 55 18.33
Ticket restrictions ** 35 35 75 25.00
High price *** 13 13 129 43.00
Flight unavailability 41 41 114 38.00
Slow check-in 15 15 41 13.67
Bad pre-flight service 17 17 40 13.33
Poor previous experience with LCAs 11 11 46 15.33
Others 12 12 9 3.00
Note: Respondents were allowed to choose the top three factors influencing their decision.
Chi-square tests were carried out to estimate statistically significant differences between groups.
* Indicates statistically significant differences between groups at 90% significance level (p<0.10)
CONCLUSIONS
The aim of this research was to study the factors affecting the selection of low-cost airlines
in Thailand, and the reasons for choosing a specific LCA when faced with multiple options. Data was
collected through questionnaires distributed in April-May 2005 to Thai and foreign passengers of both
LCAs and traditional network airlines at Phuket Airport.
Studying the choice of a particular airline was particularly interesting in the context of the
relative differentiation between Thai LCAs, with some of them offering features such as: business
class, online seating reservations, free snacks onboard, fixed airfares, different sales channels (only
40% of the LCA passengers booked online), and payment through bank ATMs and convenience
stores. However, these factors appear to be secondary to what matters most to passengers: prices and
security. Security was ranked as most important, yet price was the major factor when selecting a LCA.
Other important factors were ease of booking and payment, and punctuality. Thus cost competition
and addressing security concerns, more than service differentiation, seem to be the most effective
strategies for LCAs in attracting new customers.
Customers have already developed their preferences for the type of airlines they would rather
fly with. In our sample, Network airlines were the first choice for about a quarter of the sample, and
low cost airlines for another quarter. The remaining respondents were willing to fly by either,
depending on prices and seat availability. Hence there is enough scope for growth in the low-cost
sector, not only as a result of increases in passengers numbers in recent years (some of these attracted
to air travel for the first time by the discount carriers) but also through increasing their share at the
expense of traditional network airlines. The latter have responded to this trend, with Thai Airways
setting its own discount operator and Bangkok Airways offering promotional airfares lower than the
LCA ones on the same routes.
69
The major problems with LCAs, pointed by the respondents, were the flight delays, safety
concerns, ticket restrictions and overly strict charging for extra baggage. Other problems were
inexperienced ground staff, slow check-in, free-seating policy resulting in crowding at the boarding
gates, misleading advertising and misleading cost structure where additional taxes may sometimes
exceed the actual airfare.
Based on our findings, a number of recommendations can be made. While cost competition
remains crucial to LCAs, other ways of attracting and retaining passengers exist. Improving their
safety image is of utmost importance for attracting passengers from the network airlines and from
competing LCAs. Better punctuality through fleet increases and better time management is as
important. In cases of delay, early notification of passengers will help reduce the unpleasant emotions
of passengers. While low cost implies no frills, this is different from poor service, the perception of
which could be changed in particular through better ground operations and in-flight services, and
better-informed and customer-oriented staff.
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Based Study. Tourism Management, 24, 519-532.
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– The Case of Southwest Airlines. Mimeo. Institute for World Economics and International
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Australia: Prentice Hall.
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central Iowa. Transportation Journal. Spring 2004 issue.
70
GROOMING FUTURE INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY LEADERS: THE IMPORTANCE OF
CONTEXT
Alan Wong
and
Andrew Chan
ABSTRACT
Key findings from the interview studies with nineteen hotel staff on leadership perception in
the contexts of hotel industry and China are reported. “Professionalism” and “Culture” were the two
major themes emerged from this study. A conceptual framework which integrating the “Micro” and
“Macro” contextual constraints on leadership perceptions is adapted as a guide for understanding the
findings. The impacts of different contextual elements on leadership perception, such as national and
industry cultures, the level difference in an organization, leaders and follower characteristics were
discussed. Implications are provided for grooming future international hospitality leaders and local
staff.
Key Words: Leadership, China hotel industry, context, professionalism
INTRODUCTION
Leadership skills are crucial for the hospitality industry in light of its future competition,
dynamic environment, service-orientation and labor intensive nature. (Chung-Herrera, Enz, & Lankau,
2003 ; Littrell, 2002; Olsen, 1999; Pine & Wong, 1998; Pittaway, Carmouche, & Chell, 1998; Tracy &
Hinkin, 1994). Globalization and internationalization of the hotel industry leading to the study of
expatriate and local hotel staff an important area for research (Go & Pine, 1995; Jayawardena, 2001;
Kaye & Taylor, 1997; Littrell, 2002; Muaura, Sutton & Roberts, 1998; Sutton, 1996; Yu & Goh, 1995).
Though China’s tourism industry has been opened up since 1978, with China's accession to the World
Trade Organization in 2001 and becoming the world’s top tourist destination in 2020 (World Tourism
Organization 2020 Vision Report), expatriate hotel managers will still be needed in China for their
expertise and technology transfer. As most expatriate assignments involve a managerial/leadership
role in a host country “cultural similarities and differences in the area of leadership are of particular
concern” (Gerstner & Day 1994, p.121). In addition, grooming future international hospitality leaders
that will be effective in different contexts is becoming an important area for research.
The aim of this paper is to report the key findings from the first stage of a larger study on
leadership perceptions of staff in the contexts of hotel industry and China. The two main research
objectives for this study are to explore: (1) How leadership perception relate to the different
contextual elements; (2) How leaders/managers establish their leadership.
LITERATURE AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Integrating the “Macro” and “Micro” Perspective of Understanding Leadership: The Importance of
Context
Recently, there is a growing interest of research into impacts of “contexts” on leadership.

Two groups of leadership scholars have shown interest in the study of the relationship between
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context and leadership; one group uses a qualitative approach (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2003;
Bryman, 1988, Bryman, 2004; Bryman, Stephens & Campo, 1996) while the other uses a leadership
perception approach (Antonakis, Avolio & Sivasubramaniam, 2003; Lord, Brown, Harvey & Hall,
2001). “Context” can be viewed from a “macro” and “micro” perspective. From a macro-perspective
and a qualitative research tradition, context is important because, “the emphasis here is on the need to
interpret what is going on in terms of an understanding of the whole society and the meaning it has for
the participants. The basic message that qualitative researchers convey is that whatever the sphere in
which data are being collected, we can understand events only when they are situated in the wider
social and historical context” (Bryman 1988, p.65). At this macro-level, it could also mean the
studying of the setting or nature of sphere or different sectors; like construction industry, hospitality
industry, the police force or even jazz groups. For example, in a study of three British construction
projects, Bryman, Bresnen, Beardsworth & Keil (1998) found that features that were specific to the
particular context of construction projects have a profound effect on leadership behavior. In another
study, Bryman et al., (1996) found that in the context of British police service, instrumental leadership
was far more pervasive in police officers’ thinking as central to effective leadership then the
prominent notions of charismatic leadership as described in traditional leadership literature.
From a “micro perspective”, it is the study of behviour of participants in an organization. In

this way, concern is about the meaning that people ascribe to their own and other’s behviour in the
context of the values, practices, and underlying structures (Bryman, 1988). The unit of analysis can be
a school, a hospital or a hotel. Scholars from leadership prototype approach have identified a range of
“contextual factors” which might have impacts on leadership perception (Lord, et al, 2001; Lord, Foti
& De Vader, 1984). Different researchers have explored on these factors such as cultural differences
(Brodbeck et al., 2000), organizational constraints, leaders and follower and task characteristics (Lord
et al., 2001); hierarchical leader level (Hunt, 1991; Zaccaro, 2001); leader-follower gender and
demographic variables (Antonakis et al., 2003; Rosusseau & Fried, 2001).
Contextual Constraints on Prototype Generations and the Conceptual Model
Lord and his colleagues have identified four major contextual constraints on leadership
schema(or knowledge structure in the mind): culture, leader, follower and task characteristics (Lord et
al., 2001). In essence, their model tries to demonstrate how the different contextual factors might
impact on the leadership schema and the connections/interactions of different elements within the
schema. Borrowing this concept and showing it how a hotel manager/expatriate and hotel
subordinate/local might be congruent/incongruent with their perceptions of leadership i.e. match or
mismatch of their leadership prototype, a conceptual model is shown in Figure 1. In this diagram, it
describes the possible situations in China’s international hotels. There are expatriates working in these
hotels and they are usually in managerial positions. For example, take the situation of a male
expatriate hotel manager from Germany working in a hotel in China, because of the differences in
cultural background and gender, the content of the expatriate manager’s leader prototype (e.g. a
masculine type with a decisive image) might be different from his Chinese female subordinate’s ideal
leader prototype (e.g. a feminine type with a sympathetic image); a prototype is defined as a
collection of characteristic traits and attributes. According to the leadership prototype approach, the
matching of leader/manager and follower/subordinate in leadership perception will enhance leader to
establish respect, power and influence; eventually effective leadership.(Lord, 1985; Lord et al., 1982;
Lord & Maher, 1991). In the case of mismatch of leadership prototypes between leader/manager and
follower/subordinates, ineffective leadership will happen. In short, this a useful conceptual model for
understanding leadership perception.
The contexts of hotel, hotel industry and China

As a hospitality organization, there are different ways of seeing a hotel. In general, it should
be being hospitable and it could be selling a service (Guerrier, 1999). Therefore, in order to be a world
class hotel, staff should be service oriented and customer focus (Shames & Glover, 1989). This
industry characteristic has an impact on the norms and values forms part of industry culture which
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have an impact on employees. Pizam (1993) explains this further in terms of a “hierarchy of culture”
which includes: national culture, industry culture, occupational and organizational culture. As
multinational hospitality organization expanding into developing countries, it will bring the
organizational characteristics/culture to the host country (Rope, Brookes & Hampton, 1997). In
addition, according to Hollows & Lewis (1995), the context of China is different from other business
environment in two folds and they summaries these as Societal Context I: Chinese culture and
Societal Context II: In Transition from Command to the Market. For the former, they refer to the
historical antecedents, such Confucian values, social system of hierarchical structure, loyalty, and
guanxi in Chinese society. The latter, they refer to the rapid transition of the Chinese economy or
metamorphosing from a centralized, distributive command economy to one which is thoroughly
“marketlised”. The hotel industry has been under such contexts for growth and development.
For China’s hotel industry prior 1978, there was only few accommodation facilities with
international standard (Pine, 2002). The rapid development has been the contribution from
government active intervention in the market and substantial investment and reconstruction of the
hotel industry. The introduction of joint-venture hotels brought in expatriates for running the hotel
operations and transfer their expertise to the locals (Pine, 2002; Yu, 1995; Yu & Goh 1995).
However, the joint-venture structure, cultural differences of the expatriates and locals are some of the
critical issues in the China’s hotel industry. Previous research identified further problems and issues,
such as staff attitude, lack of competencies of local managers; intercultural conflict and
communication; lack of motivation to work in China; clash of corporate and national culture,
difference in “tolerance of freedom” (Feng & Pearson, 1999; Kaye & Taylor, 1997; Littrell, 2002;
Sutton,1996; Muaura, Sutton & Roberts, 1998; Yu & Goh, 1995). However, most of these studies lack
of a theoretical perspective and they are more from a manager/leader perspective, not from a
subordinate/follower perspective.
Figure 1
Match/Mismatch of Schemas in Leader Prototypes
Between a Manager/Expatriate and a Subordinate/Local Hotel Staff
Hotel staff Hotel staff

Manager/ Expatriate Subordinate/ Local
Match/Mismatch of Schemas in
Leader Prototypes
Schemas Schemas
Hotel Leader Prototype Hotel Leader Prototype
(Masculine style) (Feminine style)
Contextual constraints Contextual constraints

on leadership schemas on leadership schemas
METHODLODGY
There were two rounds of semi-structure interview studies. The key advantage of qualitative
approach to study leadership is that it can explore leadership in a contextual framework (Bryman, et al
1988; Bryman, 2004, Bryman, et al, 1996). The use of semi-structure rather than focus group
interview for this study is that leadership and culture are sensitive issues and individual interview
could overcome this by clarifying the confidentiality of the research and gain trust from respondents
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(Bryman & Bella, 2003). There were totally nineteen interviews from the two rounds of study. Study
1 included one expatriate hotel manager from Hong Kong and ten local staff with different levels and
departments from a four star hotel which located in a second tier type of tourist city in Mid-East
China. Study 2 included eight managers from different four to five stars hotels in Beijing. There were
four expatriates: one Resident Manager from Germany, one General Manager from United Kingdom,
one Resident Manager and General Manager from Hong Kong. The rest of the four local deputy
general managers were with substantial working experiences with Western hotel chains. All
interviews were taped, except one respondent felt it was too sensitive. Then notes were taken during
the interview. All notes and tapes were transcribed into English for analysis. The computer package,
Non-numerical Unstructured Data for Indexing, Search and Theorizing (NUDIST) was used to
analyze the data. This includes the process of coding and finding themes. Basically, the analysis
follows the “constant comparative analysis” which proposed by (Strauss & Corbin 1998). The key is
to let themes/categories emerged from the data. The texts were also analyzed using “discourse
analysis technique as well. This technique has been used in previous qualitative leadership study
(Alvesson & Seveningsson, 2003). Mainly, this is to investigate the level of meaning, that is, the
ideas, understandings, and orientation of people or to understand the language used in a social context
(Alvesson & Seveningsson, 2003; Potter, & Wethererell, 1994). In the present study, these are the
contexts of hotel industry and China.
FINGDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Major Themes Emerged from the Interviews of Study 1 and Study 2

From the interviews of Study 1 and Study 2, there were several themes emerged:
1. Leadership and professionalism in the contexts of hotel and China
a) Hotel-industry expertise, professional knowledge and image
b) Different perception of “Professionalism” from different job levels
c) Professionalism and roles of expatriates
2. Leadership and culture under the context of joint-venture/international hotels in China
a) Cultural differences, communication and building trusting relations
b) The clash of local culture and international practices
1. Leadership and Professionalism in the Contexts of Hotel and China
a) Hotel-industry expertise, professional knowledge and image
One of the key findings from these two studies is that hotel-industry expertise, professional
knowledge and image are important for hotel expatriates to build up a positive image and therefore
help them to exercise their power and establish their influence among their local subordinates. For
example, to the Resident Manager, Joe, ”Professional skill” could mean proficiency in certain
international language, such as English. With his years of experience in the 4 and 5 stars hotel
operations which there will be many opportunities for front line staff to interact with international
guests. A demonstration of the ability to communicate with international guest is a professional skill
in this context:
….Actually, people who have hotel working experience in China are appealed to foreign
employers and investors. It is because they receive good training from us (hotel) during the
employment. They can perform their job professionally as they can speak good English. They
can handle jobs efficiently by using different computer software. Other companies are willing
to pay them more because they don’t need extra trainings.
(The expatriate, Joe)
A demonstration of good English is not only a language skill for a non-native speaker, it
could help someone to build up a good image from subordinates in the China hotel setting:
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Yes, I have a good impression of Mr. Xu (The RM, Joe). He talked to our receptionists in
English from the very beginning.
(The receptionist, Tu)
Expertise in the field of Sales and Marketing could help a leader/manager to build a positive
image among local subordinates in the context of Sales and Marketing Department in a hotel. For
example, Joe started as a receptionist in a hotel and worked in various posts in different hotels.
Then, he moved his way up based on his expertise in the sales and marketing area. One of his local
subordinates has the following comment on him: R=Researcher K=Kim, Sales and Marketing Assistant
R: So you are from the Sales and Marketing Department?

K: Yes.
R: How long have you been working here?
K: Since September.
R: I heard that Mr. Xu (The RM, Joe) also worked in sales and marketing area before?
K: Yes, he has excellent knowledge and experience in this field. He is really somebody!
Besides, language skill, expert knowledge and experience in the hotel industry, “Presentation
skill” is important to build image especially in the hotel setting. Joe, perceived that this is one of the
important professional skills for a leader in the hotel industry, especially in the context of 4-5 stars
hotel. However, some local members of the senior management team, such as the local Deputy
General Manager not meeting this standard. To Joe, this is not acceptable:
The first thing is “presentation”, that is about the way you act and the way you talk. A leader
should be presentable. It is because I found that most of the Mainland deputy general managers
or deputy chairman who work at senior level, do not have such skill. They are not presentable
and also, not knowledgeable. Yes, without these, you are empty, you are blank, you have no
way to show your leadership.
(The expatriate, Joe)
It should note that the previous quotations also indicate the importance of the background and
profile of the leader/manager in relation to building a positive image. In other words, as suggested in
the conceptual model, leader characteristics is also one of the contextual constraints for prototype
generation.
b) Different perception of “Professionalism” from different job levels
The previous section shows how the senior hotel manager/the expatriate seeing what he meant by
“Professional”, the following two interviewees expressed their different meanings of “Professional
skills”. The first front-line staff perceived professional skill in a more technical level in the context of
front office: R = Researcher T = Tu, Receptionist from Front office
R: What do you think a leader should be? What capability a leader should have?
T: I think he should have professional skills.
R: Can you give me an example?
T: For the receptionist, such as handling some problems from tour groups or some walk in
guests; some operational problem such as guests complaints.
It seems that even the expatriate and locals mentioned the same category of “Professional
skills”, they constructed different meanings to them. Junior staff expect senior staff to know not only
technical skills but more and beyond. The following short dialogue gives another example of how the
contextual factor of difference in levels in an organization might impact on leadership perception:
R=Researcher L=Lui, The PR assistant
R: Responsibility, ok, what else you think important to a leader.

L: Professional.
R: In what way of professional?
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L: I think be professional in leadership……. But if you are a leader, you have to be more
professional than other staff.
In short, it seems to suggest from these conversations that in order to build up the image of a
leader, senior staff need to show and demonstrate their professional knowledge and skills in front of
their staff or serve as a “role model”. The next part explains this further.
c) Professionalism and roles of expatriates
One Western expatriate perceived that “developing a team, teaching and coaching” is an
important “professional skill” or his role to play, especially in the context of China as one of the
developing countries. He explained in details how he felt to be a Resident Manager as different from
working abroad or other industry:
When looking at the professional skills, just look at the overall development of your team.
When I was asked abroad, people wouldn’t have understanding what it is like as a resident
manager in China, even outside of the industry they do not have a clue. So what I am doing
here is teaching common sense. There are so many, many things that you have to teach, to
explain, to talk about to my local team. They have not been to abroad. They don’t have the
chance at all. They never seen it before, how can they understand? We talk about international
customer expectation. They don’t know. They never themselves stay in a hotel before. They
never have the food; they never slept in the bed like this; they never enjoy the functioning air
condition 24 hours. We are surprised when a junior technician does not understand why a guest
is unhappy. And I look at all things together. We put a project together for them to understand
all these, not just the solution. ……It’s a coaching exercise, non stop all day long. Otherwise
things will get out of hand ultimately. Not only here in China, all other developing countries
are the same.
(Interviewee A)
This image of “teacher/trainer/coach” of hotel expatriates also shared by the local managers.
For example, the following interviewee thinks that expatriates have the role of providing their
professional knowledge and skills to the locals. He perfectly understand the need for technology
transfer from the expatriates, to borrow and use their expertise.
First, as a Chinese, I should say… You need to know management and technology are much
more advanced in Germany than in China. Since you have invited the European investor and
management company, you should know you need to use their know-how and techniques. This
should be clarified. You should learn from your partner. Do not be too arrogant. Do not assume
Chinese knows everything. If you know everything, you do not need to invite them. You
manage your business yourself. So we talked to the owners… if you are capable of managing a
hotel, or you are capable of doing everything, why do you invite the managing company. If
you invite them, you should know they have the expertise.
(Interviewee E)
2. Leadership and Culture under the Context of Joint-Venture/International Hotels in China
a) Cultural differences, communication and building trusting relations
The following extract describes some of the difficulties for a hotel expatriate to build up his
leadership in a joint-venture context:
The first thing of course is, when you have cultural difference, to build the link of trust and
confidence on both side. For me, that’s the most important thing. When looking at the
professional skills, just look at the overall development of your team…………………. You
know the language barrier, because the main obstacle is language barrier. I am
communicating with them, there are many good in English. However, one thing Mr. Chan
(The GM of his hotel, a Hong Kong Chinese) keep saying ,”You are doing pretty well! You
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are okay. The only problem is that you are speaking too fast. That’s something you don’t
realise”.
(Interviewee A)
This German expatriate manager explains the importance of “trust” and “confidence” in terms
of the nature of cultural difference and the joint-venture partnership. To further enhance this
partnership on both sides, it is necessary for the “professional skill” of developing a team spirit in the
hotel. He perfectly understand the barrier for doing all these lies in the language. Therefore a “good
communication skill” becomes a key as a leader in this context.
However from a local perspective, it is difficult to build up a “trust” relation in the context of
expatriate and local. It is because some expatriates do not understand or respect the local practice. The
following dialogues show the local manager explained his perception of the different meanings
between Assistant Manager (in Chinese “Jor li jing li”) and Deputy Manager (in Chinese “Fu jing
li”). It shows how the differences in perception and understanding between the expatriate and local
might harm the “relationship or trust” from each part. Moreover, this local manager interpreted this
case as an “unequal distribution of power” and a kind of “colonialism”: R=Researcher F=Interviewee
F: ……….In all departments, managers are all foreigners, assistant managers and deputies are
Chinese. But foreign managers are frequently questioning: why do we need deputies? They
said that we do not need deputies. Then whom do they need? (They would say) we need
assistants.
R: What is the difference between “deputy” and “assistant”?
F: Ha, Ha, it is different! In fact, I wanted to learn from you to see what do you think are the
difference (in English).
R: Is it not only the name or it is related to something else (in English)?.
F: Yes, it is the position power distribution (in English).
R: You just follow what he says. That is how I perceived the different terms.
F: That is different… that is different.
R: In Chinese, is it there are difference in translation of “jaw li” (assistant) or “fu li” (deputy)?
F: Yes, they are different.
R: In Chinese, how do you say deputy manager?
F: Fu jing li (deputy manager). Deputy managers can participate in the decision making. As
an assistant manager, I just do what you tell me to do. What you said is supposed to be right.
So, sometimes we have to take a different approach. Towards the foreigners, we say that we
are assistant managers. Towards the Chinese, we say that we are “Fu jing li”(deputy
managers). Why? Because what is important is in the job tilte, how you write
there.………………….Now Westerners come to China and manage an enterprise. It is
impossible for them to be successful to run a business without relying on Chinese. But how to
use Chinese to manage Chinese, although it is not a good phrase, it is true that when you go to
another place, you have to use the people there. Now, we talk about globalization, business
without boundaries. Then business from US can be run in Europe. European business can be
run in Australia, and Australian business can be run in China. Wherever you run your business,
you should rely on the local people. If you do not rely on the local people, nobody helps you,
you will be isolated. No business at all. …………………..Why do I say all these?… It is some
kind of colonialism.”
It is interesting to note that in order to “save face” or establish image to exercise power
more effective in an organization, local managers “take a different approach” to handle the cultural
issue of positional “title” or to avoid “cultural conflict”. In Chinese culture, job title is an important
symbol for “power” and “level’ in the hierarchy of an organization. Sometimes, clash arises from a
difference in cultural context is difficult to avoid. The next part provide an example on this issue.
b) The clash of local cultural and international practices
The setting of joint-venture/international hotels makes the interactions between expatriates

and locals very complicated. Unfortunately, “it is common for expatriates to believe that it is the
people from the local culture who are deviating from the corporate norm, and to overlook or ignore
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the fact that it is he or she who is deviating from the norms of the host country” (Littrell, 2002, p.14).
In fact, there is always a conflict for the expatriates to maintain the “international practice” and clash
with the local practice. I was told in an interview from a local deputy general manager (Mr. X) of a
five star hotel, who refused to be taped, the following story:
Mr. X quoted me a case of conflict in dismissing two staff members; one expatriate manager
and one local staff. The male expatriate was found to have an affair with a local female staff
who had married. While the foreign management thought that this was not a misconduct in the
work place and these two staff should not be fired, the Chinese management insisted on that it
was morally incorrect and accusing the expatriate manager taking advantage or abuse of his
positional power. Mr X commented that this as an example of having a professional
qualification but without knowledge of local culture; this was not enough for an expatriate to
manage a hotel effectively in the Chinese setting.
As mentioned previously that Hollows & Lewis (1995) noted the differences of business
environment in China, Pine (2002), after an overview of the potential opportunities and challenges for
the massive market in China’s hotel industry concluded that, “To prosper, however, international
firms will have to appreciate China’s political, social, and cultural frameworks, in particular the need
to work with local partners who are part of the guanxi network. I have found that even foreign
companies with a history of working in China still encounter frustrations in their efforts to do business
there.” (p.70).
As indicated from the findings of interview studies, “Professionalism” is a key theme of the
leadership perceptions of staff in the contexts of hotel industry and China. Professional skills and
image are important for hotel managers, especially expatriates to establish their influence among their
subordinates simply because developing countries need the “technology transfer” and “technical
competencies” of these skillful staff to help to develop their local staff and running the operations
(Pine, 1991 & 2002; Yu & Goh 1995). From the qualitative interview, it also found that hotel
expatriates perceived themselves as “educator/trainer/coach” or a “cultural broker”
Under the macro-context of China expanding substantially in her tourism industry and
becoming world’s number-one tourist destination (WTO 2020), though there is the trend of
localization, she still need the professionalism of hotel expatriates and to play different roles in
training and operations. In addition, one recent research indicates that the power of “Professional
Image” need to draw for more attention, especially in twenty-first century where there is the
increasing diversity of employees in the process of globalization of multinational corporations
(Roberts, 2005). The researcher points out that, “Professional image construction has important
implications for achieving social approval, power, well-being, and career success” (p.687).
In this respect, local managers with professional skills will definitely be an asset for them to
gain the respect from their fellow staff in the organization. In the old days, there was still the struggle
of “Red” and “Professional”; in particular, in state enterprises that emphasis of communistic values
and goals against expertise in one’s profession (Zhang, Pine & Lam 2005, p.98). In the new era and
the context of international/joint-venture hotels, with the process of localization, only those local
managers with professional knowledge and skills in the hospitality industry could take up some of the
senior management positions. In addition, though the hardware of some three stars or lower rank
hotels are not as good as those four and five stars or international hotels, they definitely need staff
with high standard and professionals to manage. Other studies also indicated that there are plenty
rooms for improvement in the software in China’s hotel industry (Pine & Philips, 2005; Zhang et al.,
2005).
The literature has already indicated that there were different problems encountered by
expatriate hotel managers with local staff. The qualitative interviews from this study also confirmed
with this. The context of joint-venture/international hotels are especially complicated with the
structure constraints such as Chinese ownership and Western management, cultural differences in
making difficulties in communication, understanding and the conflict of international standards and
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local practices. One previous research found in a survey that the accommodation sector was perceived
to be the most professional as compared to other sectors in the tourism and hospitality (Sheldon,
1989). This study also identified twelve criteria of professionalism which included: (1) Long
Training/Education; (2) Code of Ethnics; (3) Organized; (4) Complex Occupation; (5) Altruistic
Service; (6) Body of Knowledge; (7) People-Oriented; (8) Licensed; (9) High Prestige; (10)
Competence Tested; (11) Self-employed; (12) High Income. In light of globalization and
internationalization of the hotel industry, perhaps certain criteria needed to be revised or added; such
as an international language competence and cultural sensitivity.
To give an example from the comment of an interviewee from this study, regarding the clash
of local culture and international practices, Mr. X commented his case that “this is an example of
having a professional qualification but without knowledge of local culture; this is not enough for an
expatriate to manage a hotel effectively in the Chinese setting”. Sutton (1996, p.189) also suggested
that, “Developing cultural awareness is considered to be a professional obligation for all managers in
order to help them become more aware of values, habits, customs, and lifestyles of their workforce,
all of which must understood in order to develop an effective environment”.
Some researcher based in America have identified that ethnical behavior and strategic-
management acumen, instead of hotel-industry expertise, as core competencies for future hospitality
leaders; “Acquiring hotel-industry expertise pales in a future-oriented competencies model in favor of
mangers’ ethical behavior and strategic-management acumen” (Chung-Herrera et al., 2003, p.17).
They also hoped that their model “could be used as a prototype to guide people’s aspirations in the
coming years and to create future leaders” (p.20). However, as indicated from the research findings
from this study, industry expertise, professional knowledge and image are still important for
managers/expatriates to establish influence among their subordinates/locals, as under the current stage
of development and context of the China hotel industry. Should this be a result of globalization of the
industry that “Professionalism” with a “strong cultural sensitivity” becomes an imperative skill? Or
this contribute to the sample of hotel staff in this study is not at a corporate level, therefore their
concern is more on operations rather than strategic issues? (According to the authors, their samples
were a total of 137 senior-level industry executives at various hotel companies. Participants’ positions
ranged from directors to CEO or chair of international hotel chains and corporations. As a contrast,
the sample in this study is more operational level and even managers were not at corporate level)
Further study is needed.
All in all, “Professionalism” seems an important industry characteristic in the context of

China’s hotel industry. As contrast to Hollows & Lewis (1995, p.275)’s analysis of Chinese culture
that “authority is based on morality rather than expertise”, either this is an industry characteristics or
the cultural paradigm has been shifted in this respect. In addition, previous research indicated that
national culture has a greater effect than industry culture on managerial behavior (Pizam, Pine, Mok
& Shin 1997), as a contrast, the results from this study seems to suggest that industry cultural
characteristic, “Professionalism”, has a greater impact on leadership perception.
IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
As “Professionalism” is one of the most important leadership themes perceived by different

level of staff in the contexts of hotel and China, different participants/players in the hospitality
industry should be aware of this. For international hotel chains and expatriate managers, they should
maintain their roles to provide “technology transfer” and expertise to the locals; showing them their
high standard and international practice of running hospitality organization with effective
management and excellent service to the customers. In addition, they should be more aware of those
contextual constraints such as organizational structure, cultures, values and local practices. Local staff
(both managers and subordinates) should also aware of different aspects of the international practices
and build a cultural sensitivity for working in a multicultural context. They should also make every
opportunity to learn and equip themselves through “professional development” programs and build up
a mindset of lifelong learning. Local staff could join those international professional bodies such as
79
HCIMA, AHMA to update their knowledge in the field and build up their professional status as well.
Government, hospitality trade associations and professional bodies in China should work more closely
among themselves and making alliances with international bodies to build up a professional image of
staff working in this industry. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, these are actually
undergoing in China now. Hotel managers in state-owned hotels are now required to hold formal
academic qualifications or training relate to the hotel industry. Some local hotel managers are now
taking the qualification of Certified Hospitality Administrator (CHA). “Professionalism” is a key for
future competition and growth as China becomes a member of WTO.
To conclude, despite the limitation of this study based on small samples of hotel staff, the
conceptual model of integrating the macro and micro perspectives of studying leadership is an useful
guide to explore leadership perception in the contexts of hotel industry and China. The key finding of
“Professionalism” as an unique characteristic of leadership quality/skill in the China hotel industry
seems strongly relate to the contexts of the hotel development and the particular economic
development process which happening in China (Macro-perspective). In addition, this finding
provides an useful guide for leaders/managers or followers/subordinates to aware the different
contextual elements which might impact on their leadership perception (Micro-perspective). The
outcome is to have a better understanding and matching between leaders/managers or
followers/subordinates in leadership perception and to build a strong team in the organization for the
competitive environment.
REFERENCES
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of the nine-factor full-range leadership theory using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. The
Leadership Quarterly, 14(3), 261-295
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GROWTH OF FAST FOOD INDUSTRY IN THE INDIAN SCENARIO – A RESULT OF THE
SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROWTH AND EMERGING EATING OUT HABITS
Y. G. Tharakan
Department of Hotel Operations
Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration
ABSTRACT
Fast food is one of the world’s fastest growing food types. This paper tries to explore the
various aspects for the development of eating out habits with reference to the Indian scenario which
resulted in the exponential growth of Fast food industry. The paper also makes an attempt to
understand the close relationship of Fast food with Street food.
The development of Food & Beverage industry is closely related to the economic conditions
of the country. A detailed analysis of the socio-economic conditions prevailing in India during 1930’s
to 2000 has been made to understand the effect of this on the growth of Food & Beverage industry in
India. As a result it was found that the exponential growth of Fast food industry was closely related to
the disposable income of the people with more women entering the working folk and children
ordering food from Fast food outlets once they reach home. Older age group tend to buy fast food for
more positive reasons such as “fancied that meal” and “wanted treat” than the younger group who
more frequently claim fast food purchase as a result of “too late to cook”, “on the way home” or “no
time to cook”.
Key Words: Fast food, Street food, Restaurant, Convenience food, Food safety.
INTRODUCTION
Fast food counters are growing at large in today’s Food and Beverage industry. With the
increasing trend in the eating habits of people towards eating out, more and more fast food outlets are
being developed. Fast food is one of the world’s fastest growing food types. Is Fast food a modern
version of what is called Street food? This paper tries to explore the various aspects for the
development of eating out habits with reference to the Indian scenario that resulted in the exponential
growth of Fast food industry and its close relationship with Street food.
Eventhough modern era Fast Food is thought about in terms of modern chain restaurants, food
historians claim that the first Fast Food restaurants were thermopolium operated by ancient Romans.
By various definitions “Fast Food” and “Street Food” are the two sides of a coin. According
to John Mariani, American food historian, the term “Fast Food” was first coined by George G. Foster
in 1848. It became popular in 1960’s as a by-product of the Industrial revolution. People on the go
(working) required fast, economical and portable foods. They started buying lunch near their place of
work. Consequently, most cultures and cuisines have tried to develop shortcut options to traditional
dining customs.
The very term “Fast food” is ambiguous in nature. In some cases it relates the speed of food
served at chain restaurants. The adjective “Fast” may be a misnomer, as the consumer has to wait for
his ordered Pizza at a Pizza hut as long as he does at a traditional Italian restaurant.
The construction of suitable widely used definitions has never proved easy as the fast food
operations and fast food outlets are complex in nature. The definition of the term may be based on
• The wide variety of fast food products

Fried chicken, hamburger, fish & chips, hot dogs, pizza, pasta, sandwich etc.
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Pakoras, samosas, pava wada
Noodles, biriyanis, rotis
• The various contexts or areas for consumption.

On the premises
In restaurants
Off the premises – at home, in vehicles in street
• The varying type of technology

Coin operated vending machines
Computer operated dispensing units
NCR Machines
• The differing delivery systems.

Restaurant counter service
Drive through
Home delivery
• The substitutability of fast food with other products.

Snack foods
Confectionery
Other restaurant and grocery products
The definition of fast food is also based on the intrinsic product and its delivery and contains
the features like.
• Finished product in few minutes – hot fast food.

• Quick product finishing and service times.
• Suitability of eating with fingers.
• Disposable packaging and cutlery for take away option.
• Low monetary price relative to other restaurant products.
On the other hand “Street Food” is defined as authentic regional or national fresh food
prepared right in front of your eyes served across the counter on the street with varied choices of
accompaniments and sauces offered as optional at an affordable price. Variety ingredient display and
show man ship at the counter make the street food a unique food of the mass.
The characteristics of fast food restaurants are similar to other restaurants in terms of
standardization, location and low work force. On the whole, fast food generally means food served to
a patron at a self-service counter or through a drive through window. It may be prepared in advance or
it may be cooked to order as is generally true in the pizza chains. Traditional fast food operation
concepts include fish and chips shops; ethnic and mobile take aways and sandwich bar operations.
These are mostly owned by individual proprietor and run as small single units with low capital costs
and using family labour and do not need qualifications. These concepts tend to rely on traditional and
fairly labour intensive on site food preparation and presentation. They use simple technologies and
make little use of marketing techniques.
Modern fast food operations are identified as fast food chains manufacturing production lines
with design and layout of restaurants, scheduling of work and procedures of work, systematically
planned to produce consistently standardized products.
Fast food is now a worldwide phenomenon with more people than ever consuming fast food
products both in their own country and abroad. The sector generates large revenues for its providers
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and is a valuable constructor to the government revenues, economic growth, the balance of payments
and employment in many countries. Fast food has had a major impact upon our diets, our personal
spending, our social life and environment. The sector has also been the driving force behind many
recent technological, marketing, managerial and other developments in the international hospitality
industry, many of which have been adopted by other industries. The high profile multinational chains
have been at the forefront of these developments.
The primary motivation for eating at fast food restaurants rather than some other type of
dining establishment relates to lack of time and consequently the effectiveness of fast food industry
depends on convenience, location and speed of service.
Fast food now accounts for roughly half of all restaurant revenues in the developed countries
and continues to expand there and in many other industrial countries in the coming years. But some of
the rapid growth is occurring in the developing world; where it is radically changing the way people
eat. People buy fast food because it is cheap, easy to prepare and heavily promoted. The lone source
of optimism for the future growth of fast food consumption lies in the continuing gradual increase in
the percent of women in the labour force. The percentage of women who work has increased steadily
over the past two decades.
Reasons for purchasing fast food also varies by age, to a far greater extent by gender, socio-
economic group, geographical area and marital status. Fast food and college life go together like a
burger, fries and a coke. Older age group tend to buy fast food for more positive reasons such as
“fancied that meal” and “wanted treat” than the younger group who more frequently claim fast food
purchase is a result of “too late to cook”, “on the way home” or “no time to cook”.
There has been a fair amount of hype in the eating out trends of “new Indian consumer” who
has suddenly sprung on to the scene after liberalization. India is, has been and will continue to be
multi-tiered and multi-culture market. The Indian consumer may be arranged as a hierarchial pyramid
with a small top. The small top (a million and a half house holds) who may be referred to as “cost –
benefit optimizers” who are always seeking value for money. Under them are the climbers (55 million
house holds) whom may be called “cash constrained benefit seekers”. For this group cash is in short
supply but aspirations are not. Below them are two classes – the “aspirants” (45 million house holds),
who are entrants into the consumption culture and “destitutes” (30 million house holds) who basically
exist from day to day. What the fast food is essentially looking at is the top two levels in the pyramid
and the street food at the bottom two levels.
The ethnic and mobile takeaways, kebab corners, sandwich bar operations which are
classified under street foods are mostly owned by individual proprietor and usually run as small single
units having low capital costs managed by the use of family labour with no necessity for
qualifications. They usually rely on simple technologies and adopt onsite preparation and
presentation.
Fast food is characterized by smooth operation. The principal control adopted is door time: 3
½ minutes is the control average: 1 ½ minutes queuing and 1 minute serving. Capital costs are high
for production equipment. The menu range is narrow with the equipment often being specially
developed to do one job. This is essentially one cell or family of related parts of one product.
Increase in volume required is met by increasing the speed of foods through the system. This
is achieved by increasing labour and by duplicating the same cell. Workers are multi-functional but
often of low skill. Staffing can be applied to a number of parts depending on volume through out put.
This type of staffing can give high job satisfaction (although short-term) similar to the rotation of
chefs through partie system. This operation comes nearer to the continuous flow ideal and is often
quoted as a classic just-in-time system. The principles of manufacturing exist in both fast food and
cook-chill system. The fast food system is primarily based upon one-cell system. All systems use
variations in the number of workers to control costs.
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Fast food industry is responsive in terms of meeting the need for speed and convenience but
fall short in product quality, friendliness of service and value for price.
The various types of Fast food operations are
Restaurants, café and more recently hotels with take away or home delivery facilities
Bakery retail outlets
Hospital, school and other welfare and educational catering services
Public houses
Garage fore court shops
Retail grocery, pharmacy chain stores and super markets.
Leisure and sports centre, swimming pools, night club etc.
Industrial and office complexes
Transport catering facilities – railway stations, trains, ferries, airports
Fish and chips shops, sandwich bars and other hot and cold take aways
Branded or themed chain outlets selling fast food for consumption on or off the premises
Even though by the various definitions the fast food and street food are the two sides of a
coin, the modern fast food is identified as restaurants with proper design and layout with systematic
processing of food through production lines for consistent standardized products.
The street food is an indigenous concept which prevailed in various countries such as UK,
Germany and in India even before the US concept of fast food transferred to world markets during
1970’s and 1980’s.
The history of mobile street vending can be traced back to military field mess units. The idea
of cooking and serving food from portable canteens evolved over time. Ancient Romans hawked
Street foods in marketplaces and sold them in sporting venues. Street foods were also sold at fairs,
tournaments and other large gatherings. Today, this is called “Fast food”.
Between the comfortable order of home and ill-fitting pretense of restaurants lie the street.
The types of items consumed on the street are generally determined by the traditional food of the
country/region. The popularity of the foods depends upon the time and place.
The dish is always prepared in front of one – a magical coming together of ingredients put
together with an artisanal flourish. Street food uses everyday ingredients but in a completely new way.
You simply cannot replicate street food at home – even the ordinary masala that you get wit guava is
available only in street.
Street food captures the essence of a place in terms of what it really responds to. One can
think of street food as a moving map of a city’s culture. It translates culture into the language of the
tongue on a continuous basis.
As a city collects its inhabitants from a wide range of migrants, street food gradually alters its
character to reflect the tastes of its residents. It is a testament of both the city as it was and it is
becoming.
Street food at a given place is far more interesting than restaurant food. Generally speaking, it
is likely to represent well established local traditions and in some places a tour of hawker’s stalls may
be the quickest and most agreeable method of getting the feel of local foods. Climate seems to be the
most important factor that determines how numerous and diverse street foods are in a particular
country. A temperate or warm climate makes these operations much easier. Another factor is the
degree of economic development. Broadly speaking, developed countries have fewer street foods. A
list of the most famous and wide spread street foods would certainly include ice cream, doughnut,
hamburger and hot dog.
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The more convivial side of Roman’s night life is represented by the taverns and hot food
stalls. They were more than a nocturnal luxury – a daily necessity in a crowded city where poorer
inhabitants could not possibly have risked lighting a cooking fire in their tenements. Every body, even
emperors ate street food.
Several studies were conducted to understand the ways to improve the income of street food
vendors and the safety of the food they sell. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and
independent scholars expanded their study to many other cities other than the provincial cities in the
seven countries.
Two issues are paramount: Governmental attitudes toward the street food trade and efforts
within and outside the government to train vendors in food handling and to offer them other services.
Once the studies proved the importance of street foods in the economy of a city and in the food habits
of the citizens, municipal authorities reserved their attempts to eradicate vendors and their carts.
Despite bomb threats, a city council woman passed legislation to legitimize carts in downtown
Manila. In Nigeria, local authorities have erected mini-food malls for vendors to protect them from
the wrath of the national military government.
An estimated two and a half billion people worldwide consume street foods. Because of its
low cost and convenience, street food is an indispensable part of urban and rural diets in the
developing world. In India, the street food trade in Kolkata alone is estimated as producing a profit of
nearly US$ 100 million per year. But there are risks also. Food stalls often lack the necessary storage,
refrigeration and cooking facilities to prevent contamination with bacteria such as Salmonella. In
warm, moist conditions a single bacterium can duplicate into 17 million disease-bearing organisms in
just eight hours.
Food safety is a global issue but street foods are generally no or contaminated than food
served in local restaurants or in the average home.
DEVELOPMENT OF FAST FOOD IN INDIA
The development of Food and Beverage (F & B) industry is closely related to the economic
conditions of the country. The following table illustrates how the economic conditions led to the
development of Fast Food in India.
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Table 1
The growth of F & B industry with the socio-economic condition –
Development of Fast Food in India
Decade Socio-economic condition F & B industry in India
1930’s • Pre Second World War period • Only a few luxury hotels in India. (Great
when British influence was very Eastern in Calcutta, Taj in Bombay and
strong Imperial in Delhi)
• Rich and middle class people were • Good food in reasonable surroundings were
very less. Majority were available only at railway stations. Bigger
uneducated and poor. stations had separate dining for Western and
• A very small market for hotels and Indian food.
restaurants and the competition • Indian operated restaurants that served
was very less. inexpensive food were mainly vegetarian.
• Only the rich and affluent traveled • Purohits in Bombay served food in pure silver
abroad for pleasure and studies. thalis at a very reasonable price.
• There was no limitation on • There was only limited menu in restaurants
imports. and only very few pastry shops were present.
• Chicken was the most expensive non-
vegetarian product and fish was mainly eaten
by people in coastal regions.
• No true Indian professional in the industry.
1940’s • Period of Second world war. Life • With the coming in of American troops in
style was influenced by allied early 40’s, business improved with Indians
troops along with continued starting restaurants but there was only limited
influence of British. menu.
• It was the period of independence • There were very few pastry shops and people
and the beginning of fast growth still ate mithais.
of new aggressive trading and • Tandoori chicken was launched in Moti Mahal,
industrial business houses resulted Delhi.
in the emergence of competition. • But chicken was still a luxury and fish was a
• Because of Second world war only coastal eating habit.
few people could travel up to 1946 • Chinese restaurants were basically in Calcutta
after which foreign holiday travel and Bombay and in Bombay over 500 Irani
was started by the rich and a few restaurants offered snacks and limited meal
went for studies. items.
• Imports which were difficult • Most restaurants offering continental food had
during the Second World War live bands and dance floors on Sundays.
were opened up again.
1950’s • British influence starts decreasing • First new luxury hotel The Ashoka was opened
but still lingered on till the end of in New Delhi and few speciality restaurants
the decade. opened in luxury hotels.
• Induatrialization began and small • The first modern cafeteria was opened in Delhi
entrepreneurs emerged. in 1950 and similar restaurants started opening
• A true middle class who looked at in larger towns.
value for money emerged. • South Indian restaurants started opening in
• Middle class students started different parts of India and North Indian food
getting scholarships for studying started being offered in South and Eastern
abroad and few people started India.
going abroad for studying hotel • Chinese restaurants started in Delhi and new
and restaurant management. pastry shops were started by Indians.
• Imports tightened up by the • People started carrying meals from home to
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middle of their offices.
• “Frying Pan” era was developed.
1960’s • Industrialization took root. Small • First independent speciality restaurant started
entrepreneurs developed and in 1960. First international quality hotel, The
middle class started increasing. Oberoi Intercontinental opened in New Delhi.
• Cities got larger with inflow of • Restaurant menus still featured a large variety
villages and people looking for of continental and Indian food.
jobs. • Chinese food restaurants began in all major
• People started traveling abroad in cities.
comparatively large numbers for • People started buying lunch near their place of
education and business. work..
• Imports were restricted and import • Chicken was the most expensive product and
duties high with import license fish was still a novelty to most in North India.
requirements. • Bread started becoming a daily feature in
• First catering institute was opened normal house holds.
in Bombay and then in Delhi. • First modern flight catering kitchen was set up.
• Sharp devaluation of rupee.
Imported goods became very
expensive.
1970’s • Industrialization takes off and a • Chinese restaurants appeared in large towns
local middle class started and Indian restaurants started growing fast.
developing. • More modern hotels opened with speciality
• Cities and towns got larger. restaurants. The affluent started shifting from
• Apart from people travelling multi-cuisine restaurants to those in luxury
abroad for studies, small business hotels.
men and entrepreneurs travelled • The first modern fast food restaurant chain
for technical help. started in New Delhi in early 1970’s.
• By the end of the decade women • Weddings started to be arranged in hotels.
started getting professional jobs. • Chicken was still the most expensive item.
• Development of catering institutes However, North Indians started getting fond of
in other major cities in all regions. fish in larger numbers.
1980,s • Increasing industrialization and • New hotels continued to open with specialty
availability of modern products. restaurants taking away customers from the
• Increasing urbanization with traditional multi-cuisine independent
middle class getting larger. restaurants.
• All women do not learn cooking • Continental foods became less popular and
and more and more women started other regional food restaurants started.
working to improve their family’s • Chinese and Indian food restaurants kept
standard of living. Movement opening up. Chinese food was now available in
against stereo typed role of women smaller towns also.
began. • Pastry shops started opening and flourishing.
• Foreign travel increased • Fast food restaurants opened all over India
substantially for pleasure, from the mid 80’s onwards.
education and business. • Air conditioning became a necessity for many
• Beginning of TV culture even customers.
though programmes were limited. • Property values and labour costs rose.
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1990,s • Delhi and Bombay now had more • Independent food restaurants started offering
than 10 million people. international food such as Thai, Italian etc at
• Foreign travel became quite lower prices. Traditional continental and
common for many. French cuisines were still not popular.
• Imports opened up and quality and • Competition got stronger not only from foreign
variety of Indian products started food outlets but also from new Indian
improving. restaurants and restaurants started closing
• Foreign restaurant chains like down due to competition.
TGIF, Dominos, McDonald’s • Home delivery of food started and became
were allowed entry in mid 90’s. popular.
There were over 50 such foreign • Pubs, independent bars were started.
brand food outlets in Delhi. • Banquet business became a major business.
• Higher salaries which were • Theme restaurants were developed
associated with increase in work successfully with the start of professionalism
pressure. in F & B industry.
• Satellite TV became common for • A wide variety of restaurants now met the
all urban areas and life style got requirements of different income levels.
affected. • Experimentation started with Indian food to
• Service sector grew substantially make it less heavy.
in segments such as computer • Masala dosa, vada, tandoori chicken, North
software, courier service etc. Indian curry and rasgulla were now found in
• More than 100catering institutes in all parts of the country.
the country. • Processed food were still used only very little.
• More and more women started • Bread became a necessity.
working and getting full time
domestic staff became difficult.
2000 • Foreign travel becomes common • More competition in the food service industry.
with many increased visits for • Restaurants have become more of a necessity
holidays. and part of the infra structure requirement.
• Increase in wages resulting in • Hotels try to limit the number of in-house
increase in work pressure. restaurants and start taking franchises of chain
• Increase in urbanization. Greater restaurants.
traffic congestion due to lower • More women are working and children order
priced second hand cars. food when they come back home.
• Middle class grow further in • Eating out is taken for granted as a part of day
number and percentage. to day life.
• Women work at all levels even in • More independent luxury restaurants and
small towns and full time domestic specialization and theme restaurants have
staff is available only for the rich. opened.
• Private catering institutes has • Niche market for western foods has grown.
improved and become amongst the • Commissaries and bulk food production units
best in the country and large using most modern food processing and
culinary institutes started in preserving systems led to the development of
different regions. convenience foods.
• Processed food industry started • Fast growth of institutional catering –
developing with pre processed factories, railways, hospitals etc.
foods both Indian and foreign • Use of computer for analysis and cost control
manufactured becoming available. increased.
• Imports are open with relatively • Data base for direct marketing has become a
low import duties and no license necessity.
requirements for imports and
people are free to buy the best
products from any where.
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DIET AND HEALTHY EATING
The consumer’s concern with diet and healthier eating has been one of the main challenges to
fast food operation over recent years. Efforts to include the so called healthy items such as salads,
whole meal buns and fresh juice have also boosted the sales of core fast food menu items such as
burgers, pizzas and fried chicken.
The addition of healthy items to fast food menus is likely to continue. Other trends for the
future include the continued shift towards the use of polyunsaturated oils, the development and use of
new cooking methods, the continued search for healthy raw materials and the increased promotion
and distribution of nutritional information by fast food operations.
Although some people are scornful of the items on fast food menu, calling them “junk food”,
their popularity and success is proven by the fact that from the original McDonald’s opened in
Chicago in 1955, there are now over 10,000 outlets world-wide. McDonald’s offer customers a
nutrition guide to their products, and also information for diabetes sufferers. One of the prominent
multi-national fast food companies has developed their own university to promote researching,
processing, testing and marketing quality standard menu items which are acceptable by different age
groups. Certain other multi-national fast food companies has tried to develop regional country wise
taste panels to understand the acceptance by incorporating regional items in the fast food menus or by
substitution of ingredients in the original product to make it suitable for acceptance. Menu items are
formulated in combination with regional food or beverages as a package for developing popularity
and acceptance by the people of that region. Martini meals which is served in pubs/cocktail bars is
getting an entry into the fast food outlets as a menu item along with traditional burgers and pizzas.
Not all fast food operations have responded to healthy eating positively. Some have viewed it
as a threat.
FOOD SAFETY
The food safety Act of 1990 provides more efficient powers to deal with unfit food and
unhygienic food premises and introduces the concept of training for food handler for the first time by
law. The FAO/World Health Organization Codex Alimentarius Commision which sets food safety
standards world wide has also been working on street foods. Through its regional Coordinating
Committees, Codex has created guidance documents that will serve as the basis for national and local
regulations on street foods. The first regional document was produced for Latin America and the
Caribbean in 1995. Guidelines produced for Africa followed two years later setting policies for
licensing vendors, setting up street food advisory services and educating consumers about hygienic
practices. These documents form the basis for a regional code of practice, which would then be
adapted by each country and enforced by local authorities. Government of India has entrusted the
Hotel management institutes under the National Council and has provided them with funds and
support for training street food vendors in their locality on hygienic food handling and processing.
CONCLUSION
The exponential growth of Fast Food outlets is a result of the socio-economic changes of a
country. The paper tries to find out the close linkage of Fast Food with Street Food and it is seen that
the food served in the Fast food counters of the different parts of the country is closely related to the
conventional food of the place which in turn was available as Street Food in the olden days and even
now. Even though the Fast food chains has tried to infiltrate into the regional menu it is found that
Fast food counters that serve regional foods are more appealing to the people.
REFERENCES
Ball, S. (1992). Fast Food Operations and Their Management. Publisher - Stanley Thornes, London.
91
Emerson, R. L. (1990). The New Economics of Fast Food. Publisher – VanNostrand Reinhold, USA,
New York.
92
HUMAN RESOURCE POLICY FOR TOURISM
THE MALAYSIAN CASE
Abby Liu
Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies
Aletheia University
and
Geoffrey Wall
Department of Geography
University of Waterloo
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the nature of Malaysia’s social and economic development policies and
the effects that they exert on the formation of strategies for tourism and associated training initiatives.
Although the government has implemented policies to encourage indigenous Malays to become
involved in tourism, cultural preferences have prevented them from doing so. Thus, the government
has not been successful in ameliorating ethnic aversions towards tourism. At the same time, ethnicity-
driven policies may have diminished the multi-cultural characteristics which are an important tourism
asset for Malaysia to distinguish itself from its Asian competitors.
Key Words: ethnicity, culture, development, human resources, policy, Malaysia
INTRODUCTION
Malaysia is an Islamic state which incorporates a mix of ethnic groups. It is comprised of 58

percent Malay and other indigenous people, 27 percent Chinese, 8 percent Indians and 7 percent other
ethnic groups (e.g. Siamese). A mix of Asian ethnic diversity has been the touristic image that has
been used by the state to lure foreign visitors who seek Asian exoticism. However, under the Muslim
dominance of officialdom, the “truly Asia” slogan is inevitably a multi-cultural facade. As signified
by Din (1989b:194): “This discordance in the image projected and the reality reflects a dilemma in
which the government is ideologically committed to uphold Malay-based cultural identity ….” Thus,
in spite of the tourism promotion and at odds with it, the Malay preponderance is reinforced by the
state.
Ethnicity, and associated disparities in wealth and economic opportunities, has consistently
been an issue in Malaysia’s development policies. However, a move towards racial harmony and
national unity can be seen in government policies promoting “social equity” through the elimination
of social and economic inequalities while promoting “a fair and more equitable sharing of the benefits
of economic growth by all Malaysians” (National Development Policy (NDP), in 6th Malaysia Plan,
1991-1995), albeit with a bumiputra (sons of the soil) / non-bumiputra dichotomy.
As a key sub-sector of the services economy, tourism provides immense employment and
income-generation opportunities for Malaysia and plays a pivotal role in attempts to promote ethnic
inclusion in economic activities. In some cases, tourism interests have overridden official taboos. For
example, releases of liquor licenses and an agreement to abolish service taxes on all food sold in bars
have been made possible to facilitate tourism. Interesting questions, thus, arise concerning the extent
to which the tourism objectives of the state contribute to the amelioration of social inequality or
support unequal ethnic access to tourism commerce and are compatible with the fundamental Islamic
values that are promoted by the state. It is important to understand whether the large targeted
population of bumiputras that is prioritized by the government’s development initiatives is able to
participate in tourism development in circumstances in which they have been geographically
disadvantaged, economically backward and, in particular, culturally sensitive to some aspects of
93
tourism. This paper examines the nature of Malaysia’s social and economic development policies and
the effects that they exert on the formation of strategies for tourism and associated training initiatives.
METHODS
Data were collected through a combination of methods involving both quantitative and
qualitative approaches. Data acquisition techniques included: (1) use of secondary information such
as published and unpublished research data and government statistics; (2) participant observation and
informal and in-depth interviews; and (3) questionnaires. Participants in the research project included
tourism employees, tourism workers, students in tourism programs and agencies responsible for
tourism planning. However, not all of these data are reported in this paper. Policy evaluation was
undertaken through examination of the first Malaysia Tourism Master Plan (Government of Malaysia
1975) and a series of five-year Malaysian plans from 1971 to 2005.
MALAYSIA’S DEVELOPMENT RATIONALE
In Malaysia, strong interconnectedness exists between mosque and state. Malaysia’s

development rationale has been characterized by a narrowly defined indigenous conception that
legitimizes bumiputra status and caters to this officially defined majority through “affirmative
actions” (Bunnell 1999:5) in order to address the “indigenous” people’s underprivileged conditions.
However, the sense of indigenousness that is attached cohesively to ethnic attributes is controversially
discordant with the government’s priorities of egalitarianism among all segments of society. A series
of development plans from the 1970s onwards has been arguably at odds with egalitarianism,
predominantly favoring the bumiputra community.
The New Economic Policy (NEP), launched in 1971, provided a set of guidelines for the
federal government for two decades (1971-1990). It stated explicitly the state’s determination to
“restructure Malaysian society to correct economic imbalance so as to reduce and eventually
eliminate the identification of race with economic function”. Mechanisms in the second Malaysia
five-year plan (1971-1975) and four other Malaysian plans released at five-year intervals between
1976 and 1990 were deployed to transfer resources to the socially disadvantaged and economically
marginalized. As declared in the NEP, the main objectives were: (1) the eradication of poverty
irrespective of race; and (2) the elimination of the identification of race with economic function and
geographical distribution.
An equal distribution of material benefits among the Malaysian societies has been the main
perspective prevailing in Malaysia’s development policies since the mid-1970s but inequality is still
vividly delineated in the everyday life of Malaysians. Social parity is interpreted based upon the
distribution of capital that is desired to be proportionately representative of the ethnic composition.
Thus, a greater bumiputra share in commerce and trade is seen as being desirable and as promoting
distributive justice and contributing to political and social stability. The targets in the NEP were to
increase the bumiputras’ holdings of share capital in the corporate sector from 2.4 percent to 30
percent, non-Malays’ share from 34.3 percent to 40 percent and to reduce the share held by foreigners
from 63.3 percent to 30 percent. Many initiatives were taken to expedite this but they have had only
mixed success.
As a further stimulus to bumiputralization, quota systems have been stipulated to secure

employment and education for Malays, proportionate to the composition of the Malaysian population
by ethnicity. For instance, regardless of academic ratings, a 55: 35: 10 distribution of public
university intake makes bumiputra students the dominant group. The remainder is split among non-
bumiputra students in accordance with their ethnic population ratios. Similarly, 50 percent of
employment is set aside for the indigenous population in corporations with over 10 staff.
Both the political climate and policy initiatives have undoubtedly induced expectations
among the indigenous groups that opportunities for participation will be provided in a meaningful and
94
economically significant way. While the majority of the citizens may have welcomed these policies,
the future of bumi-oriented strategies is not straightforward. This is because their non-Malay
counterparts have had to fight for their survival in the face of overwhelming odds favouring
bumiputra dominance and, as a result, are generally more competitive than the Malays. At the same
time, opportunists have started to gain advantages without adhering to the NEP principles. Malays
lend their names to form joint ventures. The bumiputra status gives priorities in the negotiation of
contracts and acquisition of licenses and permits. However, the Malays merely serve as sleeping
partners or promptly sell their businesses to their non-bumiputra partners. In consequence, while the
bumiputras’ share of the capital market might have shown a substantial increase in an official
statistical sense, in reality the owners are often actually still non-Malays. This phenomenon
undermines the strategies of the policy-formulating members of the Malay elite and has resulted in a
loss of enthusiasm on the part of some policy-makers. The state’s preoccupation with all things
“Melayu” (Malay) have made cultural heterogeneity a residual matter throughout the NEP
implementation period and has led to discontent among non-bumiputras’ and, inevitably, loss of a
sense of belonging. Malaysians of Chinese or Indian ethnic origins have become indiscernible or
suppressed in the national economic agenda and commonly view themselves as being relegated to a
second-rate status by NEP. However, social stability has been maintained and racial riots like those
experienced by Indonesian Chinese have been largely avoided.
Despite the flaws in Malaysia’s development rationale, proponents credit the NEP with
promising features, such as “trickle-down, “redistribution with growth” and the “basic needs”
approach to development (e.g. Bruton 1994) as well as the inclusion of efforts to inculcate positive
values and attitudes of self-reliance in development. It is difficult to evaluate the extents to which
national solidarity and the intended economic objectives have been achieved. However, the
development plans appear to have been effective in some areas, such as in contributing to sustained
growth in GDP, significantly reducing deficits, improving the balance of payments and reducing the
incidence of poverty which decreased from 8.7 percent in 1995 to 6.1 percent in 1998.
In the context of ethnicity, ideology and political-economy, tourism is seen as being an

industry that not only “creates considerably high multiplier effects and linkages in the economy but
also fosters national integration and unity” (6th Malaysia Plan 1991-1995: 248). But Malaysia’s
development tendency in favor of modernization with ethnic ties has resulted in the planning of
tourism in an aggressive manner and through neglect or suppression of cultural and social factors.
Capital-intensive tourism projects have been vigorously pursued and given policy precedence. Even
when tourism is used as a development stimulus for peripheral locations, the scales of establishments
appears to be at odds with that of the surrounding rural economy. Craft-level offerings, while
gradually receiving more attention from the national tourism bodies (primarily for the growing
demands from the emerging domestic market), have lacked sustained support. In terms of ethnicity,
tourism and associated multi-culturalism have, in fact, been at odds with the Islamic fundamentalism
held by the state which has taken the lead in defining the nature and direction of tourism development.
Strategies employed for tourism workforce development have focused upon the achievement of
international standards, omitting specific responses to ameliorate antagonism towards ethnic
dominance or to promote indigenous involvement in tourism.
95
THE TOURISM INDUSTRY AND THE PARTICIPATION OF ETHNIC GROUPS
Figure 1
Tourist Arrivals and Receipts 1974 – 2003, Malaysia
14 30
12 25
10
20
8
15
6
10
4
2 5
0 0
1974 1979 1980 1985 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Arrivals Receipts
Notes: Unit used for tourist arrivals is million heads and for tourist receipts is RM billion dollars.
1974-1979: Peninsular Malaysia only; 1980-1990 Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak; 1991
onwards Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan. Source: Malaysia Tourism Promotion
Board (http://www.tourism.gov.my/statistic/statistics.asp)
The inception of tourism development in Malaysia occurred in a laissez-faire environment.

The government left the destiny of tourism to be determined by interested individual operators and
market forces with minimal support or interference. Reluctance to promote tourism is partly
explained by the perception of tourism as being closely connected to hedonism and permissiveness
and as a contributor to social disorders and cultural disruption (Din 1989c:551, King 1993).
Economic adversities caused by fluctuating prices for Malaysia’s staple exports caused policy-makers
to reconsider the role of tourism when budgetary deficits and balance of payment deficiencies became
serious problems affecting development plans. With a need to search for new sources of income, the
Malaysian Government began to respond more favorably to tourism and the earlier passive attitude
gave way to a more proactive approach (Din 1982, 1989a, 1989b, Tan 1991). Tourism has since
featured prominently in the government’s development plans.
Tourism has become an important contributor to the Malaysian economy, dominating the
services sector. Malaysia generated a total of RM 11,443.8 million (about 3.4 percent of Malaysian
GDP, equivalent to USD 3,011.5 million) in revenues from 7.5 million tourists in 1999 (Malaysia
Tourism Promotion Board 2000) (Figure 1). In 1999, an estimated 130,000 people were employed in
tourism, which is 1.4 percent of the total labor force (Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board 2000).
Tourism development in Malaysia is closely aligned with the state’s objectives to eradicate
poverty, equalize ethnic involvement and balance regional disparities, leading to increased cohesion
of Malaysian culture and, ultimately, the promotion of national unity. Tourism is also a means to
present Malaysia’s multi-culturalism. This is accomplished largely through event and festival
arrangements, but Islamic culture is not part of the marketed images. Wood (1984) attributed the
“unmarketability” of Islam to the interests and cultures of foreign tourists who are assumed to be
uninterested in having Islamic cultural encounters. Similarly, Henderson (2003: 451) observed that:
“... removing the Islamic religion from the forefront of Malaysian life may be seen as part of the
effort to reduce any sense of tourism unease and insecurity”. Another notion relates to the external
images of the majority of Islamic states which have become synonymous with backwardness,
96
conservatism, poverty and instability. Furthermore, commercialization of Islam is anathema to the
general Muslim public and support is not forthcoming from the Muslim leadership to promote aspects
of their religion as an attractions.
The virtual absence of the Malay’s involvement in tourism is due to a complex set of factors.
According to Din (1989a, 1989b), religious and cultural aversion to the social stigmas commonly
associated with tourism (e.g. gambling, alcohol, cabaret, prostitution) as well as shortage of capital
and expertise have undermined the meaningful involvement of the Malays. It is in this religious
context that the Malay culture has been elaborated in the forms of crafts, cookery, folk dances and
unique architecture, as alluring attractions, while Islam is not staged as a tourism motif (see also King
1993).
Nevertheless, tourism is viewed as contributing to the restructuring of society as reflected in

the government policy that has a main objective of encouraging an equal ethnic representation in the
tourism sector. As proclaimed in the 2nd Malaysian Plan (1971-1975), tourism development was
initially regarded as not only being critical for economic growth but also as important for the
attainment of equity objectives. The Tourist Development Corporation (TDC), established in 1972 as
a public organ responsible for tourism administration, regulation and development, was given a
mandate to “ensure balanced participation in the industry by all races” (Tourism Development Plan
1975).
Concerns with ethnicity have been conveyed even more explicitly in recent documents. In the
th
6 Malaysian Plan (1991-1995:39), “the tourism industry is expected to provide increased
opportunities for bumiputra ownership, participation and entrepreneurship”. As a matter of policy,
Malaysia has turned to cultural and ethnic ties as a determinant in resource allocation. State-
sponsored soft financing of RM 206.1 million (USD 54.2 million) was disbursed to 182 small and
medium-sized tourism-related projects. Bumi-status, though not necessarily mandatory, increased
eligibility for accessing the government funding. As well, under the 7th Malaysian Plan (1996-2000),
using public subsidiaries, 15 medium-priced chain hotels (providing 1,450 rooms) managed by
Rangkaian Hotel Seri Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. were initiated to contribute to the creation of the Bumiputra
Commercial and Industrial Community (BCIC). Greater representation by the bumiputras in tour
operations and travel agencies has also grown substantially, due to bumi-related policies and
regulations
Another example of religion influencing policy has been the promotional efforts to target
Muslims from the Middle East (less than 10 percent of arrivals in 2000), who share similar religious,
habitation and regimen characteristics with the Malays. Tourism Malaysia expanded two overseas
promotion offices in Dubai and Jeddah in 2000. However, this has not been a successful strategy.
Malaysia does not have a glamorous image, nor does it have splendid shopping facilities with
luxurious designers’ commodities to attract affluent oil-rich Muslims. Also, it is perceived to be less
secular and exotic than other destinations by young Islamic travelers (Interviews with Malaysia
Tourism informants). ASEAN sources of arrivals still dominant Malaysia’s incoming tourist profile:
over 70 percent of visitors originate from ASEAN countries.
97
Table 1
Selected Tourism Indicators 1985 – 2005, Malaysia
Indicator 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
(projection)
Arrivals (million) 3.1 7.4 7.5 10.2 14.3
Receipts (RM million) 1,543 4,473 9,927.8 18756.7 29,499.5
Average length of stay 4.5 4.5 4.8 5.5 5.8
Hotels (over 10 rooms) 851 989 1,220 1,492 1,541
Hotel rooms 35,720 45,032 76,373 134,503 140,503
Occupancy rate (%) 50.1 72.9 65.5 55.0 60.0
Direct hotel employment 25,170 39,691 67,214 78,671 79,603
Source: Data compiled from the 6th (p. 235), 7th (p. 505 ) and 8th Malaysia Plans (p.434)
Recent tourism growth suffered a setback during the Asian economic recession and through
health hazards (haze, cholera outbreak, the Nipah virus) and domestic turbulence (labour strikes and
political demonstration), but recovered through the implementation of substantial promotional efforts.
In 2000, tourist arrivals reached a record high of 10.2 million. In spite of the high promotion budget,
the growth of visitors was dwarfed by comparably higher visitor numbers received by neighboring
Southeast Asian nations. Furthermore, because of increases in supply, occupancy rates declined
reducing marginal profits (Table 1). An indicator of this is that daily room rates in the leading 5-star
hotels in Kuala Lumpur plummeted to as low as RM 160 (USD 42) and, with negotiation, it was
possible to get RM 120 (USD 32) for longer stays. However, the realities of slow growth and over-
capacity did not undermine Malaysia’s optimism for tourism and, despite disappointingly low
occupancy rates (50.1 percent in 1985 and 72.9 percent in 1990 (Visit Malaysia Year)), more
resources were still allocated for hotel constructions under the 6th plan of 1991-1995, including RM
100 million (USD 26.3 million) for medium-priced hotels in 23 locations.
The government’s development interests in tourism were somewhat at odds with the
intensification of bumiputra involvements. According to Cartier (1998:156), “emphasis on large-scale
capital-intensive tourism projects parallels the state’s construction and real estate development goals”
but was at odds with “Malaysia(ns) Boleh” (meaning literally Malaysia(ns) can do) strategies. Tan
(1991) argued that the tourism objectives have been biased in that the investment incentives promoted
international standard hotels, while small lodging houses with 10 to 19 rooms were reduced in the
marketplace from 453 units in 1980 to 432 in 1990. Nevertheless, the state was concerned less with
attracting foreign capital than inculcating an entrepreneurial culture for the Malays as revealed in
ownership structure and employment patterns. In the 6th Malaysian Plan period (1991-1995),
approved investment reached RM 8.8 billion (USD 2.3 billion), while the Special Fund for Tourism
that was disbursed to assist small and medium-sized projects was only RM 206.1 million (USD 54.2
million). Such contradictions are conspicuous in Malaysia’s tourism plans, since mega-developments
are seen as indicators of national prestige and as part of Malaysia’s endeavour to achieve developed
country status by 2020 (see also Cartier 1998).
HUMAN RESOURCES POLICIES FOR TOURISM
Tourism’s workforce development strategies parallel the dual goals of Malaysia’s

development initiatives: improving Malaysian capacity and competence in general and correcting
disequilibrium in employment structure in particular. The first national tourism master plan
formulated by the TDC in 1975 prioritized human resources development as a key to the betterment
of tourism development in the country. In the early 1970s, there were three sources of tourism
education and training instituted by: Majlis Amanah Rakyat Institute of Technology (MARA);
National Productivity Centre (NPC); and Tourism Development Corporation (TDC, Tourism
Malaysia).
98
The MARA was the first institution of higher learning to offer disciplinary courses in tourism,
incorporating both theory and practice into accreditation. However, the MARA, as a training branch
subordinated to the Council of Trust for the Indigenous People, imposed restrictions on the entry into
such training programs, accepting students with bumiputra status only. Similarly, when public
funding is involved, the determinant criterion for eligibility for overseas training, education or even
internship has been bumiputraship. In this way, the ethnic structural distribution in the tourism sector
has been modified significantly. The NPC has a limited annual capacity for 200 trainees and primarily
focuses on theoretical aspects through formal 6-day workshops/seminars, as no facilities are available
for practical exercises. The TDC caters to the training of tour guides and formulates a national
syllabus for this training course. As tourism prospered, it was anticipated these three agencies would
contribute to the development of some 250 managerial, 550 supervisory and 2,400 skilled workers
each year (6th Malaysia Plan 1991-995).
Under the 6th Malaysia Plan (1991-1995), a National Council for Hotel and Tourism Training
was proposed and officially established in 1992 re-entitled the National Tourism Human Resources
Development Council (NTHRDC), with the mandate to: identify key areas where training is lacking;
establish national standards and certification; determine the relevant curricula; and coordinate and
supervise tourism’s human resources development (p. 245).
In response to the absence of national quality standards, qualifications and certifications, the
NTHRDC took initiatives to develop national occupational skills standards (NOSS) for the travel and
hotel sectors. This was accomplished through collaboration with the National Vocational Training
Council (NVTC) to ensure compatibility and continuity with other vocational areas. By the end of
the same plan period (7th Malaysia Plan 1996-2000), fifteen indicators of NOSS related to tourism
commerce were developed and then expanded to 71 indicators, composed of 30 in tourism and travel,
33 in hotel and 8 in theme park categories. It is expected that the NOSS system will help to incubate
professionalism in the tourism sector, create competent job candidates and eventually lead to the
development of a wage structure in the tourism industry commensurate with the
qualifications/certification granted by the public agencies.
The availability of training expanded rapidly in the 1990s to supplement the rather limited
training capacity provided by the MARA, NPC and TDC. Malaysia’s tourism training has since been
greatly extended through the involvement of 18 public and 47 private institutions, the hotel industry
apprenticeship scheme (HIAS), the introduction of a levy-grant scheme and a human resources
development fund (HRDF) that provides incentive grants encouraging the industry to undertake
training tasks. The levy-grant scheme supports the public sector’s determination to increase the
skilled personnel available to the industry and promotes greater dedication on the part of the industry
in cultivating basic, enterprise-based and new skills, and skill advancement for workers. Since
January 1, 1995, under the Human Resources Development Act (HRDA) promulgated in 1992, it has
been mandatory for hotels and inbound tour operators with over 10 employees to register with the
Human Resources Development Council (HRDC). Among the apprenticeship schemes organized by
the HRDC, the hotel industry apprenticeship scheme (HIAS) has been the most popular one taken by
fresh graduates. It accounted for 1,524 or 62 percent of all apprentices in training between 1998
and1999. Under the sponsorship of 104 employers, the HIAS is generally grouped into 3 modules
(i.e. accommodation practice and reception techniques, beverage services, and kitchen operation) with
a training duration of 6 months (inclusive of 3-month on-the-job training).
Few aspects of Malaysia’s tourism workforce development have occurred without the
involvement of the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism (MOCAT) in one capacity or another. The
vision of the current Minister of MOCAT is “a quality workforce that is attuned to the highest
international standards yet deeply steeped in Malaysia’s culture, traditions and heritage” (Keynote
address delivered in the first hospitality and tourism educators national conference, June 14, 2001).
However, MOCAT appears to be most enthusiastic about marketing and promotion activities. Even
the in-house training of MOCAT gives most emphasis to marketing skills rather than, for example,
the background that a tourism planner might be expected to possess. “An individual’s deportment,
99
knowledge of Malaysia’s cultural and natural resources, and interpersonal and communication skills
to promote Malaysian tourism” is, somewhat simplistically, the qualifications that an officer involved
in tourism should have (interview with MOCAT representatives)!
In light of the state’s initiatives to reinforce the involvement of bumiputras, the expansion of
training efforts may well have increased the effectiveness, financially, intellectually and
professionally, of preparing entrants into tourism ventures. Thus, entry into tourism commerce should
now be less hazardous for the bumiputras than identified by Din in 1989 because of the supports that
are available from various public agencies. However, in spite of this, involvement of bumiputras in
tourism still lags and cannot be rectified by the extension of skills alone.
CONCLUSIONS
Tensions exist between the promotion of a widely recognized national identity and the
promotion of ethnic diversity which may be a touristic asset. Malaysia, which is an Islamic-based
theocratic state, has a variety of ethnic groups with diverse values and beliefs. Social disparities
between these ethnic groups have been a long-standing problem. Hence, equity is a priority for the
government and has become a mainstream issue in its policy-making. Tourism was previously
regarded as an intrusion with the potential to undermine Malaysian society’s values, traditions and
way of life. However, recognizing that diversification was imperative for Malaysia’s staple-based
economy, tourism was re-appraised and later incorporated into the national development agenda.
Tourism is now a cornerstone of the Malaysian economy. The economic significance of tourism
compels the government to take initiatives, as a part of its equity strategies, to promote greater
indigenous (bumiputra) representation in tourism commerce.
However, development plans, which largely focus on modernization with progressive

objectives, often go beyond local capacities to participate and result in minimal realization of
economic benefits locally and limited participation of local people. The authorities seek to stimulate
prosperous tourism in the host regions but local participation has not grown at a rate commensurate
with the tourism growth. The hosts’ adaptability and capability to engage in tourism activities are
consistently and continuously overlooked, resulting in a lack of meaningful local participation.
Ethnic structural adjustment policies are prominent in Malaysia’s human resources

development initiatives for tourism, with the main training endeavors focused on bumiputras.
Training programs and the allocation of human resource investment funds instituted by the public
sector have contributed to the elimination of ethnic dominance. However, conspicuous deficiencies
exist. The government’s human resource development policies and training approaches have not been
effective in ameliorating Islamic aversions towards tourism. At the same time, ethnicity-driven
policies may have diminished the multi-cultural characteristics which are an important tourism asset
for Malaysia to distinguish itself from its Asian competitors.
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A., Woolven, G. B. and Greenop, Y. (eds), People and the Environment: Preserving the Balance, pp.
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Bunnell, T. (1999) Views from Above and Below: the Petronas Twin Towers and/in Contesting
Visions of Development in Contemporary Malaysia. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 20(1),
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Cartier, C. (1998) Megadevelopment in Malaysia: From Heritage landscapes to “Leisurescapes” in

Melaka’s Tourism Sector. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 19(2), 151-176.
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Din, K. H., (1982) Tourism in Malaysia: Competing Needs in a Plural Society. Annals of Tourism
Research, 9(3), 453-480.
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dissertation, Department of Geography, University of Hawaii.
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In T. V. Singh, H. L., Theuns & F. M. Go (eds), Towards Appropriate Tourism: The case of
Developing Countries, Chapter 9, pp.181-204. Frankfurt, Peter Lang.
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___(1997a) Tourism Development: Still in Search of a More equitable Mode of Local Involvement.
In Cooper, C. & Wanhill, S. (eds), Tourism Development: Environmental and Community Issues,
pp.153-162. West Sussex, John Wiley and Sons.
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Oppermann, M. (ed), Pacific Rim Tourism, pp. 76-81. Wallingford, CAB International.
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Henderson, J. C. (2003) ‘Managing Tourism and Islam in Peninsular Malaysia’. Tourism

Management, 24, 447-456.
Kennedy, J. (1993) History of Malaya (3rd edition). Kuala Lumpur, S. Abdul Majeed & Co.
King, V. T. (1993) Tourism and Culture in Malaysia. In Hitchcock, M., King, V. T. & Parnwell, M. J.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was partially funded by the National Science Council, Taiwan, Program “tourism
policy and planning: A cross cultural application of theory and comparison”, NSC 94-2415-H-156-
001.
101
INDICATOR ESTABLISHMENT FOR RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
IN SUSTAINABLE RURAL TOURISM
Jinsun Kim
The Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management
Pennsylvania State University
Soonjae Cho
The Department of Environmental resource
The Institute of Rural Resources Development
and
Banghoon Kang
The Department of Environmental resource
The Institute of Rural Resources Development
ABSTRACT
Establishment of indicators for evaluating resources would be useful to solve the problems.
Indicators are useful for where we are, guidelines for achieving goals, and how we are progressing.
Establishment of indicators for evaluating rural resources is important for environmentally friendly
rural tourism. This study intends to establish evaluative indicators for resources management of rural
tourism. In order to establish indicators for resources management of sustainable rural tourism, this
study interviewed experts with questionnaire survey. These kinds of indicators would be utilized for
important management items in management and operation of rural tourism. As results, 100 indicators
to management rural amenity were reviewed, detailed indicators due to estimating criterion were
suggested.
Key Words: indicator, rural amenity, rural resource, resource management, sustainable rural tourism
INTRODUCTION
There have been lots of changes in social, economic, and environmental circumstances of
rural areas. While social environments and opportunities in rural areas are getting worse, leisure time
becomes plenty and naturally friendly living patterns, so called rural tourism, are increasing. Nearly
fifteen percent of the Korean people expect to experience rural tourism in 2011 as opposed to nine
percent in 2001. Rural tourism is booming regional economy through utilizing rural resources and
proving satisfaction through experiencing, and thus minimizing negative things in rural areas. (Kim,
2004; Rural Development Administration, 2003; Liu, & Var, 1986).
Rural resources should be utilized for the development of rural tourism, but rural resources
tend to be limited. If environmentally destructive resources utilization for rural tourism without
resources management in rural areas is stressed, rural resources will be damaged and there will be
plenty of pollution. Kuen and Ramaswamy (2005) suggested that economic and social conditions are
the primary condition for residence change, and that tourism amenities are only secondary
considerations for residential development. Rural tourism utilizing rural resources harmonizes nature,
culture, and facilities, and thus maintaining harmony with human beings (Davis, 1988; OECD, 1994).
Resources management of rural tourism should be achieved with boom of rural tourism. Focusing
on boom of regional economy and visitors’ satisfaction in rural tourism would lead to natural
destruction.
Establishment of indicators for evaluating resources would be useful to solve the problems.
Indicators are useful for where we are, guidelines for achieving goals, and how we are progressing
(Choi, & Park, 1996; Ko, 2002; Lee, 2002). Establishment of indicators for evaluating rural
102
resources is important for environmentally friendly rural tourism. Establishment of estimative and
applicable indicators is required for evaluation of resources. This study intends to establish evaluative
indicators for resources management of rural tourism.
METHOD
This study reviewed the literature on rural tourism and its indicators. In order to establish
indicators for resources management of sustainable rural tourism, this study interviewed 75 experts
with questionnaire survey from Nov. 10, 2004 to Nov. 24, 2004. The 75 experts are composed
faculties of university, researchers of Ph.D. and candidates of Ph. D. Also, their researched major are
tourism management, tourism development, environment planning, rural resources management,
environmental ecology and landscape planning, landscape architecture. All of the questionnaire
surveys were collected and analyzed. The scale was used by 7-scale as previous research of Choi and
Park (2001) that they developed the detailed indicator. The seven point scales were used.
The items of questionnaire are composed of 3 steps. The first step of indicator establishment
is literature reviewing, the second step is pre-test by the experts, and the last step is composing items.
Items and categories of rural tourism resources researched in Rural Development Administration
(2003) of South Korea are used. The items have 3 categories and there are 37 items of natural,
cultural and social resources. In addition, the indicator’s grades are divided into 4 grades to present
importance of indicator. The principle of grading indicators is based on the current law and literature
review.
FINDINGS
1. Rural amenity items development
Items and categories of rural tourism resources researched in Rural Development

Administration (2003) of South Korea and items and categories through literature review are
developed such as 100 detailed indicators (see the table 1). The core indicators to establish finally
depend on these detailed indicators.
2. The indicator and criterion to estimate of natural resource
The goal of this study is to development the indicators of amenity to apply easily in practical
estimation. The degrees are composed with four steps. In order to help understanding of resource,
detailed indicators were utilized because of confusing about scope of resource.
In order to improve quantifiable methods, criterion for estimation was deduced through
literature review and related laws and the degrees have each point from 0 point to 3 point. The related
law are ‘Law of natural park’, ‘Law of environmental policy’, ‘Law of forest’, ‘Law for conservation
of swamp’, Law of cultural assets’ and ‘Law of agricultural product management’ of South Korea.
Also, In case of no related law, materials of ‘Korea Rural Community & Agricultural Corporation
(2003)’, ‘Jung et al., (1995)’, ‘The Ministry of Environment’, and ‘The ministry of Agriculture &
Forestry (2002) in South Korea were reviewed and used. In case of intangible resource, name value,
recognition and existence of indicator were used. The table 2-1 and 2-2 are showed the indicator and
criterion to estimate of natural resource and the table 3-1, 3-2 and 3-3 are showed the indicator and
criterion to estimate of historical-cultural resource. The result of social indicator is not included in this
paper.
3. The importance of amenity indicator to estimate
Using seven scales, this study found that natural resources are 4.82, historical cultural
resources 4.52, and social resources 4.17. Visitors are likely to see nature and take rest, according to
Kim & Cho’s survey (Kim & Cho, 2004). However, this study indicates that management of natural
103
resources as well as natural resources themselves is important. More importantly, animals are 5.88,
plantation 5.79, swamp 5.76, and water resources 5.52, as indicators of resources management, and
thus natural resources management for rural tourism is important. For historical cultural resources,
traditional architecture is 4.97, religious building 4.78, traditional lane 4.62, and thus traditional
architecture and religious building in rural areas are important for management indicators. Finally,
for social resources, economic resources are 4.31 and facility resources 4.03. Stimulating regional
economy is positive effects of rural tourism. Special product (5.00), special agriculture (4.82), and
trade or exchange between rural and urban people would be contributive indicators.
As a result, the mean of importance natural resources is 4.82, the mean of cultural resources is
4.52 and the mean of social resources is 4.17 (See the table 4-1, 4-2).
Table 1
Developed rural amenity indicator
Item Detailed indicator No.

environment Water quality, Quality of air, noise 3
Land form (special land form, climb road), microclimate (snow, mist),
Natural richness of the soil, soil, protection & rarity animal, water resource (river,
21
resources nature reservoir, fall, valley, thermal spring, underground water), plants 18
(woodland, protection, old plant, group of plant, forest), swamp &
inhabitation of organism
Traditional building (private school of Joseon Dynasty, local school, castle
& citadel, pavilion, temple), housing (roofing, stone roofing, shingle, plant
History-
roof), religion space (prayer place, stone tomb), traditional village road 20
culture
Cultural (soil wall, stone wall), symbol(guide stone, pole, post), person (historical
29
resources person, founder), pungsu & legend (origin, tale)
Agricultural landscape(upper rice field, field, ordinary field, orchard),
landscape landscape of river (form, river wall), landscape of woodland (hillock), 9
landscape of village (beauty of architecture, skyline)
Community facility (village hall, old hall, yard, playground), infra structure
(light for protection, waterworks, foul water, parking area), public facility
(sale place), park(rest area), market, public health center, school;),
facility environmental facility (management for waste water, place of destruction 24
by fire, public compost place), information facility (internet, computer
Social network, homepage), agricultural facility (public garage, place for public
50
resources work , public storage, agricultural road, agricultural draining road)
Exchange between rural and city (farm,, healthy facility, market for direct
sale ,exchange program, sister-city affiliation), special product (processing
economy facility , cultivation, experience), crop for special purpose (experience, 26
cultivation), public activity (four ceremonial, party for old, friendly group),
agricultural public activity (sale & distributive organization, local
104
framework), clan event (ancestor memorial service, visitation of ancestor
grave, ancestor seasonal memorial service), manners, local cultural activity
(event, party, public event, museum), management (management activity,
cleaning, waste separation remove, promotion activity)
Table 2-1
The indicator and criterion to estimate of natural resource
content
category indicator Degree
criterion source
3 point 2 point 1 point 0 point
Law of
Water
- Water quality environmental 1 degree 2-3 4 5
quality
policy
Environ-
Law of
mental
Air quality - Air index environmental 1 2-3 4 5
policy
resource
Law of Over
Less than
noise - Decibel environmental - -
55dB
policy 55dB
Natural special
(non)existence - existence - - None
land form
resource Land form Inside
Law of natural Inside Inside
climb road location provincial None
park national park village
park
Large scale existen

Microclimat snow amount - Small (local) None
(nationwide) ce
e
mist Visibility index Jung et al., (1995) 0-1 2-4 5-7 8-9
Large scale existen

Soil - dimension - Small (local) None
(nationwide) ce
Protection by
protection Manag
The Ministry of Natural The Ministry
Animal & rarity degree ement None
Environment treasure of
animal by city
Environment
Water National existen

river degree National river Local river None
resource designated ce
105
Large scale existen
reservoir scale Name value Small(local) None
(nationwide) ce
Korea Rural
Community & Less
fall height Agricultural Over 30m 10-30m than None
Corporation 10m
(2003)
Table 2-2
The indicator and criterion to estimate of natural resource
content
category indicator Degree
criterion source
3 point 2 point 1 point 0 point
Korea Rural
Community & Less than
valley wide Over 20m 10-20m None
Agricultural 10m
Corporation (2003)
Water
Thermal Nationwide One
resource recognition Name value local None
spring (historical) facility
The ministry of
Undergroun Not
Enough degree Agriculture & enough normal None
d water enough
Forestry (2002)
Designated Law of natural Provincial

Natural woodland National park existence None
degree park park
protection, Designated National Local

resource Law of Forest existence None
old plant degree designated designated
plant
Group of Law of swamp
scale Large scale small existence None
plant conservation
Designated Law of natural Provincial

forest National park existence None
degree environment park
Law of swamp
swamp Scale Large scale Small existence None
conservation
swamp inhabitatio
Law of swamp
n of scale Large scale small existence None
conservation
organism
106
Table 3-1
The indicator and criterion to estimate of historical-cultural resource
degree
category item criterion source
3 2 1 0
Private Designated Law of cultural national folk Not Non
school degree assets management treasure material designated e
Table 3-2
degree
3 2 1 0
Histori Local Designated Law of cultural national Historical book Not

N
cal, school degree assets management treasure folklore data designated
Cultur
Designated Law of cultural national Historical book Not
al castle N
Traditional degree assets management treasure folklore data designated
resour building
ce pavilion N
degree assets management treasure folklore data designated

temple N
degree assets management treasure folklore data designated
National
Designated Law of cultural Local cultural
roofing Cultural existence N
degree assets management assets
assets
National
Designated Law of cultural Local cultural
shingle Cultural existence N
degree assets management assets
Traditional assets
housing National
Stone Designated Law of cultural Local cultural
Cultural existence N
roofing degree assets management assets
assets
National
Plant Designated Law of cultural Local cultural
Cultural existence N
roofing degree assets management assets
assets
Religion (non)existenc
Name value existence - - N
Religion building e
place Stone (non)existenc

tomb e
107
(non)existenc
Soil wall Name value existence - - N
e
Traditional
Stone (non)existenc
road Name value existence - - N
wall e
symbol
Quide (non)existenc
stone e
*N: none
Table 3-3
degree
3 2 1 0
(non)existenc
Pole Name value existence - - None
e
Histori
(non)existenc
cal, Post Name value existence - - None
e
Cultur
Historical
al Famous Name value Name value National Regional existence None
person
resour person
Founder Name value Name value National Regional existence None
ce
origin Name value Name value National Regional existence None
pungsu
legend Name value Name value National Regional existence None
Lands Upper (non)existenc

Name value existence - - None
cape rice field e
resour field Name value Name value nationwide Regional existence None
agricultura
ce ordinary (non)existenc
l Name value existence - - None
field e
Quality Law of agricultural

orchard nationwide Regional existence None
certification product management
River natural Law of environmental Circle- Straight-
complex None
river form (artificial) policy natural artificial
River Law of environmental
Form natural complex artificial
wall policy
Degree of
Law of 1-2
Woodland hillock green 9-10 6-8 3-5
environmental policy
naturality
Beauty of
habitation style Name value traditional complex modern None
architect
108
Not
skyline harmony Name value harmony normal None
harmony
Table 4-1
Importance of indicator for resources management
Importance Cronbach's
Categories Indicator mean
(7 points) Alpha
quality of water 5.52

Quality of air 4.68
noise 4.48
configuration of the land 4.38
climate 3.06 4.82 0.91
Natural Resources
Fertile soil 3.56
animal 5.88
Water resources 4.59
plant 5.79
Swampy land 5.76
Traditional structure 4.97
Traditional housing 4.46
Religious place 4.78
Traditional way 4.62
Symbol material 4.59
4.52 0.97
Cultural Resources Famous person 4.04
legend 4.50
Agricultural landscape 3.94
River landscape 4.82
Forest landscape 4.52
Resident landscape 4.46
Social Community facilities 4.37 4.17
Resources Infra structure 3.80 0 .98
4.03
Facilities Public community facilities 3.95
Resources Environment facilities 4.14
Information facilities 4.12
Agricultural facilities 3.90
109
Economic Exchange of rural and urban 4.52
4.31
Resources Special product 5.00
*Scales: very important-7 points> very unimportant-1 point
Table 4-2
Importance of indicator for resources management
Importance Cronbach's
Categories Indicator mean
(7 points) Alpha
Crop for a special use 4.82

Community activities 3.57
Agricultural Community
4.50
Social Economic activities 4.31 4.17 0 .98
Resources Resources Family events 3.33
Common customs 4.16
Cultural activities 4.77
Arrangement 4.17
*Scales: very important-7 points> very unimportant-1 point
IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION
The inadequate management toward rural resources in the form of natural, cultural and social
resource’s damage frequently result in the loss agricultural productive land as well as loss of natural,
cultural and social resources that often characterizes rural amenities (Johnson & Maxwell, 2001). The
related manager and planner as well as communities of rural area have to recognize importance of the
natural, historical-cultural and social resources for sustainable rural amenity. In order to realize
practical management, we studied criterion and degree that could estimate resources. In addition,
possible indicators to apply were emphasized through importance analyzing of indicators by expert.
In result, detailed 12 indicators of Natural resources, 14 of historical-cultural resources and

15 of social resources over mean are selected. Concretely, quality of water, quality of air, animal
among the natural resources and traditional structure, symbol material, river landscape and resident
landscape among the cultural resources are included. The selection of detailed indicators will help to
manage in priority and decide overriding indicators. These kinds of indicators would be utilized for
important management items in management and operation of rural tourism. Government support is
absolutely necessary for effective management of these items. Findings of this study are expected to
use for important data for government policies.
REFERENCES
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Dahms, F & McComb, J. (1999). ‘Counterurbanization’, Interpretation and Functional Change in a

Rural Amenity Area – a Canadian Example. Journal of Science, 15(2), 129-146.
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Davis, D., Allen, J. & Cosenza, R. M. (1988). Segmenting local residents by their attitudes, interests
and opinion toward tourism. Journal of Travel Research, 27(2), 2-8.
Department of agricultural and forestry (2002). The study on planning to use and conservation of
ecological and cultural resources. Seoul national university, The department of landscape architecture.
Dwyer, J. F. & Childs, G. M. (2004). Movement of people across the landscape: a blurring of
distinctions between areas, interests, and issues affecting natural resources management. Landscape
and urban planning, 69, 153-164.
John, J. & Maxwell, B. (2001). The role of the Conservation Reserve Program in controlling rerul
residential development. Journal of rural studies, 17, 323-332.
Jung, J. P. & Kim, S. H., Lee, D. C. & W, E. J. (1995). Estimation of air quality in Busan by
assessment of air quality. Journal of Korean environmental engineering, 263-266.
Kim, J. S. & Cho, S. J. (2004). Residents’ Perceptions of the Social and Cultural Impacts toward
Resources Development of Rural Amenity: The Case of a Seaside Village in South Korea. 10th Asia
Pacific Tourism Association Conference, 254-262.
Ko, D. (2002). The difference of residents’ perception of tourism impacts: a View from the
demographic and situational characteristics. Journal of Tourism Science, 25(3), 63-80.
Korea Rural Community & Agricultural Corporation (2003). The using methods of ecological and
cultural resources due to income of rural area. The Rural research Institute.
Kuentzel, W. F. & Ramaswamy, V. M. (2005). Tourism and amenity migration, A longitudinal

analysis. Annals of Tourism Research, 32(2), 419-438.
Lee, S. M. (2002). Rural Amenity Resource Cultivation and Planning by Residents’ Participation
Model a Study of Technology Application to the actual field. City Environment Planning Institute of
Hyupsung University.
Liu, J. C. & Var, T. (1986). Resident perception of the environmental impact of tourism. Annals of
Marcouiller, A. W., Kim, K. W., & Deller, S. C. (2004). Natural Amenities, Tourism and Income
Distribution. Annals of Tourism Research, 31(4), 1031-1050.
OECD (1994). The contribution of amenities toward rural development. Paris, OECD.
Rural Development Administration (2003). A Study on Evaluation System Development of the Rural
Theme Village. National Rural Living Science Institute. Landscape & Environmental Planning.
111
MARKET POSITIONING ANALYSIS OF ASIAN COUNTRIES OF DESTINATION BY
CANADIAN TRAVELLERS
Marion Joppe
School of Hospitality & Tourism Management
University of Guelph
Dongkoo Yun
and
HS Chris Choi
ABSTRACT
This study examines and positions the relationships between eight Asian countries of
destination and multivariate categories, including travel purpose, travel activity, and perceived value
for money by Canadian travellers by performing multiple correspondence analysis and perceptual
mapping, using the International Travel Survey (ITS) data sets of Canadian resident trips abroad
during the period January 2000 to December 2004. The research shows that there are some definite
commonalities and differences. Each nation was positioned based on differences by Canadian
travellers. The study results provide useful information for gaining managerial insights into the
relative position of the major Asian countries of destination and their travel characteristics.
Key Words: Market positioning, multiple correspondence analysis, perceptual mapping
INTRODUCTION
In 2004, more Canadians traveled to overseas countries than ever before. Canadian residents
took a record high of more than 19.5 million trips abroad, spending $17.4 billion in the process
(Statistics Canada, 2005a). In particular, Canadian travel to Asia rebounded substantially after falling
in 2003. Overnight visits to the continent rose 31.7%, and specifically travel to China, Japan and
Hong Kong each rose by at least 32.0%. Preference for overseas travel as opposed to the United
States has increased during the past decade. In 1993, only 15.9% of all trips abroad by Canadians
were to overseas countries. By 2004, this proportion had almost doubled to 29.3%. Consequently,
Canadian markets can be considered as a growing potential travel target market by any destination.
Although Asia is one continent in geographic terms, it is composed of distinctive nations from
an historical, racial, religious, social and cultural perspective. Due to the location proximity, it can be
assumed that Asian countries are competing with other nations within the region for international
tourism. Therefore, this study assumed that Asian destination countries are in direct competition for
the Canadian market.
From a destination’s managerial perspective, tourism marketers, organizers, wholesalers, and

operators require information about what tourists do when they travel to maximize their ability to
package, promote and attract them. Assuming that there exist similar patterns at a particular
destination with respect to travellers’ perception of benefits/images or other demographic, socio-
economic, psychological, cultural, and geographical backgrounds, these can provide very useful,
pragmatic information for marketers. In this context, when some tourist destinations target specific
markets, positioning is critical.
112
Market positioning is one aspect of marketing strategy development. It includes a
communications strategy that is a natural follow-through from market segmentation and target
marketing (Hudson, 2005). Multivariate categories for market positioning in this study include travel
purpose, travel activity, and perceived value for money by Canadian travellers to Asian countries of
destination. Accordingly, market positioning is defined as the process of identifying how the travel
characteristics can be explained or differentiated by each country (Kotler, Haider, & Rein, 1993).
The purposes of the study were to identify relationships between Asian countries of
destination and travel purpose, travel activity and perceived value for money by Canadian travellers
and to position their relationships by using perceptual mapping through multiple correspondence
analysis.
DESTINATION POSITIONING AND RELATED STUDIES
A product’s position is the way the product is defined by consumers on important attributes –
the place the product occupies in consumers’ minds relative to competing products (Kotler, Bowen, &
Makens, 2003). Destination positioning is the place a destination occupies in a given market, as
perceived by the relevant group of tourists, known as the target market segment (Moutinho, 1989).
Effective destination positioning helps to serve a specific market segment by creating an image in the
mind of tourists/consumers and being differentiated from the competition (Lewis & Chambers, 2000).
The positioning decision is central in understanding destination choice behaviour and tourist
perception, making it one of the most important decisions in destinations (Crompton, Fakeye, & Lue,
1992). Aaker and Shansby (1982) suggested that six approaches to positioning strategy should be
considered: positioning by attribute, price-quality, use or applications, product-user, the product-class,
and the competitor.
Positioning studies have been implemented in the context of tourism destinations and its
advantages in utilizing multivariate categories for tourism research (Andre, Bigné, & Cooper, 2000;
Beldona, Morrison, & O’Leary, 2005; Calantone, di Bendetto, Hakam, & Bojanic, 1989; Chen, 2001;
Chen & Uysal, 2002; Crompton, Fakeye, & Lue, 1992; Gartner, 1989; Goodrich, 1978; Gursoy &
Chen, 2000; Haahti, 1986; Kim, 1998; Kim, Chun, & Petrick, 2005; Kozak & Rimmington, 1999;
Pyo, 1993; Uysal, Chen, & Williams, 2000)
Tourist destinations can be positioned on a variety of dimensions: according to the needs they
satisfy, the benefits they deliver, specific destination features, when and how they are used, or who
uses them. In previous studies, destination positioning has been researched by using tourist
destination push and pull attributes (Calantone, di Bendetto, Hakam, & Bojanic, 1989; Crompton,
Fakeye, & Lue, 1992; Haahti, 1986; Kim, 1998; Pyo, 1993; Uysal, Chen, & Williams, 2000).
Destination image factors have also been used for positioning analysis (Andre, Bigné, & Cooper,
2000; Chen, 2001; Chen & Uysal, 2002; Gartner, 1989; Goodrich, 1978). Kozak and Rimmington
(1999) explained Turkey’s competitive destinations by using motivation, satisfaction, and complaint
attributes. Kim, Chun and Petrick (2005) used tourist demographic and golf tour related variables
when positioning overseas golf tour destinations by Korean golf tourists.
Statistical techniques that can be used for positioning analysis include multidimensional
scaling (Gartner, 1989; Goodrich, 1978; Haahti, 1986; Kim, 1998; Kim, & Agrusa, 2005; Kim, Chun,
& Petrick, 2005), factor analysis and other multivariate analysis including ANOVA, T-test, canonical
correlation analysis (Crompton, Fakeye, & Lue, 1992; Pyo, 1992), correspondence analysis
(Calantone, di Bendetto, Hakam, & Bojanic, 1989; Chen, 2001; Chen & Uysal, 2002; Kim, & Agrusa,
2005; Kim, Chun, & Petrick, 2005), discriminate analysis, conjoint methods, and log-liner model
(Chen & Uysal, 2002).
113
METHODOLOGY
Data
The International Travel Survey (ITS) is the official ongoing survey of returning Canadian
and international visitors to Canada, conducted by Statistics Canada since 1920. The ITS provides a
full range of statistics on the volume of these travellers and detailed characteristics of their trips, such
as main reason for trip (travel purpose), travel activities, perceived travel evaluation, places visited,
length of stay, expenditure, and so on. The ITS contains four main parts: (1) overseas resident trips to
Canada, (2) United States resident trips to Canada, (3) Canadian resident trips abroad, and (4)
Canadian resident trips to United States (Statistics Canada, 2005b).
Table 1
Sampled Canadian Travellers to Asian Countries of Destination
by Travel Purpose, Travel Activity, and Perceived Value for Money
CH HK IN JP KO PH TL TW Total
Travel Purpose
Business 656 219 118 590 178 76 294 167 2,298
Pleasure 109 52 91 165 32 91 51 87 678
Other 1,305 422 418 919 122 406 798 451 4,841
Travel Activity
TA1 223 129 115 193 53 119 96 101 1,029
TA2 48 25 30 66 9 19 38 26 261
TA3 143 21 37 88 8 21 72 41 431
TA4 162 26 40 132 21 12 77 49 519
TA5 307 70 83 224 46 57 136 77 1,000
TA6 162 45 33 116 18 27 79 38 518
TA7 33 17 15 66 6 13 47 19 216
TA8 356 132 98 257 60 102 152 104 1,261
TA9 273 75 70 187 36 55 136 82 914
TA10 137 42 32 128 27 44 85 44 539
TA11 51 23 17 36 9 20 29 12 197
TA12 38 23 14 50 11 24 31 35 226
TA13 93 33 23 84 16 30 79 43 401
TA14 44 32 20 47 12 30 86 34 305
Perceived Value
for Money
Poor 582 235 85 718 122 92 136 258 2,228
Average 1,395 378 530 408 140 437 945 367 4,600
Good 93 80 12 548 70 44 62 80 989
Total 2,070 693 627 1,674 332 573 1,143 705 7,817
Note:
1) Asian Countries: CH = China, HK = Hong Kong, IN = India, JP = Japan, KO = Korea (South),
PH = Philippines, TL = Thailand, TW = Taiwan
2) Travel activities (TAs): 1 = Visit friends or relatives, 2 = Attend a festival or fair, 3 = Attend a cultural
performance (a play, a concert, etc.), 4 = Attend a sports event, 5 = Go shopping, 6 = Go sightseeing,
7 = Participate in nightlife, 8 = Dine at a high quality restaurant, 9 = Visit a theme park or amusement park,
10 = Visit a zoo, aquarium or botanical garden, 11 = Visit a national park or provincial nature park,
12 = Participate in sports or outdoor activities, 13 = Swimming, 14 = Other water sports
114
Of the four main categories, the data sets of Canadian resident trips abroad during the period
January 2000 to December 2004 were used in this study. According to the purpose of the study,
Canadian Travellers to Asian Countries of Destination were primarily targeted and sampled in the
data sets. To obtain an appropriate data set, the procedures of descriptive data analyses, data cleaning,
merging, transformation, and restructuring were undertaken. Although the ITS data contains 42 Asian
Countries of destination, only the eight major Asian countries were selected in terms of a comparable,
measurable number of samples. As shown in Table 1, a new data set of 7,817 was produced after data
purification. Simple frequencies are provided for each category of travel characteristics across the
entire set of major Asian countries of destination.
Data Analysis
Correspondence analysis was employed because of the categorical nature of the data attributes
(Hoffman & Franke, 1986). These techniques are all exploratory insofar as they describe, rather than
analyze, the data (Greenacre, 1994). However, these techniques are well known as useful tools for
market segmentation, product positioning, measuring the effectiveness of advertisements, new
product development, and product-concept testing (Green, Carmone, & Smith, 1989).
The more conventional approach to analyzing multivariate data by correspondence analysis,

especially when there are a large number of variables, is called “multiple correspondence analysis”
(MCA). MCA presents all associations amongst pairs of variables that are analyzed as well as each
association between a variable and itself, although some interpretation of the results is complicated
and generally provides low variance explained (Greenacre, 1994). For the purpose of this study,
travel purpose, travel activities, and perceived value for money were considered as important
categorical attributes for market positioning for Asian countries of destination for Canadian travellers.
Therefore, the study performed MCA due to the four multi-categorical study variables.
An alternative to MCA is positioning using attribute-free perceptual mapping with a

compositional method (Hoffman & Franke, 1986). In the study, fourteen binary travel activity ratings,
three nominal travel purposes, and three nominal ratings of perceived value for money are provided
for the major eight Asian countries of destination for Canadian travellers. In this attribute-based
method, the perceptual map is a joint space, showing both attributes of the travel characteristics and
the eight major Asian countries of destination in a single representation. In addition, the positions of
the countries are relative not only to the other countries included in the analysis, but also to the travel
attributes and characteristics selected.
RESULTS
Multiple Correspondence Analysis
As represented in Table 2, the MCA results provide the singular value, principal inertia,
explained percentage of variation for each dimension, and cumulative percentage of variation for a
total of eleven dimensions. A two-dimensional solution in this situation explains 11.61% of the
variation with a singular value (eigenvalue) of greater than the critical value of 0.20 (Hair, Anderson,
Tatham, & Black, 1998). The first dimension explained 6.415% of the variance, and the second 5.20%.
Table 3 provides dimensions and their correspondence to the travel purpose, travel activity,
and perceived value for money for Canadian travellers to Asian countries, including summary
statistics of the MCA, coordinates, partial contribution to inertia, and squared cosines (Gifi, 1981;
SAS Institute Inc, 2004).
The quality value indicates total variance explained by two dimensions selected, whereas a
squared cosine represents variance explained by each dimension. Each quality is a summated rating
score of each squared cosine value on two dimensions (SAS Institute Inc, 2004). In this study, the
quality values for Asian countries ranged from 0.0171 to 0.4716 and for travel purposes from 0.2713
115
to 0.3693, whereas the quality values for travel activities ranged from 0.0002 to 0.2173 and for
perceived value for money from 0.1936 to 0.6074. The results of the quality values indicate that
attributes of travel purpose and perceived value for money have better fit values indicating the
variance explained than those of travel activity.
Table 2
Multiple Correspondence Analysis on Canadian Travellers to Asian Countries of Destination
by Travel Purpose, Travel Activity, and Perceived Value for Money
Singular Principal Proportion Cumulative

Dimension Value Inertia Chi-square explained Proportion
1 0.61996 0.38435 12,386 6.41 6.41
2 0.55878 0.31223 10,061 5.20 11.61
3 0.54026 0.29188 9,406 4.86 16.47
4 0.52616 0.27684 8,921 4.61 21.09
5 0.52230 0.27280 8,791 4.55 25.63
6 0.51572 0.26597 8,571 4.43 30.07
7 0.50907 0.25916 8,351 4.32 34.39
8 0.50440 0.25442 8,199 4.24 38.63
9 0.50262 0.25262 8,141 4.21 42.84
10 0.50026 0.25026 8,065 4.17 47.01
11 0.50006 0.25006 8,058 4.17 51.18
12 0.50000 0.25000 8,056 4.17 55.34
13 0.50000 0.25000 8,056 4.17 59.51
14 0.49820 0.24820 7,998 4.14 63.65
15 0.49729 0.24730 7,969 4.12 67.77
16 0.49543 0.24546 7,910 4.09 71.86
17 0.49212 0.24219 7,804 4.04 75.90
18 0.48805 0.23819 7,676 3.97 79.87
19 0.48409 0.23435 7,552 3.91 83.77
20 0.47129 0.22211 7,157 3.70 87.47
21 0.46362 0.21495 6,926 3.58 91.06
22 0.45277 0.20500 6,606 3.42 94.47
23 0.44369 0.19686 6,344 3.28 97.75
24 0.36717 0.13482 4,344 2.25 100.00
Total 6.00000 193,347 100.00
The second fundamental concept in CA is that of a mass associated with each profile. This
profile is assigned a weight proportional to either the row’s or the column’s total respondents. The
object of this weighting system is to allow each respondent to contribute equally to its corresponding
profile point (Benzécri, 1992). In this study, the mass values for Asian countries ranged from 0.0106
to 0.0662 and for travel purposes from 0.0217 to 0.1548, whereas the mass values for travel activities
ranged from 0.0063 to 0.0403 and for perceived value for money from 0.0316 to 0.1471. The results
of the mass values indicate that frequencies of travel activities varied more widely than those of other
travel characteristics.
The term inertia of the object is defined as the sum of the quantities rd2, where r = a certain
mass and d = a certain distance from the centroid, for the whole object (Greenacre, 1994). This inertia
value indicates the degree of relative importance for each dimension (Hoffman & Franke, 1986). In
this study, the total principal inertia value is 6.0 based on each dimension ranging from 0.384 to 0.134,
as shown in Table 2. The inertia values of Asian countries ranged from 0.0003 to 0.2403 and for
travel purposes from 0.0068 to 0.1884, whereas the values of travel activities ranged from 0.0 to
0.1501 and for perceived value for money from 0.0005 to 0.2023, as presented in Table 3. The
concept of partial contribution to inertia is similar to factor loading in principal component analysis
(Carroll, Green, & Schaffer, 1987). Therefore, the value can be interpreted as a correlation of each
row’s or column’s value for each dimension.
116
On the whole, variables of travel purpose and perceived value for money have better fit values
than those of travel activity and Asian countries in terms of MCA statistics, values such as quality,
mass, and inertia, indicating the variance explained, degree of frequencies in each category, and
degree of relative importance for each dimension, respectively. For better understanding and
interpretation, the results should be identified with a joint plot using perceptual mapping of a
compositional method.
Table 3
The Dimensions and their Correspondence to Travel Purpose, Travel Activity, and Perceived Value
for Money for Canadian Travellers to Asian Countries
Partial
Summary Statistics Coordinates Contributions Squared Cosines
Object to Inertia
Quality Mass Inertia I* II** I* II** I* II**
Asian Countries of Destination
CH 0.2070 0.0662 0.0306 -0.3540 -0.6704 0.0216 0.0953 0.0451 0.1619
HK 0.0171 0.0222 0.0380 0.0997 0.4068 0.0006 0.0117 0.0010 0.0161
IN 0.1192 0.0201 0.0383 -0.9103 0.7339 0.0432 0.0346 0.0723 0.0470
JP 0.4716 0.0535 0.0327 1.3135 0.0737 0.2403 0.0009 0.4701 0.0015
KO 0.0521 0.0106 0.0399 0.9869 -0.4487 0.0269 0.0068 0.0432 0.0089
PH 0.1957 0.0183 0.0386 -0.6848 1.4159 0.0224 0.1177 0.0371 0.1586
TL 0.1851 0.0366 0.0356 -0.8314 -0.6243 0.0657 0.0456 0.1184 0.0668
TW 0.0661 0.0225 0.0379 0.0718 0.8135 0.0003 0.0478 0.0005 0.0656
Travel Purpose
Business 0.3693 0.0735 0.0294 0.5910 -0.7333 0.0668 0.1266 0.1454 0.2239
Pleasure 0.2036 0.1548 0.0159 -0.3338 0.1174 0.0449 0.0068 0.1812 0.0224
Other 0.2713 0.0217 0.0381 0.3801 1.6470 0.0082 0.1884 0.0137 0.2576
Travel Activity
TA1 0.2173 0.0329 0.0362 -0.0976 1.1934 0.0008 0.1501 0.0014 0.2159
TA2 0.0293 0.0083 0.0403 0.0787 0.9170 0.0001 0.0225 0.0002 0.0290
TA3 0.0082 0.0138 0.0394 -0.3015 -0.2239 0.0033 0.0022 0.0053 0.0029
TA4 0.0255 0.0166 0.0389 -0.0169 -0.5987 0.0000 0.0191 0.0000 0.0255
TA5 0.0402 0.0320 0.0363 0.0903 -0.5156 0.0007 0.0272 0.0012 0.0390
TA6 0.0208 0.0166 0.0389 0.1057 -0.5315 0.0005 0.0150 0.0008 0.0201
TA7 0.0115 0.0069 0.0405 0.6342 -0.0452 0.0072 0.0000 0.0114 0.0001
TA8 0.0052 0.0403 0.0349 0.0877 -0.1398 0.0008 0.0025 0.0015 0.0038
TA9 0.0125 0.0292 0.0368 -0.1822 -0.2479 0.0025 0.0058 0.0044 0.0081
TA10 0.0161 0.0172 0.0388 0.2861 -0.3688 0.0037 0.0075 0.0061 0.0101
TA11 0.0002 0.0063 0.0406 -0.0117 -0.0884 0.0000 0.0002 0.0000 0.0002
TA12 0.0354 0.0072 0.0405 0.3564 1.0309 0.0024 0.0246 0.0038 0.0316
TA13 0.0017 0.0128 0.0395 -0.1693 -0.0567 0.0010 0.0001 0.0016 0.0002
TA14 0.0227 0.0098 0.0400 -0.5645 0.4896 0.0081 0.0075 0.0129 0.0097
Perceived Value for Money
Poor 0.3568 0.0316 0.0364 1.5678 -0.0713 0.2023 0.0005 0.3560 0.0007
Average 0.1936 0.0713 0.0298 0.6181 0.3217 0.0708 0.0236 0.1523 0.0412
Good 0.6074 0.1471 0.0171 -0.6365 -0.1405 0.1550 0.0093 0.5792 0.0282
Note:
1) * indicates dimension 1, whereas ** represents dimension 2.
2) Asian Countries: CH = China, HK = Hong Kong, IN = India, JP = Japan, KO = Korea (South),
PH = Philippines, TL = Thailand, TW = Taiwan
3) Travel activities: 1 = Visit friends or relatives, 2 = Attend a festival or fair, 3 = Attend a cultural performance
(a play, a concert, etc.), 4 = Attend a sports event, 5 = Go shopping, 6 = Go sightseeing, 7 = Participate in
nightlife, 8 = Dine at a high quality restaurant, 9 = Visit a theme park or amusement park, 10 = Visit a zoo,
aquarium or botanical garden, 11 = Visit a national park or provincial nature park, 12 = Participate in sports
or outdoor activities, 13 = Swimming, 14 = Other water sports
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Market Positioning
The perceptual mapping represents the relative proximities according to two dimensions of
both countries and attributes of travel characteristics. The values of the principal coordinates are
plotted for positioning in Figure 1. The results of the MCA can be interpreted in terms of axis lines of
two dimensions.
Figure 1
Perceptual Mapping using Multiple Correspondence Analysis
2.0
Other
1.5
Philippines
1.0 12
2
Taiwan
India
Dimension2
0.5 14
Hongkong
Pleasure Average
Japan
0.0
13 7
11 8 Poor
Good 3 9
10
Korea
-0.5 5 6
Thailand 4
China
Business
-1.0
-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
Dimension1
Note: Travel activities: 1 = Visit friends or relatives, 2 = Attend a festival or fair, 3 = Attend a cultural
performance (a play, a concert, etc.), 4 = Attend a sports event, 5 = Go shopping, 6 = Go sightseeing, 7 =
Participate in nightlife, 8 = Dine at a high quality restaurant, 9 = Visit a theme park or amusement park, 10 =
Visit a zoo, aquarium or botanical garden, 11 = Visit a national park or provincial nature park, 12 = Participate
in sports or outdoor activities, 13 = Swimming, 14 = Other water sports
Focusing on dimension 1, there are two distinct groupings on the left and right quadrants of
the axis. The left grouping is composed of destinations such as the Philippines, India, Thailand, and
China. These destinations were more likely to be considered to be good value for money by Canadian
pleasure travellers. In addition, Canadian pleasure travellers to the Philippines, India, Thailand, and
China were more likely to engage in travel activities such as TA1 (visiting friends or relatives), TA14
(other water sports), TA13 (swimming), TA11 (visiting a national park or provincial nature park),
118
TA3 (attending a cultural performance), TA9 (visiting a theme park or amusement park), and TA4
(attending a sports event).
The right grouping consists of destinations such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea
with two distinct sub-groups. Canadian business travellers to Korea were more likely to participate in
travel activities like TA5 (shopping), TA6 (sightseeing), TA10 (visiting a zoo, aquarium or botanical
garden), TA8 (dining at a high quality restaurant), and TA7 (participating in nightlife) and to perceive
poor value for money, whereas Canadian travellers for other purposes to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and
Japan were more likely to engage in travel activities such as TA2 (attending a festival or fair) and
TA12 (participating in sports or outdoor activities), and to perceive these destinations as having
average value for money.
Focusing on dimension 2, there are also two distinct groupings in the upper and lower
quadrant of the axis. The upper group is composed of destinations such as the Philippines, India,
Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan. These destinations were more likely to be considered to be average
value for money by Canadian pleasure and other purposes travellers and to engage in travel activities
TA1, TA14, TA13, TA2, and TA12.
The lower group consists of destinations such as Thailand, China, and Korea with two distinct
sub-groups. Canadian travellers to Thailand and China were more likely to engage in travel activities
such as TA3, TA4, TA9, TA11, and TA13 and to perceive good value for money, whereas Canadian
business travellers to Korea were more likely to perceive poor value for money.
Canadian pleasure travellers to Asian countries who perceived good value for money were
more likely to engage in travel activities such as swimming, visiting national parks, attending a
cultural performance, visiting theme and amusement parks, and dining at a high quality restaurant.
CONCLUSIONS
Tourism destinations are continually seeking ways to attract or retain tourists and build brand
loyalty by enhancing their images and benefits. Whether the image or perception is positive or
negative, effective positioning for specific target markets is critical to the most destinations. The
analysis of Canadian travellers to Asian countries, using such travel characteristics as travel purpose,
travel activity, and perceived value for money, provides evidence that a specific target market can be
used to effectively position the destination.
Although there is no easy way of interpretation or labeling the sets of activities that
distinguish each nationality, the results show that there are some definite commonalities and
differences. On the whole, each nation was positioned based on differences perceived by Canadian
travellers in terms of their different social, cultural, racial, and religious backgrounds (diversity). In
China and Thailand, Canadian travellers were more likely to participate in travel activities such as
attending sports events, going shopping, and sightseeing. Two countries are positioned as ‘good value
for money’ destinations. Hong Kong is positioned as an ‘average value for money’ destination,
whereas Japan is seen as a ‘poor value for money’ nation. South Korea is positioned as a business
destination rather than for pleasure. Canadian travellers were more likely to engage in such travel
activities as attending a festival or fair and participating in sports or outdoor activities in Taiwan.
India is more related to Canadian’s other water sports activities, whereas the Philippines are more
related to Canadian’s visiting friends or relatives.
In conclusion, this research is not explanatory but exploratory, because the study is based on
secondary data. Nonetheless, it provides Asian countries with further insights or future practical
research directions for specific target markets (e.g., Canadian market). This study identified
important associations of travel characteristics for each destination by performing multiple
correspondence analysis and perceptual mapping for positioning. The study results provide some
useful information for gaining managerial insights into the relative position of the major Asian
119
countries of destination and their travel characteristics. Accordingly, tourism marketers who want to
reach Canadian travellers should consider and understand first in which activities they engaged, how a
particular destination is perceived, and also identify the destination’s strengths and weaknesses
through competitive analysis in order to become more competitive in the market. Although a number
of previous studies pertinent to destination positioning have been implemented, it is also expected that
the study will stimulate interest and lead to further pragmatic research among Asian countries.
One limitation of the study is that the information in the data used may be insufficient for
each country’s positioning as a tourist destination. Although each nation has different destination
images or significant attributes providing strength, this study could not reflect them due to limited
data information. Future research should re-investigate the positioning by using more useful,
pragmatic, and detailed attributes or variables as part of each country’s positioning strategy. The
other limitation of the present research is that data analyses performed are based on treating a five-
year period as one data set rather than analyzing each year separately to determine whether there are
any emerging patterns. Considering the wealth of information contained in the Canadian ITS data
sets, more diverse analyses should be undertaking using applicable statistical techniques in order to
help tourism marketers and officials make decisions and implement marketing strategies.
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121
MEASURING RISK
RISK ANALYSES AND RISK VALUATION FOR SPECIAL REAL ESTATE PROJECTS IN THE
TOURISM AND LEISURE INDUSTRY
Heinz-Dieter Quack
European Tourism Institute at the University of Trier
and
Jens Philipsenburg
Leisure Real Estate Development
European Tourism Institute at the University of Trier
ABSTRACT
Risk Management is an essential component in the development of tourism and leisure real
estate projects. The valuation of identified single risks and aggregated risk positions is fundamental
for decision making after investment appraisal. In common real estate projects risks analyses and
management are on professional scale – but they are not in the tourism and leisure sector. The paper
shows the specific risks of investing in leisure real estate integrated in a risk management model. An
introduction to risk identification and risk measurement methods is given. Common used methods to
value risks are explained in two case studies.
Key Words: risk management investment leisure real estate
World tourism is steadily growing. The WTO is forecasting a doubling of international

arrivals up to 2020. A tremendous demand is facing a sometimes poor tourism infrastructure
especially in the developing countries of Asia. And even in the developed countries of Europe and
America offer and demand is spread widely in terms of quality. Developers all over the world are
building new tourism and leisure facilities to satisfy the rising demand. The investors are driven by
spectacular opportunities for investment yields. Since high yields are always facing high risks, not
every project is on the welcome list of banks and investors. Looking at the new conditions on the
financing markets, especially in terms of the Basel II act, financing leisure real estate becomes even
harder.
Based on specifically high risks we can state that financing leisure real estate whether through
equity or through capital markets is more difficult than financing common real estate. The risk
analysis and risk management of developers in the field of leisure and lodging therefore has to be
more professional than for common real estate. But reality in Germany and Europe is vice versa. Due
to the fact that market data is not available, German developers in the leisure market are mainly using
very thumb methods to analyse their project risks. And that is one of the reasons why over 80% of
projects brought to the banks are denied (cp. Spandl, F. 2003, p. 56). Professional risk analysis and
management can help developing appropriate tourism infrastructure for the high quality demand of 21
century consumers.
1. THE IMPERATIVE OF RISK ANALYSIS FOR TOURISM AND LEISURE REAL

ESTATE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
There are several arguments why developers and investors analyse the risks of their real estate
projects. All the reasons combined can be seen as one: maximising the return on investment for every
project.
First step of every real estate development is a profound feasibility study with investment
appraisal as a basis for the investment decision. So risk analysis is an argument in the process of
decision making for investments. The investment decision may even be positive although risks were
122
identified. The risk analysis turns to a risk management system throughout the development process.
Identified risks have to be managed, hedged or diversified. That is the second purpose of risk analysis.
Another important course for risk analysis can be identified in the environment of dept capital
financing. Financing real estate in general is facing new market conditions. Also the investment
market for leisure and lodging real estate is facing new determinant factors. First focus is on the new
Basel Convention called Basel II about the underlying equity of the bank for loans and mortgages.
Once Basel II is national law, credit institutions have to value every loan in terms of its specific risk
profile. The banks equity for a loan for high-risk investments has to be higher than the banks equity of
a loan in non perilous investments. Either the bank accepts a lower return on equity or it has to charge
higher interest rates for risky projects, and that is what banks do. The process of valuating the risk of a
project is called rating. Different methods are allowed concerning who conducts the rating and for
what purpose the rating is needed (cp. Konsultationspapier des Basler Ausschuss für Bankenaufsicht).
It can be stated that a sound risk analysis as part of a feasibility study through developer and investor
brings credit points for the project rating, and may in this form lower interest rates.
The second innovation with impact on leisure real estate development is the International
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Depending on in which position real estate is located on the
balance sheet, there are different types of valuation methods required. If developers hold real estate as
current asset, investors do not have to announce the fair market value. The real estate is in the balance
sheet with investment sum reduced for depreciation. If the real estate is reported under fixed assets,
the fair value has to be announced. Valuation method is normally DCF (cp. Hardegen, V. 2005, p.
40). Disadvantage of the system is that leisure real estate generates rather poor cash flows in the first
periods (ramp up). So the risk in case of leisure real estate as a financial investment is that fair value is
much below investment sum or construction cost. For investors with a small portfolio this could
become a big problem on their balance sheet.
Last reason for conducting risk analyses studies are requirements by national laws or public
standards. This is often relevant when projects are financed through public capital markets, like
through open ended or closed funds, through real estate investment trusts or through stock market
listed companies.
2 SPECIFICS OF THE TOURISM AND LEISURE REAL ESTATE MARKET
Compared to common real estate markets investors think that the leisure und tourism real
estate market is just a small piece of the cake. In Germany in fact market share for leisure and tourism
real estate is about 3 to 4% of the whole real estate market. But what is leisure and tourism real estate?
Tourism and leisure real estate can be seen as every built construction for any value case of travel for
any purpose or to spend leisure time. The following scheme shows a classification of leisure facilities
in the real estate market.
Fig 1
Leisure and tourism facilities in the real estate market
Real Estate Market

Industry and trade real estate
Residential real estate
Special real estate

Office real estate
Retail real estate
Managed real estate

Industrial real
Distribution
Leisure real estate

Real estate
Social public
Senior living
/ health care
residences
(wider definition)
estate
/ senior
Leisure real
Lodging (hotel, estate
accommodations) (closer
definition)
123
Leisure real estate e.g. can be:
• hotels and resorts, every type of accommodation

• special restaurants, discotheques, bars, pubs
• urban entertainment centres, mixed use centres
• cinemas, multiplex and IMAX theatres
• Event places, open air theatres and festivals
• arenas, theatres, operas, cabaret, stages, musicals
• cultural facilities, museums, open air museums
• theme parks, science center, leisure parks, amusement parks, attractions, indoor ski centre
• brand lands, corporate lands
• indoor playgrounds, experience exhibitions
• aquariums, zoos, zoological gardens
• public swimming pools, gyms and sport facilities, spas and health care centers, thermal bath
• golf courses
In most cases leisure facilities share their characteristics with common real estate objects. Such
characteristics are: bounding to location, matchlessness/singleness, heterogeneity, long production
phase, high capital commitment, durability and high transaction cost (cp. Brauer, K.U. 2003 p. 11-13).
Furthermore, there are some special characteristics of leisure real estate (cp. Bienert 2006, p. 8-14).
Those special characteristics are contemporaneously special risks, as chapter 3 shows.
• Alternative use / fungibility

Leisure real estates are often built for just one purpose. There is hardly another use for the
building once the intrinsic use is not given any more. Has the managing company failed,
deconstruction is often following.
• Market mechanisms and formation of prices

The investment market for tourism and leisure real estate is an imperfect market. Most objects are
only attractive for supraregional or international investment markets with only few market
participants. The small number of objects, failing market transparency and subsidies are reasons
for a not market driven formation of prices for both investment and even consumption of
products.
• Relevance of operators and of the concept

Concept and management skills of the operator of the facility are constitutionally important for
the success of the investment. In office markets e.g. the success of a tenant is just important as it
concerns his ability to pay the lease. This is basically different in leisure real estate markets. The
concept of the facility, the marketing concept and the ability of the operator to transport emotions
to the customer are basic.
• Product life cycle and relevance of trends

The underlying trends for the concepts of leisure real estate are often short-lived, while the
investment in real estate is long term. If updating or refurbishment for the facility is possible, it is
a question of economic advantage, otherwise the facility is out of the market.
• Market transparency
Compared to the general real estate markets there is only few market data available for leisure real
estate. There are several continuous market surveys for hotel investment markets and the lodging
industry, but none for special real estate in the leisure industry. In terms of operating cost there is
hardly any valid database.
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3 RISK MANAGEMENT MODEL FOR DEVELOPING TOURISM AND LEISURE REAL
ESTATE
3.1 THE CONCEPT OF RISK
Risk is more than a financial figure. Risk is a factor of production. And risk is a threat as well
as an opportunity. Risk is defined as a deviation of a value from an expected value (Maier K.M. 2004
p. 5). Investment decisions and risks are highly correlated. Defaults in investment decisions are
identified through comparison of a target value or benchmark with the true value. In most cases this
will be a measurement figure of return or Cash Flow. Risks arise out of uncertainties before
investment decisions. Uncertainties arise out of the need to set assumptions about conditions in any
environment for investment appraisals. Market participants expect a premium for taking risks.
The concepts of risk and uncertainty are related, but yet they are very different. Uncertainty involves
variables that are constantly changing, whereas risk involves only the uncertain variables that affect or
impact the system’s output directly (Mun, J. 2004 p. 13).
Risks can be differentiated by many items, such as:
• Risks in the company’s environment or risks in the projects environment

• Internal or external risks
• Monetary or non monetary risks
• One dimensional or two dimensional risks
• Quantifiable or non quantifiable risks
• Systematic or unsystematic risks
The first three dimensions for differentiation of risk are self-explaining. The fourth point
refers to the underlying character that risk could also be an opportunity. But as a matter of fact, not all
risks include an opportunity for a project, e.g. a natural hazard. Depending on if there is an
opportunity within the risk, it is one-dimensional or two-dimensional (Maier, K.M. p. 11). Frequently
used differentiation criteria for risks are the last two of the list. Risks can be differed by their ability to
be measured. Risks like financial risks can easily be quantified, while other risks e.g. the failure of a
concept are usually non quantifiable. The same matter is described by differing risks in quantitative
and qualitative risks. Quantitative risks can usually be measured while others can be analysed
qualitatively. The differentiation of systematic and unsystematic refers to their reference to the market
or the object. The systematic risk, also called market risk, is the same for all market participants in the
same asset class. The systematic risk can not be reduced through diversification. Unsystematic risks
are based on micro economic and object specific matters. Unsystematic risks can be reduced through
portfolio management.
3.2 CHARACTERISTIC RISKS FOR LEISURE REAL ESTATE
Understood that common real estate risks are also evident for the leisure and tourism industry,
some of the underlying risks are:
• Financing risks – changing of interest rates, missing equity, exceedance of budget decisions
• Time risks – odd time will cost penalties
• Quality risks – promised or contractually guaranteed attributes are not obtained
Since there are specific characteristics of leisure real estates also specific risks can be
distinguished. The following figure shows a synopsis of those characteristic risks. The figure stretches
a portfolio with four fields. On the one axis the principal differentiation of risk in a systematic and an
unsystematic risk is shown. The second axis divides risks in their basic attribute if they can be
measured or not.
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Fig 2
Characteristic risks of leisure and tourism real estate
systematic unsystematic
Costs of revitalization
Matching maturities
quantitative
valuation
Financing model
Climate changes and weather performance
Natural hazards
Operating expenses
Dependence on destinations
Saturation of the market Heritage protection, memorials below
grade, polluted areas
potential exclusion Process of Dependence on
of diversification Credit Accommo- concepts
dation
Risks of special objects
qualitative
Track Record of operator

Terrorism
Risk of authorization
Competence of the operator
Poor project planning
Dependence on trends Transparency of leisure real estate
markets
Irrational processes of public decision
making
The figure above shows that the specific risks of leisure real estate are basically unsystematic
risks, while half of them can only be described in a qualitative analysis.
The most outlining risk of leisure real estate is the fact that financiers invest in an object just
as well as in an enterprise. Tourism and leisure real estate is a production facility for happiness and
emotion, similar to a chemical plant producing crude materials. Real estate and the managing
company can not be divided as for example in the office market.
3.3 RISK MANAGEMENT MODEL
Risk management systems have first been implemented in the huge American insurance
companies in the sixties, while first concepts were made in the beginning of the last century. The
concept of risk management can roughly be described by a cycle of risk identification, risk valuation,
risk policy and risk controlling. The flow chart underneath shows a more sophisticated model.
First step is the definition of objectives of the risk management model. The aim of a
development project could be very different: many times it will be the maximisation of profits, but it
could also be the the creation of more desirability of a basis offer through new investments, or in case
of public investments the provision of public goods, conservation and maintenance of cultural
heritage or a policy of indirect profitability and investment effects. Depending on the top aim of the
project, different expected values such as project yield, quality or new jobs can be defined as the basis
of the risk management system. Parallel to the definition of the risk management intensions, investor
and developer have to sketch their own risk profile. Some may take more risks while others are
avoiding any risks.
126
Fig 3
Flow Chart Risk Management
Risk Analyses of external and intern Risk evaluation and

identification general risk measurement Risk evaluation
conditions of risk (sum of evaluations
(Risk is existing – risk occurs
of single risks)
when…)
Risk intentions
(Single) risk existing
Risk policy
Reduction of
Analyses of probability of
complexity of
Risk- occurrence of risk Evaluation of information as
categories (risk occurs with a (single-) risks basis for decisions
probability of x)
Analyses of potential amount

of damages of risks
(If risk occurs loss will be x)
(Single-) Risk
does not exist
Risk
controlling
The next steps of the management model are risk identification and risk valuation. On the
basis of catalogues containing risk categories the existence of risks in the development project can be
identified. Methods to identify risks are described in the following chapter. For every single identified
risk several analyses should be made. Those should include analyses of the external and internal
general conditions of risk, the probability of occurrence and the valuation of potential loss caused by
the risk. Chapter 3.4 deals with some specific techniques to value quantitative risks.
All the single risks then have to be added to an integrated risk positioning of the project. As a
basis for the decision making process a reduction of complexity is needed, as the board does not want
to valuate all analysis findings. Common used techniques are risk maps, a portfolio technique where
risk positions are described by the axis probability of occurrence and the expected loss. After diligent
audit of the integrated risk position of the project investors and developers have to compare the
findings to the defined risk intensions and their expected values. If they come to the conclusion to
realise the project, they can use several risk policies to reduce the risk exposure of the project. Risk
policy gives a wide range of possible actions, like (Maier, K.M. 2004 p. 19-21):
• Risk prevention
• Acceptance of risk
• Limiting risks
• Sharing risks
• Dislocation / Displacement of risks
• Insurance
• Shifting risks to thirds through treaties
• Hedging
• Diversification
The risk controlling process during the development phase of the project has two aims: At
first constant observations of possible environmental changes for identified risk positions and second
the evaluation of usefulness for the inserted risk policies according to effectiveness and efficiency.
127
3.4 METHODS TO IDENTIFY AND TO MEASURE RISK
In the centre of risk management stands the risk analysis phase including risk identification
and risk measurement. It is the aim of both methods to recognize and to value prophylactically
annoying factors for an expected value. Basically the following requirements are underlying every
used technique:
• Principle of completeness – gap free identification of risks.

• Timeliness of used data – adherence of the dynamic of environmental changes.
• Efficiency of the process – with increasing level of security the costs of risk prevention are
increasing disproportionately. The optimum of security is In the intersection point of both
curves.
• Opposition of stake holder – psychological and organisational irrational decision making
about valuating risks should be avoided, risks have to be measured objectively.
The techniques to identify risks are of more descriptive character. A very common method is
the SWOT (strengths – weaknesses – opportunities – threats) analysis. For conducting SWOT
analyses several techniques are used, more or less objective in style. SWOT analysis is not only used
for risk identification. As matter of fact it is a very rough method for this purpose. A more useful
technique is a checklist. Standardised lists with underlying risk classification systems are easy to work
with, but they are not very specific for a single project. More sophisticated methods are Flow Chart
Analysis and Fault Tree Analysis. While the first method is useful for analysing impacts, the second
method is more adequate to find causes of risks, but both can identify risks. Other methods are
creativity techniques like brainstorming or workshops. Round table workshops with internal and
external experts are a very effective approach. If experts are not available for a personal meeting, a
multilevel questionnaire (Delphi method) is an appropriate way to identify risks (Hinterhuber, H.H.
2005 S. 196). Scenario techniques are often used to forecast variations of expected values. Scenario
models develop different consistent pictures of the future using different assumptions. A disadvantage
of the technique is the complexity if conducted seriously.
The measurement of risk in the phase of investment appraisal should simulate new
circumstances for chosen assumptions. Very common used methods are Sensitivity analyses.
Sensitivity analyses show what happens to the output of an investment appraisal, if one or more
(scenario analysis) parameters of the calculation are changed. More sophisticated methods use
probabilities of occurrence. Often used models use random samples, but there are also methods of
complete numeration (cp. Ropeter 1998, p. 204). Most common are Latin Hypercube and Monte
Carlo Simulation, using random samples. For risk analysis with random sample methods several
computer simulation programs exist. For both sensitivity and Monte Carlo Simulation a case study is
described in chapter 4.
Risk in investment appraisals is also considered through an appropriate discount rate. For the
weighted average cost of capital the concept of “Capital Asset Pricing Model” gives a way to value
the right level of risk premium for equity. The beta factor in the formula is the expression of risk. Beta
compares the risk of a single investment to the risk of the complete market. The Beta factor can be
described by the volatility of the market, which is calculated through the standard deviation multiplied
by the square root of periods (cases) used. Beta describes the proportion of systematic to unsystematic
risk (cp. Maier K.M. 2004, p. 37-38, Woehe, G. 2002 p. 660 & 776).
4 CASE STUDIES
Beneath many other methods of identifying, measuring and valuating risk quantitative
methods are commonly used in investment decisions. Part of every investment appraisal should be an
appropriate risk analysis. In two case studies in the health care sector we want to demonstrate which
128
methods are used in the process of investment appraisal und what advantages and disadvantages they
have.
4.1 SENSITIVITY ANALYSES FOR THE WELLNESS RESORT HEGYESHALOM, HUNGARY
“Health” as a megatrend seems to have stirred a world-wide mobilization for the new health-
conscious customer. The engines of this development are social trends like demographic changes, the
increasing deficit in psychosocial health or the increasing importance of health in the value system of
society. One of the answers to these developments is the intensified growth of the wellness market
everywhere in Europe.
The project Hegyeshalom tries to be exceptional in the mass of newly launched projects. It
builds on aspects like quality, multi-functionality, attractiveness and a mix of relaxation and activities.
Hungary as a location promises to tie to old traditions of the cure and health tourism. Hungary looks
back on a long history as a country of baths. After the downfall of communism and the reopening to
the west, the traditionally positive image has appreciably developed.
The concept plans the building of an integrated resort with 300 beds as a first step. A four
stars plus hotel and a four stars hotel are to be developed. In addition there will be a thermal bath,
several zones for wellness and treatments at different levels, restaurants and arranged external areas
for sport and relaxation.
The predicted economy of the project guarantees a net yield which is above usual ranges to
the investor. According to the calculations, an average net yield (ROI) of 14% can be paid on
participation capital over a period of 20 years. The calculated investment sum was 77 Mio. €
including planning costs and interest rates for the construction phase.
Primary market research has highly approved to the concept. Both the willingness to travel
and the spending behaviour in the representatively questioned source markets have been above
expectations. But yet the investment appraisal had some uncertainties in its basic assumptions.
Amongst many other identified uncertainties, for the sensitivity analyse the following specific risks of
the project were chosen:
• Could occupancy rates for the hotel and entries in the spa reach the predicted level?
• Could the comparative advantages in the construction costs be realised before Hungary joins
the European Union and prises will rise?
• How will wages and salaries increase after joining the European Union?
• How will currency exchange rates between Hungarian Forint and EURO develop after joining
the European Union?
• Will Hungary change the - at this point highly - depreciation rates?
For every variable of the identified main risks a scenario was built. The following table shows
the result of the scenario analysis for the values:
129
Fig 4
Assumptions for Sensitivity analyses
Worst Case Base Case Best Case

Occupancy rates hotel - 5% + 5%
and thermal bath - 10% + 10%
Construction costs - 15% + 15%
Annual increase of +6% +5% +4%
wages and salaries
Development of +5% 0% -5%
exchange rates
depreciation rates 2% 5% 6%
Every scenario was calculated separately, and the results were shown on graphs like in figure
5. Every graph shows the development of the Cash Flow return on investment for 20 operating years
of the resort. The upper line shows the best case, the middle line the base case and the lower line the
worst case. In the chosen example graph for construction costs, best and worst case are parallel graphs
to the base case at different levels. That result has to be expected, as the differentiation of business
cases was an up or down of 15%.
Fig 5
Sensitivity analyses construction costs
The developer chose a sensitivity analysis to get new results for the investment appraisal. The
result was that he got a large number of different cases, which were not connected to each other. And
of course he had no idea what would happen, if not the worst case occurs, but something in between
worst and base case. And there was no likelihood of the cases. The sensitivity analysis was effective
and helpful in order to see what happens to cash flows and return on investment, but the result was
fairly imprecise. The method is most easy to use, once a spread sheet for calculating the return of the
project is constructed. No other data is needed except an upper and a lower value for the identified
risk variables. Those values can be chosen by expert opinion, which is the most common case, or by
systematic scenario analyses. Looking to German and European investment markets in tourism and
leisure, even this thumb method is not used in every calculation. But in fact, it is better than just
saying that there are risks without valuating them.
130
4.2 MONTE CARLO SIMULATION FOR THE HEALTH CARE CENTER BRILON,
GERMANY
The health care centre Brilon is a small investment project compared to the first case study.
The investment sum is roughly 4.5 Mio. €. The health care centre is an innovative project focussing
on new medical methods using essential oils of spruces, combined with wellness treatments and a
gym. Furthermore a small office area for a visitor and information centre, a restaurant and a small
shop are supposed to be built. The location is in the centre of Germany in a mid range region with
high tourist importance, but rather poor economic power.
The investment appraisal has shown an internal rate of return on equity for the project of
18.73%. But as a matter of fact in this early stage of the development process there are many
uncertainties concerning the used input data. The main uncertainty was that the key tenant had not yet
been found. Negotiations with several tenants were in process, but not closed. So the space allocation
plan could not be finally made. On the one hand the space allocation plan and on the other hand the
final plan for fixed furniture and expenditures are the basis for the estimate of construction costs.
Furthermore the tenancy was not negotiated, no contract was signed. In that time, the European
Central bank was going to rise the interest rates to lower inflation, so that EURIBOR (European
Interbank Borrowing Rate) could rise up to 25 Base Points. At this point of the development it was
not sure at which rate dept capital could be borrowed.
At the same time a new government of the federal state was elected. Several subsidies for
regions with underperforming economical power became uncertain.
But all those figures were significant for the developer’s investment appraisal, and the
investment appraisal was the basis for all negotiations with the bank.
Identified uncertainties were:

• Construction costs
• Tenancy (treatment area, office space, food & beverage)
• Interest rates
• Subsidies
So the developer decided to make assumptions on all forecasted values. The expected values,
in this case those values with the highest probability of occurrence were used for the investment
appraisal. But those values were uncertain, the expected IRR on equity of 18,8% (ROI 8,16%) was
depending on the arrival of the expected values. In other words, the return was venturous. Borrowing
banks would not accept the appraisal. In the conclusion, the developer had to valuate the risks of
uncertainty of the used assumptions. It was decided to use the Monte Carlo Simulation to carry out a
new appraisal with consideration of all uncertainties. New assumptions for every identified uncertain
value were made, using appropriate market data to define the lower and upper values of the variables.
The following table shows the values:
131
Fig 6
Assumptions for Monte Carlo Simulation
Minimum Likeliest Maximum Correlated with Coefficient

Construction 3.600.000 € 4.050.000 4.850.000
costs € €
Net rent office 4.50€ 5.00€ 8.40€ Net rent treatment 0.80
per m² Net rent shop/f&b 0.80
Net rent treatment 12.00€ 16.00€ 18.00€ Net rent office 0.80
per m² Net rent shop/f&b 0.80
Net rent food & 8.20€ 12.50€ 16.00€ Net rent office 0.80
beverage per m² Net rent treatment 0.80
Subsidies in % of 10% 15% 25%
construction costs
For all assumptions a triangular distribution was used with parameters as shown above. The
most likely values were chosen with caution, so that maximum values for the rent were much higher
than those chosen for the base case. For the construction costs, the maximum value has also a bigger
difference to the likeliest value. The experience shows that architects and quantity surveyors often
tend to predict low construction costs.
Fig 7
Assumptions for construction costs
Assumption: construction costs
Triangular distribution with parameters:

Minimum 3.600.000
Likeliest 4.050.000
Maximum 4.850.000
0
1
00
52
05
57
10
0.
2.
5.
7.
0.
60
85
10
35
61
3.
3.
4.
4.
4.
Finance model for the investment was at 20% equity, a senior loan at 65% and subsidies of
15% in the most likely case. Negations with the local government about the subsidies took place.
After the simulation with 10.000 trials (95% confidence level) the return on equity showed the
following result:
132
Fig 8
Result of Monte Carlo Analyses
Return on equity
500
450
400
350
Frequency
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
6,38% 10,83% 15,28% 19,74% 24,19%
While the base case of the investment appraisal was at 18.73%, the mean of the simulation
showed a value of 17.29% with a standard deviation of 3.98%. The minimum result for the return on
equity of the simulation was 4.44%, the maximum was 32.81%.
In the end, the simulation had calmed investor and credit institutes. Even in the worst case,
the return would not be negative, so that debt service could be generated by the project. The
simulation had also shown that results have the biggest sensitivity to the level of the net rent. The
construction costs and subsidies were less important, while interest rates had only a very marginal
importance.
Although the developer, investor and credit institutes were calmed, the most important step
before final realisation was to negotiate the final lease agreement with at least the tenant for the
treatment and spa area.
The risk analysis did not show what would happen if the management company of the spa and
treatment area will go to bankruptcy due to failing entries. The problem could be in the companies
default (bad marketing, bad management, bad controlling), or it could be a default of the location or
market.
The risk analysis was made at the point of view of the real estate investor, not at the point of
view of the management company as the tenant. But at the end, the number of visitors / number of
given treatments is not only a problem of the tenant, but also a problem of the real estate investor. If
the management company fails, and it was caused by bad market conditions or bad location, tenancy
would not be paid for months, and most probably a new tenant would not pay a rent as high as the
first.
The method used in the case study is a very sophisticated one, which can really give a good
impression on the importance of variables on the investment appraisal and the expected return. On the
other hand the method requires excellent skills in statistics, and furthermore good market knowledge
to presume the assumptions. As a matter of fact, we do not really know if the distribution of
construction costs is triangular, or if this variable is distributed in any other way (same for all other
values). The Monte Carlo Simulation implies that the modified variables are not continuous but
discrete. Maybe we can assume this for subsidies, for construction costs in the sense of guaranteed
maximum price agreements, even for interest rates. It is harder to assume this for tenancy rates, and
nearly impossible for e.g. visitors.
133
5 THE USE OF RISK ANALYSIS FOR TOURISM AND LEISURE DEVELOPMENT
PROJECTS
Financing tourism and leisure projects has always been hard and it is getting harder. The
specific risks of managed properties are much higher than in office or housing buildings. Investors do
not take the risk of market and object easily; they are also taking a bit of an entrepreneurial risk in
terms of the welfare of tenancy. The Real Estate and the managing company can not be divided in the
tourism and leisure sector. But yet a lot of investors take that risk due to the high yields which can be
earned in this sector.
The experience shows especially for the German and European market that investors in
leisure act not as professional in terms of risk analysis and risk management as other real estate
investors do. This might be rooted in the fact that many leisure investments are made either by public
companies or by general real estate companies to diversify their portfolios. In both cases the specific
knowledge for leisure investments und their specific risks might not be very distinctive. In those cases
a profound risk analyses as a part of a holistic risk management process could help to avoid failures.
There are a lot of methods to identify and to measure risks. Some of them are thumb methods, some
are very sophisticated. Monte Carlo Simulation is one of the more expertise methods requiring a lot of
input data, which is not always available at a valid level. For tourism and leisure projects the lack of
data is therefore the biggest problem to be solved in future.
Generally spoken, for every investment project the risk management should be part of an
investment appraisal. The higher the investment sum the more effort should be made in analysing the
risks. There is no formula to calculate how much an investor should spend for the risk identification.
This depends on the very subjective risk profile of every real estate investor. Risk taking investors
may be satisfied with sensitivity analysis, while risk averse investors tend to analyse projects more
thoroughly.
In the bank’s point of view, the risk analysis is the basis of every loan or mortgage negotiation. That
has been a rule before implementing the act of Basel II, and it is actually becoming a stronger rule.
Recapitulating it could be stated that risk analysis is a profound instrument for investment decisions,
for steering investment projects in the realisation phase and as a basis for interest rate negotiations.
7 REFERENCES
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(Hrsg.): Bewertung von Spezialimmobilien. Risiken, Benchmarks und Methoden. Wiesbaden
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der Immobilienwirtschaft. Recht-Steuern-Marketing-Finanzierung-Bestandsmanagement-
Projektentwicklung. Wiesbaden
Gesellschaft für Immobilienwirtschaftliche Forschung (2001). Empfehlung zur Analyse von

Immobilienrisiken (EAI) Fragenkatalog zur Risikoidentifizierung
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(Hrsg.): Bewertung von Spezialimmobilien. Risiken, Benchmarks und Methoden. Wiesbaden
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In: Pechlaner, H.; Glaeßer, D. (Hrsg.): Risiko und Gefahr im Tourismus. Erfolgreicher Umgang mit
Krisen und Strukturumbrüchen. Berlin
Kreikebaum, H. (1997): Strategische Unternehmensplanung. Stuttgart
Maier, K. M. (2004): Risikomanagement im Immobilien- und Finanzwesen. Frankfurt
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Mun, J. (2004). Applied risk analysis: moving beyond uncertainty in business. Hoboken, New Jersey
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making and investment. New York
Ropeter, S.-E. (1998). Investitionsanalyse für Gewerbeimmobilien. Köln
Spandl, F. (2003). Risikomanagement: Mehr als Miet- und Renditeschätzung. In: Immobilien und
Finanzierung (Der langfristige Kredit), Heft 02, 2003, S. 56 bis 57
Wolf, K., & Runzheimer, B. (2000): Risikomanagement und KonTraG. Konzeption und
Implementierung. Wiesbaden 2000
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Handbuch Basel II. Kreditrisiko, operationelles Risiko, Überwachung, Offenlegung. Stuttgart
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Konsultationspapier „Überblick über die Neue Baseler Eigenkapitalvereinbarung“ 2003
135
MEASURING THE “DINING EXPERIENCE”
Tsu-Hong Yen
Department of Hospitality Management
San Jose State University
John R. Collins, jr.

Department of Kinesiology, Health Promotion, and Recreation
Jocelina Santos
San Jose State University
and
Cheng Chen
Technology Consultant
ABSTRACT
Past research in dining experience has primarily used the post-hoc approach. A mix-method
research approach incorporating computerized experience sampling method was developed to explore
dining experiences. This method allows customers to record their dining experiences systematically
as the experience unfolds naturally in a restaurant setting. By collecting both quantitative and
qualitative data, the researchers were able to exam the formation, fluctuation, and variation of dining
experience during a meal period. Findings of four dining cases of different types of restaurants
support not only the multidimensional construct of dining experience, but also demonstrate the
efficiency of utilizing computerized experience sampling method.
Key Words: customer satisfaction, dining experience, experience economy, experience sampling
method,
INTRODUCTION
The growing importance of the customer’s “dining experience” has created a significant
amount of interest in restaurant operations. It is commonly known that what the customers encounter
when dining at a restaurant is not only the food itself, but, maybe more importantly, the overall
“dining experience” (Andersson & Mossberg, 2004; Kimes, Wirtz, & Noone, 2002; Macht, Meininger,
& Roth, 2005; Pine & Gilmore, 1999). Consequently, creating an enjoyable and satisfying dining
experience has become an important goal in restaurant operations.
Several models have been introduced that focus on enhancing the customer experience
(Disney Institute, 2001; Fitzsimmon & Fitzsimmon, 2005; and Pine & Gilmore, 1998). However,
“experience” is a vague and subjective construct. Research has shown that the customer’s “dining
experience” is dynamic; that is, the customer’s experience “unfolds” as the dining engagement
progresses over time through the interaction of the customer, restaurant staff, ambiance, and meal
(Macht, Meininger, & Roth, 2005). From a management perspective, a systematic measure that
would provide a clear and detailed perspective of the customer’s dining experience as it unfolds
would be invaluable to management’s desire to effectively evaluate the overall performance of the
restaurant. However, past research has primarily used the post-hoc approach, where the restaurant
customer provides reflective assessment of his/her dining experience, which might actually give false
or biased responses due to a problem with memory recall (Barrett & Barrett, 2001). A particularly
interesting issue is how to measure customers’ dining experiences during the actual dining
engagement.
136
Experience sampling method is “a method of data collection in which participants respond to
repeated assessments at moments over the course of time while functioning within their natural
settings” (Scollon, Kim-Prieto, & Diener, 2003). This method has been proven both valid and reliable
(Csikszentminalyi & Larson, 1987) and has been used in various research endeavors
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Intille, et al., 2003; Hoseo, 2005; Kubey, Larson, & Csikszentmihalyi, 1996).
One of the advantages of using experience sampling method is that it allows the participants to report
their experience while they are engaging in the actual setting or environment where the activity is
taking place.
The efficiency of data collection in experience sampling method rests on the mechanism to
collect experience data. When the experience sampling method was developed in the 1920s,
respondents used paper and pencil to record their data. The method for recording experience data was
improved when electronic pagers were introduced in 1970s. For example, Csikszentmihalyi (1975)
used electronic pagers in his study of adolescents’ daily life experience.
New technological developments in hand-held computing devices (e.g., cell phone, personal
digital assistants, PDAs, and pocket PCs) have improved the efficiency of data collection for the
experience sampling method (Barrett & Barrett, 2001). These devices can be pre-programmed to
signal participants at random moments. It is also convenient for the participants to respond directly on
the device instead of having to recall their experience from an earlier time. Also, the data collected
can be easily transferred to the desktop computer for further analysis.
Computerized experience sampling methodology has been utilized in many studies involving
daily experience (Henderson, Anthony, & Kotz, 2005; Hosoe, 2005; Intille, et al., 2003). However,
research utilizing the experience sampling method to study customers’ dining experiences is lacking.
The objective of this study was to explore the use of a computerized experience sampling method to
study the restaurant customer’s “dining experience.” A mix-method research approach was developed
to explore the customers’ dining experience. Research questions included: How much time that a
customer spent in the restaurant? Would customers’ experiences fluctuate during the meal period?
And, how would the fluctuation in experience affect the overall dining experience?
It was anticipated that this approach would allow the customer to record his/her experience
systematically, over time, as the experience unfolded in the restaurant setting. Findings from this
study would not only contribute to the understanding of the formation and fluctuations and variations
in the “dining experience,” but it would also assist management in assessing their own performance
and provide potential insight into where improvements might be needed.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The American Heritage Dictionary (2000) defines “experience” as 1) the apprehension of an

object, thought, or emotion through the senses or mind; 2) active participation in events or activities,
leading to the accumulation of knowledge or skill; or, 3) an event or a series of events participated in
or lived through. Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com) defines “experience” as “a general concept
comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through
involvement in or exposure to that thing or event.” The word "experience" may refer (somewhat
ambiguously) both to mentally unprocessed or immediately-perceived events as well as to the
purported wisdom gained in subsequent reflection on those events or interpretation of them.
According those two definitions, there are two basic properties of experience, which are 1) the subject
has to participate in the event for a period of time, and 2) the subject makes subjectively sensorial
judgment and interpretation of the iterations during the event. Thus, a measure of experience involves
one’s sensorial judgment as the event is unfolding.
The connotation of experience supports the notion that time is an important factor in gauging
the restaurant experience. Jones and Dent (1994) identified seven major phases of the dining
experience: 1) customers arrive and wait to be acknowledged by the receptionist; 2) customers are
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taken to table; 3) waiter takes order; 4) waiter serves drinks; 5) waiter serves appetizer, starter, or
main dish, 6) waiter serves desert or coffee, and 7) customers pay and leave. Although Jones and
Dent discussed the relevance of service time of these seven phases and their associations to customer
satisfaction, they did not provide empirical data to support an optimum time frame to deliver services.
Kimes, Wirtz & Noone (2002) investigated how much time is involved in a dining experience.
Research participants were students who responded to several hypothetical restaurant settings. The
results indicated that the expected meal time for casual dining was about sixty minutes. A reduction
of twenty percent of the time will not compromise customer satisfaction. However, this time did not
include time spent on waiting for a table. Macht, Meininger, & Roth (2005) used a qualitative
approach to explore the pleasurable dining experience. The authors concluded that the pleasure of
eating depends on a variety of external and internal conditions. The pleasurable eating goes far
beyond the foods themselves. The external conditions include physical features of the environment
and social factors. The internal conditions include the diner’s motivational, cognitive, and behavioral
factors. A pleasurable experience results from the interactions of the foods and internal and external
factors before, during and after the meal. The multidimentional construct of the dining experience
was confirmed by Andersson and Mossberg’s (2004) investigation of Swedish consumers’ dining
experience and willingness to pay. The six dimensions identified in their study were: 1) food, 2)
service, 3) fine cuisine, 4) restaurant interior, 5) company image, and 6) other customers. The
relationships between these six dimensions and willingness to pay differed depending on the dining
situations. For example, foods and fine cuisine were important factors for lunch customers, while
service and company image were important concerns for dinner customers. Although the
hypothesized relationships were confirmed, Andersson and Mossberg called for continued research to
further understanding of the dining experience.
Scholars in different disciplines have developed various methodologies to study the

experience construct (Anderson & Mossberg, 2004; Cohen, 1979; Csikszentmihalyi & Hunter, 2003;
Knutson & Beck, 2003; Scollon, Kim-Prieto, & Diener, 2003; Thompson, Locander, & Pollio, 1989).
However, many of these methods took a post-hoc approach, where the respondents might give false
answers due to the issue with memory recall. A more appropriate method to use for studying the
customer’s experience during the natural setting when the activity is taking place would be the
experience sampling method. Scollon, et al. (2003) defined the experience sampling method as “a
method of data collection in which participants respond to repeated assessments at moments over the
course of time while functioning within their natural settings.” Typically the experience sampling
method requires the participants to carry a notebook or a set of questionnaires and a communication
device which is used as a pager (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975), PDA (Barrett & Barrett, 2001), or cell
phone (Hosoe, 2005) during the entire research data collection period. The communication device
can be pre-programmed to inform the participants at fixed or random intervals. At the moment they
are informed, the participants record their responses to the questions related to their current
engagement is a specific activity.
A detailed discussion of the history, uses, and design of experience sampling method can be
found in a special issue of the Journal of Happiness Studies (2003, volume 4). The advantages and
disadvantages of experience sampling method and the process to carry out an experience sampling
method are summarized in this section. Scollon, et al. (2003) summarized the advantages of using the
experience sampling method as: 1) it allows researchers to better understand the contingencies of
behavior, 2) it encourages the study of human behavior in real-life situation instead of in a laboratory
set up, 3) it allows for the investigation of within-person process, 4) it allows the researchers to avoid
some of the pitfalls associated with traditional self-reports and memory recollection data collection
methods, and, 5) it permits the use of multiple methods to study psychological phenomena. However,
there are also pitfalls associated with using the experience sampling method. Scollon, et al. stated that
most of the weaknesses are related to the participants, situation under which data is collected, and data
analysis procedures. The success of experience sampling method research depends on a carefully
planned research protocol. Christensen, et al. (2003) recommended a seven-step model to conduct
experience sampling study with an emphasis on computerized experience sampling procedures.
These seven steps are: 1) determine if experience sampling method is needed, 2) determine the
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available resources, 3) set study parameter, 4) choose software and equipment, 5) ensure equipment
are reliable and secure, 6) implement the study, 7) analyze the data. This review of literatures
provides supports not only to the multi-dimensional construct of dining experience, but also to the
possibility of employing experience sampling method to investigate dining experience. Research
design, procedures, and data analysis are presented in the next section.
RESEARCH METHODS
This study followed the steps recommended by Christensen, et al. (2003) and utilized a
mixed methods design to investigate the customer’s dining experience. Dining experience data were
collected using the computerized experience sampling method. Participants were given a Hewlet-
Packard (HP) Pocket PC (similar to personal digital assistant, PDA) to record their experience of
enjoyment on a variety of dining related issues. In addition, follow-up, in-depth interviews were
conducted with the participants after the computerized data was recorded. By collecting both
quantitative and qualitative data, the researchers were able to thoroughly evaluate the dining
experience. In order to sample a variety of dining experiences, participants were free to choose any
type of restaurant and meal.
Four participants voluntarily participated in the study, which consisted of one female and
three males who ranged between 23 to 48 years old. The purpose of the research and the procedures
for responding to the queries were introduced to the participants. Participants were also trained to use
the Pocket PC for data collection. The first participant, Allen, had lunch at a Vietnamese phon
(noodle) restaurant. The second participant, Barbara, had a dinner with her boy friend. Charlie, the
third participant, is a Chinese. He and his family had a dinner at an American seafood restaurant.
The fourth participant, David, had dinner at a Korean BBQ buffet restaurant.
The device used to collect the participants’ responses was a Hewlett-Packard (HP) Pocket-PC
(Model hx2750). This device was selected for its smaller size which is easy for the participants to
carry and not be easily noticed by the waiting staff. The touch screen function allowed the
participants to enter data by simply clicking the boxes on the small screen.
In order to simplify the data collection procedures, a software program was developed using
Java programming language. The customer’s dining experience was operationalized using a level of
enjoyment scale that ranged from 1 to 7, where one (1) reflected the lowest level of enjoyment and
seven (7) reflected the highest level of enjoyment at the specific moment he or she was being
prompted. Figure 1 shows a screen shot of the data collection device.
Figure 1
Screen shot of the data collection device
Participants were asked to click the “START” bottom and enter an enjoyment level when they
first arrived at the restaurant. A starting time was automatically recorded by the Pocket PC’s program.
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The interval to prompt the participant to record his/her experience was randomly set between three to
five minutes. Since previous studies have shown that the average dinner time takes about sixty
minutes (Kimes, Wirtz, & Noone, 2002), by setting the response interval between three to five
minutes, it was anticipated each participant would record at least twelve experience reflections over
the course of their dinner. In addition to being prompted, participants could record their feelings
whenever they felt that their experience level was affected as a result of something that had occurred
during the dining experience. For example, the waiter came to check for the water, or a nearby table
was given a surprise birthday cake. In case the participant forgot to respond to a prompt, there would
be no interruption in the data collection process. The system would remain on to allow the participant
to record their enjoyment level. After the last enjoyment level was recorded, the participant would
click the “END” bottom to stop the program and an ending time was saved. Participants were
allowed to quit the study or stop to record their experience data at any time.
The experience data was downloaded to a desktop computer for data analysis. First, the
participant’s multiple level of enjoyment entries were plotted in order to visually inspect the
fluctuations of the dining experience. An application program was developed to calculate the total
dinner period time and the amount of time that each experience level was recorded. The proportion of
time for each experience level was also calculated. Furthermore, a weighted experience level score
was calculated by summing up the products of experience level and cumulative time of each
experience level, then, divided by the total dining time.
Weighted average experience level = ∑ (experience level * cumulative time) / total dining time
After the data was analyzed, a debriefing interview was set up with the participants to discuss
their dining experience. The interview focused on the factors which caused changes in experience
level. Participants were also asked to comment on the effectiveness of using Pocket PC to collect
experience data.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Allen’s Lunch Experience
Allen is an American. He went to a Vietnamese phon (noodle) restaurant for lunch with two
colleagues on a weekday. The lunch took 31 minutes to complete. Elapse time (ET), interval time
between two responses, and experience levels (EL) are presented in Table 1 and Figure 2.
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Table 1
Allen’s Lunch Experience
Elapse time Time Experience level

(ET) interval (EL) Notes
00:00 00:00 3 Arrived at the restaurant
00:00 00:00 3 Served water
00:02 00:02 4 Orders were taken.
00:03 00:01 4
00:04 00:01 6 The main dish was served.
00:05 00:01 5
00:10 00:05 6 Felt full
00:14 00:04 5
00:17 00:03 6 Finished all foods
00:21 00:04 5 Check was given
00:26 00:05 6 Was chatting with colleagues
00:29 00:03 6
00:31 00:02 4 Paid and left
7
6
Experience Level
5
4
3
2
1
00:00 00:07 00:14 00:21 00:28 00:36
Elapse Time
Figure 2
Changes of Allen’s Experience Level During a Lunch
Cumulative times for each experience level are summarized in Table 2. The results reveal
that fifty percent of Allen’s lunch time could be defined as delightful (EL = 6), and 46 percent of his
time could be defined as satisfactory (EL = 4 and 5). Accordingly, the weighted average enjoyment
level was 5.32.
Table 2
Summary of Allen’s Lunch Experience Levels
Experience level Cumulative time Percent of total lunch time

1 0:00 0%
2 0:00 0%
3 1:00 3%
4 3:30 11%
5 11:00 35%
6 15:30 50%
7 0:00 0%
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During the debriefing interview, Allen stated that because he had been in the office all
morning and was tired, his enjoyment level was at a three when he entered the restaurant (ET = 0:00).
Since it was lunch time, he expected everything to be fast, and since the waiter served water, took the
order, and served the main dish in four minutes (ET = 0:04), Allen’s enjoyment level rose to a six,
and remained a six during his consumption of the meal when the system prompted him at ET = 0:10.
When the system promoted him at ET = 0:14, he doubted if he could finish the whole bowl of noodles.
He responded with an EL of five. Finally, he finished the whole bowl of noodles, and was chatting
with his colleagues and felt very satisfied (ET = 0:26 to 0:29, EL = 6). When asked why the EL
dropped to four when he left, Allen replied that he had to walk to the casher and wait in line to pay.
He thought it could be improved. Although Allen’s was a routine lunch experience, it signified the
importance of the customer’s expectations in experience formation.
Barbara’s Dinner Experience
Barbara and her boy friend had a date at a restaurant on Sunday evening. This restaurant does
not accept reservation during the weekend. Therefore, they anticipated that there would be a long
wait. The whole dinner period lasted 1 hour and 57 minutes, in which 45 minutes reflected their
waiting for table and the remaining 1 hour and 12 minutes reflected their actual dining. The time and
experience levels during Barbara’s dinner were detailed in Table 3. Her experience levels are
presented in Figure 3.
Table 3
Barbara’s Dinner experience
Elapse time Experience level

(ET) Time interval (EL) Notes
00:02 00:02 3 Learned that the waiting line was about 40 minutes.
00:07 00:05 4 Went to the bar for drink
00:29 00:22 5 Chatted with boy friend and forgot to record.
00:33 00:04 4 Felt would wait forever
00:39 00:06 4
Their names were called and were taken to the
00:45 00:06 6 table.
00:47 00:02 5 Waiter served water.
00:52 00:05 4 Were waiting the waiter to take order.
01:00 00:06 3 Salads were served and the appetizer was forgotten.
01:05 00:05 4 Was eating salad and looking around the ambient.
01:08 00:03 4 Appetizer and main dish arrived at the same time.
01:12 00:04 6 The foods were delicious.
01:29 00:17 7 Forgot to record.
01:38 00:09 6
01:44 00:06 6 Finished the main dish.
01:47 00:03 5 Waiter cleaned the table and offered dessert.
01:51 00:04 7 She was given a rose.
01:57 00:06 5 Paid the expensive bill
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7
6
Experience Level
5
4
3
2
1
00:00 00:28 00:57 01:26 01:55 02:24
Time
Figure 3
Changes of Barbara’s Dinner Experience Level
Cumulative times for each experience level are summarized in Table 4. The results show that
38 percent of the time the dinner experience was delightful (EL = 6 and 7) and 54 percent of the time
the experience was satisfactory (EL = 4 and 5). Perhaps, because of the long wait (45 minutes or 38
percent of the total dinner time), eight percent of the dinner time was not enjoyable. The overall
weighted average experience level was 5.08.
Table 4
Summary of Barbara’s Dinner Experience Levels
Experience level Cumulative time Percent of total dinner time

1 0:00 0%
2 0:00 0%
3 9:00 8%
4 35:30 30%
5 28:00 24%
6 26:30 23%
7 18:00 15%
The dinner time was further analyzed by excluding the waiting time (45 minutes). The result
indicated that the higher levels of enjoyment experience (EL = 5 and 6) accounted for 58 percent of
the actual dinner time of 72 minutes, and 34 percent for the satisfactory experience. The weighted
average experience level increased to 5.52. This finding might suggest the impact of waiting time on
customer experience.
Barbara talked about her dining experience in the debriefing interview. Although they
anticipated they had to wait for a while, when she was told the wait would be about forty minutes, the
experience level dropped to three (ET = 0:02, EL = 3). They decided to wait at the bar and ordered
some drinks. However, because of the crowd and noise, she did not notice the prompt and forgot to
record her experience for twenty-two minutes (ET = 0:07 to ET = 0:29). After waiting for 45 minutes
(ET = 0:45), they were led to their table, which elevated her experience level (EL = 6). Six minutes
after the order was taken (ET = 1:00), the waiter served salad but forgot the appetizer. Because of the
long wait, this mistake made her very unhappy about the service (EL =3). Finally, the appetizer and
the entrée arrived at the same time. She was not happy to see the table was full of plates (ET = 1:08,
EL = 4), especially for a date. Nevertheless, the foods were delicious and they had a very pleasant
conversation, which elevated her experience level. Between ET = 1:12 and ET = 1:44, the experience
was delightfully enjoyable (EL = 6 and 7). While the waiter delivered the check to her boy friend,
Barbara received a surprise rose. This exciting moment of truth brought her experience to another
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height (ET = 1:51, EL = 7). The enjoyment level dropped to 5 when they paid the expensive bill and
left. Nevertheless, Barbara concluded that it was a wonderful dinner.
Charlie’s Dinner Experience
Charlie had a dinner with his family at a well-known, seafood chain-restaurant on a Sunday
evening. He had dinned at this restaurant many times before, and was familiar with the service
quality of this restaurant.
Charlie’s experience data were presented in Tables 5 and 6. Variations of his experience
were plotted in Figure 4. Totally, they spent 1 hour and 38 minutes at this restaurant. Unfortunately,
only 15 percent of his time was delightful (EL = 6); 50 percent was satisfactory (EL = 4 and 5); and,
35 percent of the time was not enjoyable (EL = 2 and 3). The overall weighted average experience
score was 4.13.
Table 5
Charlie’s dinner experience
Elapse time Time Experience

(ET) interval level (EL) Notes
00:05 00:05 4 The waiting was about 40 minutes.
00:12 00:07 3 Waiting
00:18 00:06 2
00:22 00:04 3
00:27 00:05 3
Was told approximately five more minutes of
00:28 00:01 4 wait.
00:35 00:07 5 Name was called.
00:36 00:01 5 Was taken to table.
00:40 00:04 4 Waiting for taking the order.
00:46 00:03 6 Served bread.
00:48 00:02 4 Waiting
00:53 00:05 4 Waiting
00:56 00:03 6 Next table was celebrating birthday.
00:59 00:03 6 Appetizer was served.
01:03 00:04 5 Salad was served.
Not satisfied because the waiter did not ask if
01:05 00:02 3 they like to have black pepper with their salads.
01:11 00:06 3
01:15 00:04 6 Main dishes were served.
01:23 00:08 5
01:28 00:05 4
01:33 00:05 3
01:36 00:03 3 Check was delivered
01:38 00:02 5 Paid and left
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7
6
Experience Level
5
4
3
2
1
00:00 00:28 00:57 01:26 01:55
Elapse Time
Figure 4
Changes of Charlie’s Dinner Experience Level
Table 6
Summary of Charlie’s Dinner Experience Levels
Experience level Cumulative time Percent of total time

1 0:00 0%
2 5:00 5%
3 29:30 30%
4 26:00 27%
5 22:30 23%
6 15:00 15%
7 0:00 0%
Unlike Barbara’s dinner experience, Charlie explained that because he had two children with
him, they could not wait at the bar. The long waiting was a challenge for the children. In addition,
the waiting area was small. Many customers had to stand there while they were waiting for tables. As
a result, the enjoyment levels while they were waiting for a table were very low (ET = 0:18, RL = 2).
The most enjoyable times happened when the neighboring table was celebrating a birthday
(ET = 0:56, EL = 6), and when the waiter served the breads (ET = 1:03), the appetizer (ET = 0:59),
and the main dishes (ET = 1:15).
However, the unhappy moment happened when the salads were served (ET = 1:03, EL = 3).
Charlie noted that, according to his past experiences, the waiter would ask the guests if they would
like to have some fresh black pepper with their salad, and he expected the waiter to do so. He saw the
other waiters serve their guests fresh black pepper. However, his waiter never came and asked.
When the system prompted him six minutes later (ET = 1:36), the waiter still did not come to ask and
it diminished his experience (EL = 3). When he was asked why the enjoyment level diminished after
the main dish was served, Charlie replied that the waiter did not stop by to ask them if they needed
more water or drink.
Charlie is not a person with patience. He was surprised to find out, in the debriefing interview,
how much time they spent on waiting, i.e., waiting for table, service and foods. Although the total
dinner took 1 hour and 38 minutes, they only spent 21 minutes on the main course. He felt that it was
not an efficient way to use his time. He concluded that he will not visit this restaurant in the near
future.
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Charlie’s experience pointed out the importance of past experience, service quality (did not
deliver the service as they promise), and personality in the formation of the dining experience.
David’s Dinner at a Korean BBQ Restaurant
David went to a Korean BBQ Buffet Restaurant with three male friends on a Friday evening.
They arrived around five o’clock not only to avoid the crowd and waiting, but also to be able to spend
a longer time dining. They expected to eat as much as possible to get the most value of their money.
One of the special features of this restaurant is that a grill is built-into each table where customers can
grill the meats or vegetables by themselves. Elapse time, time intervals, and experience levels are
presented in Table 7. Changes in David’s experience across the dining experience are plotted in
Figure 5.
Table 7
David’s Dinner Experience
Elapse time Experience level

(ET) Time interval (EL) Notes
00:00 00:00 5 Arrived at the restaurant.
00:02 00:02 6 Were taken to the seat.
00:04 00:02 4 Waiter explained how to serve.
00:10 00:06 7 First round of foods.
00:20 00:10 7
00:32 00:12 7
00:39 00:07 6 Started to feel full.
00:44 00:05 6 Second round of foods.
00:49 00:05 5
00:55 00:06 4 Friend got more foods.
01:00 00:05 4 Friend asked to get for more foods.
01:03 00:03 4
01:07 00:04 5 Third round of foods.
01:10 00:03 4
01:16 00:06 3 Felt over eating too much.
01:19 00:03 3
01:23 00:04 6 Paid and left.
6
Experience Rating
1
00:00 00:14 00:28 00:43 00:57 01:12 01:26 01:40
Time
Figure 5
Changes of David’s Experience Level at a Korean BBQ Buffet Restaurant
David’s experiences were summarized in Table 8. The results indicate that 52 percent of
David’s dinner experience was pleasant (EL = 6 and 7) and 38 percent was satisfactory. The ten
146
percent of unsatisfactory experience was due to his personal feeling of over eating (EL = 3). Overall,
the weighted average experience level was 5.42. David’s experience illustrated one important aspect
of buffet restaurant operations. Although there is not much interaction between the customer and the
waiter, the variety and availability of foods contribute to the customer’s enjoyment.
Table 8
Summary of David’s experience levels
Experience level Cumulative time Percent of total dining time

1 0:00 0%
2 0:00 0%
3 8:00 10%
4 21:30 26%
5 10:00 12%
6 15:00 18%
7 28:30 34%
One interesting finding of David’s experience was that it demonstrated the law of diminishing
marginal utility in economics. David stated that the experience with the first round of foods was
excellent. The three enjoyment levels between ET = 0:10 to 0:39 were all seven. However, the
excitement seemed to diminish as he went for the second round (EL = 6) and the third round of foods
(EL = 5). The diminishing experience level is clearly shown in Figure 5. When asked why the
experience level dropped to three toward the end of the dinner, David expressed “I felt unsatisfied
with myself. I always overeat when going to a buffet restaurant.”
CONCLUSION
The objective of this research project was to demonstrate the procedures of a mix- method
approach incorporating computerized experience sampling method in studying dining experience.
This approach allows customers to record their dining experience systematically as the experience
unfolds naturally in a restaurant setting. By integrating quantitative real-time experience data and
qualitative data from the debriefing interview, researchers and managers could better understand the
formation, fluctuation, and variation of customer’s dining experience, which could lead to greater
levels of satisfaction.
Although this study did not intend to generalize the findings, findings of the four dining
experience cases did support the multidimensional construct of dining experience. Findings of this
study also confirmed those factors influencing the formation of dining experience, as they were found
in previous studies, which provided a strong support to the validity of this research design.
The computerized experience sampling method allows the research to establish a baseline
level of enjoyment that each participant brings to the dining experience, and is then able to discern
segments of the dining experience where the level of enjoyment increased and diminished. By
studying these fluctuations in enjoyment levels, the researcher and restaurant manager will be able to
better understand at what point the customer’s level of enjoyment changes, which will ultimately lead
to a better understanding of customer’s dining experience. Furthermore, specific service quality
details related to the dining experience can lead to prioritizing the specific functions and task related
to serving the customer. Continued research into the dining experience concept will eventually lead
to the identification of the multidimensionality of the topic. Since experience is a subjective quality,
more studies are needed to confirm the context of the dining experience along with it
multidimentional constructs.
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The potential for using the computerized experience sampling method to study customers’
dining experience has been demonstrated in this study. Although this preliminary research succeeds
in gathering customers’ dining experience feedback, further research is necessary to fine tune the data
collection procedures and generalize the results. In addition, the interface of the data collection
device needs to be improved to make it more practical. With new technologies in wireless computing,
a quicker data transmitting process can be established.
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NORMATIVE INFLUENCES ON THEME PARK VISITORS’
IMPULSIVE MERCHANDISE-BUYING BEHAVIOR
Hsin-You Chuo
Tunghai University
ABSTRACT
Theme/amusement parks are examples of exceptional places where visitors are invited and
encouraged to act on their impulses. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships
between theme park visitors’ impulse-buying trait/tendency, norms for merchandise-buying in theme
park settings, merchandise-buying intent and merchandise-buying behavior. The findings of this
study suggest that theme park visitors’ merchandise-buying norms control rather than moderate their
merchandise-buying behaviors. Moreover, the impulse-buying trait only plays a minor role in
consumers’ merchandise-buying behaviors in theme park settings.
Key Words: Norms, impulse buying, theme/amusement parks, Taiwan
INTRODUCTION
Impulse buying usually has been linked to immaturity, weakness of the will, guilt feelings,
and social disapproval. However, impulse buying might not always be normatively proscribed. It
plays a very important role in most segments of the tourism industry. Theme/amusement parks, for
example, are among the exceptional places where visitors are invited and encouraged to act on their
impulses. Rook and Fisher (1995) were among the first marketing researchers to suggest that
consumers’ normative judgments moderate the relationship between their impulse-buying trait (or
tendency—the terms are considered interchangeable in this study) and buying behavior in a shopping
environment. Nevertheless, few studies have empirically examined what roles consumers’ impulse
buying tendency and normative evaluations play in the arenas where spontaneous consumption
behaviors are especially promoted. To provide an insight into the roles that merchandise-buying
norms and the impulse buying tendency play in consumers’ merchandise-buying behavior in theme
park settings, this study attempted to examine the relationships between theme park visitors’ impulse
buying tendency, norms for merchandise-buying in theme park settings, merchandise-buying intent,
and merchandise-buying behavior. Accordingly, the following four research questions were
developed:
1. Do impulse buyers (unplanned but purchased), reflective searchers (planned but did not
purchase), intention actualizers (planned and purchased), and absorbed visitors (unplanned and did
not purchase) differ from each other in terms of their impulse buying tendency and/or merchandise-
buying norms?
2. What characteristics of impulse buyers differ from those of the other theme park visitors?
3. What characteristics of merchandise buyers differ from those of non-merchandise buyers?
4. Was theme park visitors’ merchandise-purchasing behavior influenced by their impulse-
buying tendency and/or merchandise-buying norms, and if so, to what extent were they influenced?
RESEARCH DESIGN
The target population for this study was visitors to two leading theme parks in Taiwan.
Based on the official report on annual attendance to domestic theme parks in Taiwan in 2005, a
research sample consisting of 200 respondents was obtained from visitors to the two leading theme
parks in 2006 by quota sampling. Junior students from a local university were trained as
interviewers for data collection. Interviewers stationed near the exit gates of the two parks invited
departing visitors to participate in this study. All subjects were selected based on their willingness to
volunteer their personal information on site.
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RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
In order to collect primary data from the respondents, a questionnaire was designed for
personal interviews. In addition to demographics, number of group members, and frequency of visit
to the particular theme park, respondents were asked to report whether they had thought of buying
some merchandise in the theme park prior to their visit and whether they purchased any merchandise
in the theme park. To measure the respondents’ impulse buying tendency, the impulse buying
tendency scale developed/validated by Weun, Jones, and Beatty (1998) was adopted in this study. It
included five items, which were rated on a seven-point format scale. In addition, to address the
specific research interests of this study, a ten-item scale for measuring the power of respondents’
merchandise-buying norms evaluations was proposed by the author on the basis of Heywood’s (2002)
conceptual model of behavior norms.
Norms are shared beliefs about what behavior ought to be in a given situation (Heywood,
1996), and the intensity or power of an individual norm is a function of the combination of the
certainty of obligation and the certainty of sanctions (Heywood, 2002). In this study, the sanctions
were represented concretely by consumers’ feeling of regret in consequence of their merchandise-
buying behavior in theme parks. Accordingly, there were five obligation questions using a five-
point rating format and five sanction questions using a seven-point rating format in the norm power
scale. On the one hand, the five obligation questions were designed to reflect respondents’
subjective perceptions about the extent to which a theme park visitor is obligated to buy merchandise
for particular persons. The receivers of the merchandise consisted of five groups: 1) those who came
with the respondent, aged 5 to 12; 2) those who came with the respondent, aged 13 to 19; 3) those
who came with the respondent, aged 20 or above; 4) relatives or friends who did not come with the
respondent; and 5) the respondent herself/himself. On the other hand, respondents’ subjective
estimations about the extent to which a theme park visitor feels regret in consequence of her/his
merchandise-buying in theme parks for the above five groups of receivers were respectively measured
by the five sanction questions.
RESULTS
By using the quota sampling technique, a research sample consisting of 200 respondents was
obtained from visitors to the two leading theme parks in Taiwan. The sample consisted of 40.0
percent (n = 80) males and 60.0 percent (n = 120) females. Respondents’ ages ranged from 12 to 48
years, with a mean age of 26.10 years (S.D. = 8.023). They had been to the particular theme parks
where the field survey was conducted ranging from 1 to 16 times and for an average of 2.92 times
(S.D. = 2.131), including the current visit. The size of their groups for the current visit ranged
widely, from 1 to 200 persons (mean = 9.00 and S.D. = 27.772). The distribution patterns of the
respondents’ demographics and related consumption were consistent with the practical observation of
theme park visitors’ characteristics in the real world. The 200 respondents were classified into four
types by their merchandise-buying intent cross behavior. The results showed that there were 46
impulse buyers, 23 reflective searchers, 19 intention actualizers, and 112 absorbed visitors. SPSS
11.5 was utilized for the data analysis and a level of significance of .05 was accepted for all statistical
tests in this study.
Table 1 shows a matrix representing the t-test results of six bi-group comparisons. Four of
the six bi-group comparisons were especially adopted to explore the roles that impulse buying
tendency and merchandise-buying norms play in theme park visitors’ merchandise-buying behaviors.
At first, among the four types of theme park visitors, both intention actualizers and impulse buyers
were merchandise buyers, whereas impulse buyers had not planned to be merchandise buyers before
entering the theme park settings. Surprisingly, there were no significant differences between
impulse buyers and intention actualizers in the intensity of their impulse buying tendency. On the
other hand, the results show that, on average, intention actualizers’ merchandise-buying norms were
significantly stronger than those of impulse buyers. Neither impulse buyers nor absorbed visitors
had planned to buy merchandise at the very beginning, whereas impulse buyers did buy merchandise
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later. It is interesting that no significant differences were found between impulse buyers and absorbed
visitors in the intensity of their impulse buying tendency. However, impulse buyers’ merchandise-
buying norms were significantly stronger than those of absorbed visitors. Moreover, both intention
actualizers and reflective searchers had planned to buy merchandise before entering the theme park
settings; however, only the intention actualizers carried out their merchandise-buying intent later.
According to the analyzed results, intention actualizers’ merchandise-buying norms were significantly
stronger than those of reflective searchers. In addition, there were no significant differences between
the intensities of their impulse buying tendency. Finally, neither reflective searchers nor absorbed
visitors were merchandise buyers; however, reflective searchers kept merchandise-buying intent in
mind. The analyzed results show that reflective searchers’ merchandise-buying norms were
significantly stronger than those of absorbed visitors and there were no significant differences
between the intensities of their impulse tendency.
The t-test procedure was used to compare means of respondents’ impulse buying tendency,
power of merchandise-buying norms, age, number of group members, and frequency of visit to the
particular theme park of impulse buyers and the other respondents (see Table 2). In addition, the
chi-square test procedure was used to test the frequency distributions of respondents’ gender, location
of residence, and vocation of the two groups of respondents (see Table 2). No differences between
any of the characteristics of impulse buyers and of the other respondents were found. Subsequently,
the above procedures were also used to compare and test the same characteristics between
merchandise buyers and non-merchandise buyers. The results show that merchandise buyers’
average merchandise-buying norms (N = 65, mean = 40.03, SD = 6.953) were significantly stronger
than those of non-merchandise buyers (N = 135, mean = 35.78, SD = 6.406). Merchandise buyers’
average number of group members (mean = 16.02, SD = 47.684) significantly outnumbered those of
non-merchandise buyers (mean = 4.14, SD = 3.637). The female/male and planned/unplanned ratios
of merchandise buyers (female: male = 46: 19; planned: unplanned = 46: 19) were significantly higher
than those of non-merchandise buyers (female: male = 74: 61; planned: unplanned = 112: 23).
However, it should be noted that there were no significant differences between merchandise buyers
and non-merchandise buyers in the intensity of their impulse buying tendency.
Table 1
Bi-Group Comparisons of Impulse Buying Tendency and Merchandise-Buying Norms
Between Theme Park Visitors of Varied Merchandise-Buying Behavior and Intent
Power of Norms
Intention Impulse Reflective Absorbed
Actualizers Buyers Searchers Visitors
Impulse Tendency
Intention Actualizers t = 2.285 t = 2.098 t = 4.823
-
(planned and bought) p = .026* p = .042* p = .000*
Impulse Buyers t = 1.205 t = .042 t = 3.244

-
(unplanned but bought) p = .233 p = .967 p = .001*
Reflective Searchers t = .636 t = .446 t = 2.595

-
(planned but did not buy) p = .529 p = .657 p = .011*
Absorbed Visitors t = 1.669 t = .180 t = .716

-
(unplanned and did not buy) p = .098 p = .857 p = .475
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Table 2
Comparisons of Impulse Buying Tendency and Merchandise-Buying Norms
Between Merchandise Buyers and Non-Merchandise Buyers
t df Sig.
Power of Norms 4.276 198 .000*
Number of Group Members¹ 2.005 64.359 .049*
Impulse Tendency .716 198 .475
¹ equal variances not assumed
χ ² df Sig.
Merchandise-Buying Intent 3.932 1 .047*
Gender 4.653 1 .031*
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
This study attempted to provide some insight into the role of merchandise-buying norms in
theme park settings. Unlike Rook and Fisher’s (1995) findings, which were derived from a retail
setting, the findings of this study suggest that theme park visitors’ merchandise-buying norms control
rather than moderate their merchandise-buying behaviors. Moreover, unlike in the research findings
on shoppers’ buying behavior in general shopping environments, the impulse-buying tendency plays
only a minor role in consumers’ merchandise-buying behavior in theme park settings.
In theory, consumers are less inclined to engage in impulse buying that is socially visible
(Rook and Fisher, 1995; Fisher and Price, 1992). In other words, impulse-buying behaviors tend to
occur in contexts that provide relative social anonymity. When the social visibility was represented
by the number of group members, the findings of this study revealed the interesting phenomenon that,
paradoxically, social visibility seems to be one of the positive contextual factors in merchandise-
buying behavior in theme park settings. Thus, this issue might be further investigated and explored.
Although no characteristics of theme park visitors were found to distinguish impulse buyers
from the others, the findings of this study might be effectively used to categorize merchandise buyers
in theme park settings. Accordingly, managerial implications of the analyzed results could be
further extended. If the managers of retail stores in theme park settings wish to increase their
merchandise sales, they do not necessarily need to take advantage of visitors’ impulse buying
tendency. Through advertising or personal sales efforts, they can remind visitors that they should
buy merchandise to reward themselves, their relatives, and even their friends or colleagues. Finally,
female visitors might be considered as worthy targets of related promotional programs.
REFERENCES
Fisher, R.J., & Price, L.L. (1992). An investigation into the social context of early adoption
behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 19(3), 477-486.
Heywood, J.L. (1996). Social regularities in outdoor recreation. Leisure Sciences, 18(1), 23-37.
Heywood, J.L. (2002). The cognitive and emotional components of behavior norms in outdoor
recreation. Leisure Sciences, 24(3/4), 271-281.
Rook, D.W., & Fisher, R.J. (1995). Normative influences on impulsive buying behavior. Journal
of Consumer Research, 22(3), 305-313.
Weun, S., Jones, M.A., & Beatty, S.E. (1998). Development and validation of the impulse buying
tendency scale. Psychological Reports, 82(3), 1123-1133.
153
QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN HOTEL AND LODGING ORGANIZATIONS
Nor Khomar Ishak

Shahrin Saad
Faculty of Business & Accountancy
University of Malaya
ABSTRACT
This exploratory study is aimed at investigating the service quality management practices in
hotel organizations in Malaysia. It examined the similarities and differences in the practices within
each of the management functional areas i.e. Planning, Design, Implementation, and Monitoring and
the relative importance of the service quality attributes from guests’ and organizations’ perspectives.
Key Words: Service quality, Planning, Design, Implementation, Monitoring
INTRODUCTION
The value of travel accommodation grew by 10% in current value terms in 2004, compared to
a 7% decline in 2003. This demonstrate an increase of 3% in terms of the total number of rooms
available. This percentage has contributed to the counting of hotel sales continued to dominate travel
accommodation, contributing nearly 80% (3,175 million) of industry sales in 2004. All these prove
the importance of the hotel and lodging sector toward the Malaysian service economy (GMID, 2005).
But hotels – particularly in today’s globalize, deregulated and competitive arena have come to realize
that quality encompasses much more. Quality must permeate the organization, extending to how
hotels identify and meet customer ( external / internal ) expectations, develop and deliver new
products and run their operations.
Purpose of the study
Customer service, which has been an important element in the hospitality industry will
remain as a competitive factor among providers in the industry. This is especially true for hotels and
lodgings where moment of truth experience will result in customer loyalty. This will keep the
competitive pressure to the industry from the domestic and overseas chains of hotels and lodging,
Malaysian hotels and lodging must improve service quality and care about the customer demand.
The first purpose of the study is to determine the extent to which quality management concept
and fundamentals are woven into the management philosophy, the organizational structure and the
processes of hotels and lodgings. This process will be examined through the management functions
that range from the planning, design, implementation up to the monitoring.
Whilst the second purpose of the study is to examine the differences and similarities in the
quality practices between and among the different hotels and lodging.
The third purpose is to explore the possibilities of identifying some common practices that
might be successful in supporting the quality moves in each of the hotels and lodging.
The research problem arises from the need to manage the quality movement more effectively. This is
because hotels and lodgings guests are more knowledgeable, high-tech and always trying to find the
best service that can offer them at a considerably cheap rate. Due to this service quality has begun to
be a vital element to emerge as an element to provide competitive edge.
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Significance of the study
Generally, the study will provide an understanding of the quality management practices and
the importance placed on quality in the hotel and lodging sector. On the other hand, from an academic
standpoint, the study should provide some valuable information on the current state of quality
practices in the hotel and lodging sector and this can enhance the dissemination of the current
information to students. To date, no empirical research has been conducted on the quality
management of hotel and lodging sector in the country. Therefore, this study should form the basis
for examining quality management in hotel and lodging and should provide the impetus for further
empirical research.
Another important contribution of the study will be find out if the hotel and lodging sector is
able to transform itself into productivity driven organization in support of the national aspiration. In
light of the challenges it faced, can the hotel and lodging grow through higher productivity by
increasing the efficiency of its work force?
Conceptual Framework
Planning Design Implementation Monitoring
Feedback
The framework is based on the premise that the progression of process begins with the
planning, for quality phase for new organization, then it proceed to design for quality, implementation
of quality programs and monitoring of quality improvement levels. However, continuous quality
improvement process should also exist as indicated by feedback loop at each of the process. For an
ongoing organization, there is no beginning and ending to the process since the information derived at
the monitoring phase should be fed to the planning phase.
Literature Review
General Concept of Quality
Business survival requires quality management (Deming, 1986; Juran, 1989), because that is
the only way to produce what the customers want. Quality is in fact part of job requirement. Quality
cannot be maintained without the existence of a quality culture. Often, the organizations embarking
on a quality move will realize the need to change their culture. A change in culture starts from a
change in leadership culture is assured through a proper measurement and feedback processes.
Quality process management is fast becoming an organizational survival skill (Deming, 1986; Juran,
1989).
The Concept of Total Quality Service Management
Total quality management (TQM) has been defined in numerous ways and with different
elements. It has been defined as a control process, as an approach, as a strategy, as a management
philosophy, and as a change management process. Mudie & Cottam (1993) viewed total quality
service management as the management of an entire organization so that the organization excels in all
dimensions of service that are important to the customers. Attention to quality, according to them,
must extent throughout the organization and the customers should be the ultimate judge of the
elements of quality. Oakland (1989) focuses on TQM as an approach to improving the effectiveness
of business as a whole, essentially as a way of organizing, and involving the whole organization,
every department, every activity, every single person at every level. Wilkinson (1992) added that
TQM is a general business management philosophy which is about the attainment of continuous
improvement of customer satisfaction by quality-led companywide management. In the same vein,
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Teare & Olsen (1992) contended that TQM has three broad angles: 1) Total – meaning that everyone
in the organization in the organization is involved and that everyone has a role to play; 2) Quality
which simply means delighting the customers; and 3) Management – which means organizing and not
supervising. They added that the objectives of TQM are simple: people retention, attracting and
retaining customers, and profit improvement. The important activities, therefore includes
empowerment, recognition and reward, training and communication.
Service Characteristics and Dimensions
The unique characteristics of service demand that the tools and measurement used to
determine quality level be different from those for products. First, the service product is intangible,
therefore, there is little or no tangible evidence to show a service has been performed. Second, the
production and consumption are simultaneous; that the production of the service may not be easily
seen as separable between the service provider and the customers and that the customers may be part
of the service delivery system itself. Third, the heterogeneity of the service products, that the product
variability often exists due to the quality of interaction. The fourth characteristics is perishability of
the service product, whereby it cannot be stored to meet fluctuations in demand. These four
characteristics present different handling of demand , different measurement and tools for ensuring
effectiveness. Customers service and service quality are now the focus of corporate strategy in service
organization. These are becoming the tools for competitive advantage. Specifically, in the handling
of hotels’ guests, perfection has never been too high a goal for which to strive.
Quality Service Determinants
The most widely reported set of service quality determinants is that proposed by Parasuraman
et al (1985, 1988). They are ten of them reported by the; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness,
communication, credibility, security, competence, courtesy, understand/knowledge of customers, and
accessibility. Subsequent factor analysis and testing by Parasuraman et al (1988) condensed these
determinants into five category; 1) Tangibles, 2) Reliability 3) Responsiveness 4) Assurance, and 5)
Empathy. This five category has been the basis for their service quality measurement, SERQUAL
(Parasuraman et al., 1988; Zeithaml et al., 1990) Parasuraman et al (1988) states that although the
relative importance of the categories would vary from one service industry to the next, we believe the
determinants of service quality in most (if not all) consumer service industries are included in the list’
(Berry et al., 1985)
Quality Process Components
Brown (1992) stated that exceptional service cannot be delivered to the customer until good
service exists within the organization itself, and that progressive organizations developed a service
culture within their organization in order to compete and be successful where it counts – outside, in
the market place. From this study he found that in order to sustain their competitive advantage
through excellence in service, the culture must be founded on five pillars. These five pillars are
Research, Empowerment, Acknowledgement, Communication and Help, or in short REACH. To
help organizations to sustain their competitive advantage, Brown (1992) suggested a methodology to
accompany the REACH concept. This methodology is what he termed as the EDGE process –
Excellence, Design, Guide, and Encourage excellence.
For the purpose of assessing the organization on its service quality progress using EDGE
process, Brown (1992) with Price Waterhouse Management Consultants developed the PULSE (A
Program to Understand the Level of Service Excellence) questionnaire. The questionnaire is divided
into three segments: Service Practices in the Organization; Related Service Practices; Services Issues
as a Customer, Fried & Richardson (1994) in their study of the basic components of TQM initially
uses the four components of the AH&MA (American Hotel & Motel Association) model. The four
components are, 1) Team problem solving, 2) Strategic Planning, 3) Performance standards, and 4)
Guest feedback management. These four components were further broken down into 10 elements
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which make up the TQM concepts as stated by Fried & Richardson, 1) Action Panning, 2) Cost
Benefit Analysis, 3) Designing Employee Surveys, 4) Designing Customer Survey, 5) Group
Dynamics, 6) Guest Feedback Management, 7) Mission Statement, 8) Performance Standards, 9)
Strategic Planning, and, 10) Team Problem Solving.
Using this model, the elements of TQM concepts are further divided into 4 categories based
on the premise that the components of each group represent activities in each area:
1) Planning Function
Action Planning
Mission Statements
Strategic Planning
2) Design Function
Performance Standards
Designing Customer Surveys
Designing Employee Surveys
3) Implementation Function
Group Dynamics
Team Problem Solving
4) Monitoring Function
Guest Feedback Analysis
Cost Benefit Analysis
Research Methodology
The research inquires and the nature of the results to be derived from the study determine the
research methods to be used. This study requires the combination of both the exploratory and
descriptive examination of service quality management practices, and the determination of the
existence of patterns or common practices between and among service organizations.
Research Design
This is an exploratory study which this type of research design is appropriate since the nature
of the phenomena understudy is unclear. The outcome of this exploratory study is to define the
problems more fully and to suggest possible hypothesis that can be tested in later research. The
concept of total quality management is quite well grounded with numerous empirical studies that
have been conducted especially in the manufacturing sectors. However, the concept of total service
quality management is relatively a recent development with the application and impact still in need of
further empirical studies with particular interest in the hotel and lodging sector.
Data Gathering Methods
Generally it is normal to have approximately thirty percent response rate for mail survey,
therefore at least a total of 100 organizations were solicited for participation. The basis for selecting
the 100 hotel and lodging was in accordance with the known of the organization, in terms of the
duration of existence. The data needed for the study were generated mainly through primary sources
via mail survey while some secondary sources were also referred to for information on quality awards
that the organization have won. The data from the mail survey were furnished by any top
management or first-level management members of the hotel and lodging.
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Development of Constructs
There were four instruments required for the study;
1) SERVICE quality management practices

The instrument was designed to determine the extent to which service was woven into the
fabric of the organization.
2) RELATED service Practices

The instrument for measuring related service practices was intended to find out the
respondent’s knowledge of both the competitive environment and the consumer perception of
the organization.
3) CUSTOMER service issues

This instrument measured the importance placed by customers on service issues. The first
part measured the items in terms of the importance of the service quality determinants as
proposed by Parasuraman et al (1998).
4) DEMOGRAPHICS
Two grouping has been constructed for this study. One group represents demographic profile
of the responding individual such as organization title, reporting, duration with the
organization and in current position, respectively, the second consists profiles of each
organization on the approximate number of full-time employees.
Results
A total of 120 hotel and lodging organizations were contacted and 54 hotel and lodging
responded. This represents a responding rate of 45%. The profile of the organization indicated
that17% has 800 and above number of rooms, 19% 500 to 799 with number of rooms, 17% 300 to
499 with number of rooms, 17% 200 to 299 with number of rooms, 9% has 100 to 199 number of
rooms, while the remaining 14% have number of rooms of 99 and less. The profile of the respondents
revealed that 31% were the hotels’ CEOs or General Managers, 39% were either Directors or
Department heads and the remaining 7% were the Assistant Department Heads in the organization.
Planning Function
The planning function is measured by the rate of usage of such activities as environmental
scanning, competitive analysis, recruitment criteria used, and strategic planning activities. In the
Hotel and Lodging sector, the results indicated a high to medium degree of planning functions were
carried out. This is reflected by the 64.8% of organizations conducting such activities as
environmental scanning, competitive monitoring, and strategic planning sessions. 23% of
organizations conducted them on a medium scale.
Design Function
The design function is measured by the emphasis placed on service quality as reflected in the
mission statements, organizational strategy, statements on the role of employees in effecting quality
service, the availability of divisions, departments, or individuals responsible for ensuring the delivery
of quality service, and the availability of budget allocation for quality initiative.
The results indicated a very high level emphasis on the design functions. About 83.5% of
organizations stated that they emphasized on all the above stated design activities. 91% responded
that they have many departments and individuals responsible for ensuring the delivery of quality
service. The responding organizations stated that 88% of their employees are in direct contact with
external customers and of that 69% they believed are providing quality services.
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Implementation Function
The implementation function is measured by the degree of emphasis placed on the

compensation and reward for the performance of quality service, the availability of the reward
provisions at all levels, the rate of using methods to encourage employees’ creativity, the importance
placed on attitude as a criteria in the recruitment of junior management level employees, and the rate
of using employee work teams to solve related problems.
The results indicated a somewhat medium degree of implementation function with 65.2% of
organizations agreeing to having used those activities, while 29.2% of organizations either seldom use
or do not used them at all.
Monitoring Function
The monitoring function is measured by activities such as the level of senior management
commitment to service quality, the overall level of organization dedication to service quality, the
degree of management effectiveness in communicating commitment to service quality and in
communicating the successes and failures in the delivery of service quality, the amount of attention
expected to be directed at service quality in the next two years, the effectiveness of the reward
provisions system, and the use of customer feedback analysis in decision making. Results seem to
indicate a somewhat high level of monitoring function carried out by the Hotel and Lodging sector.
Seventy-one percent of organizations in this sector responded positively to having conducted the
above stated activities, while 27% responded a medium rate of usage. Result also indicated that the
two most common data collection methods to solicit customer feedback are meeting with customers
and the analysis of complaint letters.
Overall Priority in Service Quality Practices
The overall priority in service quality dimensions is measured by using the four categories of
(1) Planning, as represented by activities of Action planning, Mission statements, and Strategic
Planning, (2) Design, as represented by activities of Performance standards, and Designing of
customer and employee surveys, (3) Implementation with activities of Group Dynamics and Team
problem solving, and, (4) Monitoring with the activities of Guest feedback analysis and Cost benefit
analysis.
In ranking the importance in quality service components, the hotels seemed to place a high
priority on action planning followed by strategic planning, thus reemphasizing the high degree of
importance accorded to Planning function. This is followed by an average emphasis given to the
Design activities (such as performance standard) and Monitoring activities (such as cost benefit
analysis) while a low priority is accorded to the Implementation function. Table 1 showed the
ranking of importance in each of the quality components.
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Table 1
Ranking of importance in Quality Components
Ranking Quality Component Score

1 Action Planning 2.9
2 Strategic Planning 3.0
3 Mission Statement 3.3
4 Performance Standard 3.4
5 Cost-benefit Analysis 4.6
6 Guest Feedback Analysis 5.4
7 Team Problem Solving 5.6
8 Designing Customers Survey 5.9
9 Group Dynamics 5.9
10 Designing Employee Survey 7.0
(1=Most Important 10=Least Important)
Most Valued Factor
The five determinants of service quality used were (Parasuraman et al., 1988; Zeithaml et al.,
1990):
(1) Reliability – the ability to provide what was promised, dependably and accurately
(2) Assurance – the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and
confidence
(3) Empathy – the degree of caring and individual attention provided to customers.
(4) Responsiveness – the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.
(5) Tangibles – the physical facilities and equipment, and the appearance of personnel.
Table 2
Ranking of Most Valued Factors
Respondents Ranking Most Valued %

Factors
Hotel & 1 Responsiveness 37
Lodging 2 Empathy 29
(N=54) 3 Tangibles 18
4 Reliability 14
5 Assurance 2
Other 1 Responsiveness 37
Respondents 2 Assurance 24
(N=96) 3 Reliability 16
4 Empathy 14
5 Tangibles 8
The Hotel and Lodging sector’s respondents ranked their most valued factors as
Responsiveness (37%) followed by Empathy (29%). The other respondents also agreed that the most
valued factor for the Hotel and Lodging sector is Responsiveness (37%). However, the second highly
valued factor is Assurance (24%).
Both hotels’ respondents and other respondent were also asked on the areas that they think
requiring immediate improvement based on the same five determinants. Table 3 will show the results
of it:
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Table 3
Ranking of Areas Requiring Immediate Improvement
Respondents Ranking Areas %

Hotel & 1 Empathy 27
Lodging Responsiveness 27
(N=54) 2 Tangibles 22
3 Assurance 13
4 Reliability 11
Other 1 Responsiveness 37
Respondents 2 Assurance 24
(N=96) 3 Reliability 16
4 Empathy 14
5 Tangibles 8
Similarities in Service Quality Management Practices among the hotels.
The decision rule used to analyze the data is as follows: Similarity exist if (1) 70% of the
hotels responded similarly to the questions posed in each of the quality management function, and
that (2) 50% or more of practices in each functions are marked similarly.
Within the Hotel and Lodging sector, there are two similar practices in the Planning function,
again all five practices are similar within the implementation function, and the Monitoring function of
the ten practices five are similar. Table 4 will illustrate the result analyzed.
Table 4
Similarities in Service Quality Management Practices within Organization In Hotel and Lodging
Sector
Functions Similarity in Practices
( Total Number
of Practices)
Planning i) Importance placed on attitude in recruiting senior level employee
(Total: ii) Do conduct strategic planning sessions
5 elements)
Design i) Quality service is stated in mission statement
(Total: ii) Concept in quality service is mentioned in strategy
5 elements) iii) Existence of a statement on the role of employees in achieving
quality service in strategy
iv) Existence of many department/individuals responsible for quality
service
v) Availability of budget allocation for quality initiatives
Implementation i) Availability of service compensation for performance of quality
(Total: service
6 elements) ii) Importance placed on attitude in recruiting junior level employees
iii) Existence of performance standard to ensure consistency in service
quality delivered
Monitoring i) High level of management commitment to service quality
(Total: ii) High level of organization dedication to service quality
10 elements) iii) Increase amount of attention is expected to be directed to service
quality over the next two years
iv) Use of customer feedback on quality of service delivery
v) Use of feedback analysis in decision making
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In the Hotel and Lodging sector, of the five practices in the Planning function, only two areas
are similar indicated in table 4. By the decision rule, therefore, no similarity exists. In the Design
function, there are five practices, with 70% or more organization responded similarly on all five
practices. Therefore there is similarity in the Design function. In the implementation function there
six practices, and of that there are similarity rated. It is concluded that there is similarity. In the
Monitoring function for this sector, five are similarly responded 70% of the organizations. Therefore,
there is similarity in the Monitoring function for the Hotel and Lodging sector. Through this, it can be
concluded that there is similarity in the service quality management practices in the Hotel and
Lodging. Table 5 will illustrate the summary on similarity derived for the Hotel and Lodging.
Table 5
Summary of Function Similarities of Hotel and Lodging
Planning Function No Similarity

Design Function Similar
Implementation Similar
Monitoring Similar
Overall Similar
Discussion
The study was undertaken to determine the extent to which quality management concepts and
fundamentals are woven into the management philosophy and organizational process; to examine the
differences and similarities in the quality management process. From the results, it stated that the
hotel organizations in Malaysia demonstrated a high level of similarity in the service quality
management practices in three out of four functions: Design, Implementation and Monitoring. This
might be attributed to the lack of well-developed and integrated strategic plan, or where the plans do
exist, they are seldom built on proper analysis of data from internal and external environment and
competitive analysis. If there are plans, these might also have not been communicated effectively to
the various operating divisions and/or employees might not understand how their unit’s objectives
and activities relate to the overall plan. So, training comes to be a vital in the planning of it.
Crunin’s (1993) article on “Staff Training Delivers Quality Service at Tokyo’s Imperial
Hotel”, noted that in order to ensure superior level of guest satisfaction and to continually refine key
services in line with changing market expectations, all employees should receive carefully planned
ongoing training. All employees are involved in the hotel’s control action programs which consist the
following key elements: personnel development which focuses on employees at all divisions at all
levels; capability development which is designed to increase occupational ability and knowledge
including service manners training, guest critique forms; service improvement committee which
meets monthly to discuss problems, report on newly adopted operational procedures and measures;
the zero complaints movement which focuses on instilling awareness of the need to assure each
customer receives the highest possible level of satisfaction, and; increase promotional activity in
support of the two frequent guest clubs.
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Heinemann Ltd. Oxford
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implications for future research. Journal of Marketing, 49(Autumn), 41-50
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measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing, Spring, 12-40
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York, NY
163
RESIDENT ATTITUDES TOWARD CULTURAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF
HAHOI AND CHONGHAK-DONG VILLAGES
Myunghwan Cho
Department of Tourism Management
Dong-A University
Hwan-Suk Chris Choi

School of Hospitality and Tourism Management
and
Heejung Jang
Department of International Tourism Management
Silla University
ABSTRACT
It is evident that the study of residents’ attitudes has been gaining recognition in the field of
tourism because resident support is the key for the success in tourism development. This study
examines residents’ perceptions and attitudes toward tourism development in Cheonghak-Dong and
Hahoi villages in Korea. This study result confirmed that perceived positive and negative impact
factors of tourism (four factors) critically influence on support for future and existing tourism
development. Also, this study indicates that community attachment can explain previous studies’
findings that highly attached residents have more support than those less attached.
Key Words: Cultural tourism; resident attitudes; negative impacts; tourism development; community
attachment
INTRODUCTION
Tourism has been celebrated as the savior of many local, regional, and national economies
because of its ability to generate new income and jobs, to create new businesses and higher property
values, to provide infrastructure and to improve facilities for residents. Smith (1998), however, has
argued that tourism can be a curse as well as a blessing. Mass tourism in many destinations has led to
uncontrolled growth and caused deterioration of natural, social and cultural resources. Such effects as
the decline in traditional culture or heritage, loss of local identity, emphasis on materialism, increases
in crime rates, crowding, economic dependency on industrial countries, and other environmental
problems (Murphy, 1985; Hall & Lew, 1998) are part of the negative impact attributable to cultural
tourism development. In particular, the “over-touristification” of community traditional culture and
other cultural resources such as religious rituals, traditional life styles, ceremonies, and morality will
in turn result in reconstructed ethnicity (Picard, 1996). More importantly, according to Cohen (1988),
the majority of cultural recreationists and explorers will accept these staged experiences as authentic
experiences but not as fantastic high quality experiences because they are not “seeking authenticity in
the ethnographic sense” (cited in Shackley 2001, p.322).
In response to this phenomenon, numerous empirical and theoretical studies have been
conducted examining residents’ attitudes toward tourism development, as well as studies examining
the impact of tourism (Pizam, 1978; Belisle & Hoy, 1980; Sheldon & Var, 1984; Allen, Long, Perdue,
& Kieselbach, 1988; Pearce, 1989; 1993; Madrigal, 1995; Lankford & Howard, 1994; Boissevain,
1996; Faulkner & Tidwell, 1997; Lindberg & Johnson, 1997; Teye, Sirakaya, & Sonmez, 2002).
However, only a few studies have attempted to examine residents’ attitudes toward tourism
development in a cultural tourism context. In addition, most researchers agree that resident support is
the key to success in tourism development. Previous studies on tourism development indicate that
164
residents are major actors in the tourism development process (Ap, 1992; Murphy, 1985; Gunn, 1994)
since they are directly and immediately affected by tourism development. Their receptiveness to both
visitors and tourism development plays an important role in attracting and pleasing visitors (Davis,
Allen, & Cosenza, 1988; Cooke, 1982). Consequently, understanding residents’ attitudes toward
tourism development can be considered as a part of the major planning process for sustainability and
be an important indicator for the successful development of tourism in community destinations.
The development of tourism to generate economic benefits was supported by residents

(Gursoy, Juroswski, & Uysal, 2002). Many researchers attempted to explain the causal relationship of
resident attitudes toward tourism development and its related variables. Major variables tested in
previous impact studies include perceived benefits and costs, level of tourism development, economic
dependency on tourism, attachment to community, general economic conditions of a community,
geographical proximity to tourism development zones or residential areas, perceived ability to
influence tourism development decisions, level of contact with tourists, type of tourism, involvement
in tourism, planning, ecocentric attitudes and so on (Choi, 2003). Among those variables, the most
frequently tested variables are effects of perceived costs and benefits on additional tourism
development. Accordingly, this study examines two major variables tested in previous impact
studies: perceived benefits and perceived costs.
Research interests of community attachment were identified in a variety of disciplines,

including sociology, (Grieder & Garkovich, 1994), anthropology (Gupta & Ferguson, 1997),
geography (Relph, 1997), and recreation (Williams & Vaske, 2002). Several researchers have used
local bonds and sentiments as major predictors of attachment (Goudy, 1990; Cowell & Green, 1994).
Similarly, in tourism studies, attachment to community has been a popular concept and researchers
examined effects of community attachment on support for tourism (Um & Crompton, 1987; Jurowski,
Uysal, & Williams, 1997; Deccio & Baloglu, 2002; Gursoy et al., 2002). However, the effect of
community attachment on support for tourism has not been consistent. Davis et al. (1988) found that
length of residence had a positive impact on support for tourism, i.e. residents who have lived longer
in the community are likely to support tourism development. On the other hand, according to Um and
Crompton (1987) and Deccio and Baloglu (2002), highly attached residents had a less positive attitude
toward tourism while Gursoy et al. (2002), Jurowski et al. (1997) and McCool and Martin (1994)
proposed and found that community attachment relates with positive attitudes about tourism and a
negative relationship with negative views of tourism. Yet its relationship with support for tourism is
contradictory. The hypotheses for this study was constructed based on findings and propositions of
previous studies (Juroswski et al., 1997; Gursoy, et al., 2002; Deccio & Baloglu, 2002; McCool and
Martin; 1994) that highly attached residents are more likely to support future tourism.
METHODOLOGY
This study was conducted in two cultural tourism destinations in Korea: Chonghak-Dong
village in Kyungsang-Namdo and Hahoi village in Kyungsang-Bukdo. Both cultural destinations
have well preserved the local features and traditional Korean culture. Hahoi village has been
renowned for shamanism rituals (ByungSin Gut) and Hahoi traditional mask dance drama
performances while Chonghak-Dong village, literally “village of the blue crane" is a rural community
rich in Korean traditional culture. The villagers live in the old Confucian style and wear traditional
Korean clothes. The geographical locations of both Hahoi and Chonghak villages are shown in
Figure 1.
The study methodology was followed based on Churchill’s multiphase approach (1977). First,
an extensive literature review was conducted. The items tested in the previous 25 studies were
reviewed. Second, based on this effort, a preliminary questionnaire was developed. Third, four
experts reviewed the developed questionnaire and then a pretest was conducted with a small sample of
residents to refine the study instrument. The study instrument was comprised of 43 items with the
respondents’ socio-demographic variables. The questionnaire was divided into 4 sections. The first
section asked for information about the resident’s community attachment (social and cultural identity
165
attachment) (11 items). The examples of items were “respect for elderly opinion”, “neighborhood
friendship”, and “pride of preserving traditional culture”. Section 2 consisted of a series of questions
that asked respondents to rate the level of agreement on tourism impact statements (27 items)
including “employment opportunities”, “understanding of other culture”, “increased cultural pride”,
and “ruined scenic beauty”. Section 3 included questions concerning their support for additional
tourism development (4 items). The following items were included: support for new tourism
development, the local government tourism policy, current tourism promotion strategies, and
attracting more visitors. The last section gathered information about the resident’s socio-demographic
characteristics including gender, monthly income, education, occupation, age, and length of residence
(11 items). For the first three section, responses were made on a 7 point Likert-type scale with the
anchors being strongly agree at 7 and strongly disagree at 1. The residents were asked to indicate the
degree to which they agreed or disagreed with each of a series of statements.
Hahoi village
Chonghak Dong village
Figure 1
Hahoi and Chonghak Villages
One hundreds sixty one survey questionnaires were distributed in Cheonghak-Dong village
(population: 171) while 185 surveys were distributed in Hahoi village (population: 218) by eight
trained research staff. Door-to-door survey method was utilized to increase a response rate. Two
days after delivering the questionnaire package, the completed questionnaires were picked by trained
staff. A total of 239 surveys were returned, out of which 214 were included in the analysis, resulting
in a response rate of 66.67%.
Table 1 presents descriptive characteristics of the survey respondent samples used in this
study. The average age of respondents was 53 years. 55.6% of respondents were male while 44.4%
were female. Majority of respondents were married (84.1%). Half of respondents have completed
their high school diploma or university degree while 21.4% has completed traditional folk village
school. Respondents have lived an average of 34.2 years with a standard deviation of 21.2 years. All
these descriptive characteristics of the respondents are quite representative to the characteristics of
both villagers.
166
Table 1
Descriptive Characteristics of the Respondents
Socio-Demographic Variables N %
Age (N=214) 53.1 (52)A
18-29 20 9.3%
30-49 81 37.9%
50-69 59 27.6%
≥70 54 25.2%
Gender (N=214)
Male 119 55.6%
Female 95 44.4%
Married (N=214)
Yes 180 84.1%
No 34 15.9%
Education (N = 192)
Folk Village school 41 21.4%
Junior High/Elementary school 55 28.6%
High school diploma 49 25.5%
College Diploma/University degree 47 24.5%
Monthly Income before taxes (Korean WonB) (N =208)
Under 1 million 118 55.1%
1.01 – 2 million 61 28.5%
2.01- 3 million 8 3.7%
Over 3.01 million 11 5.2%
Villages (N=214)
ChongHak-Dong 100 46.7%
Hahoi 114 53.3%
Length of Residence (N=212)
≤ 5 yr 14 6.5%
6-10 yrs 25 11.8%
11-20 yrs 38 17.9%
≥ 20 yrs 135 63.7%
Occupation (N=210)
Agricultural/Forestry workers 42 19.6%
Students 11 5.2%
Government employee 6 2.9%
Education sector employee 8 3.8%
Private sector employee 31 14.8%
Self employed in a non-rural sector 48 22.9%
Housewife 22 10.5%
Retired/Not Currently Employed 42 20.0%
Home town (N=214)
Yes 113 52.8%
No 101 47.2%
Note – A: Median; B: US$1.00 = 990 Won
167
DATA ANALYSIS
Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 12.0.
Principal Components Analysis (PCA) approach with a varimax rotation was conducted to simplify
the factor structure and to increase the interpretability of the identified factors. The derived factor
score was used in testing the conceptual framework using multiple regression analysis. A Cronbach’s
alpha was calculated to evaluate the internal consistency. For this study, only individual items with
factor loadings greater than 0.4 with eigenvalues equal or greater than 1 were considered for inclusion
in a factor. Three separate factor analyses were performed for the following variables: support for
tourism; perceived negative and positive impact of tourism; and community attachment. Tables 2, 3,
and 4 display the domain descriptors, the number of items in each domain, corresponding alpha
reliability coefficient, eigenvalues, and a percentage of variance explained by individual domain. In
order to test the conceptual framework, a multiple regression analysis was performed (see Table 5).
Table 2
Factor Loadings and Reliability Test for Tourism Impacts
Factor
Domains Items
Loadings
Diminished physical condition of natural
0.887
Negative Environmental Impacts environment.
Deterioration of ecosystem 0.886
E.V = 5.589
% of Variance explained = 25.405 Ruined scenic beauty 0.869
Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.902 Ruined cultural assets 0.812
Loss of traditional community character 0.666
New income generation 0.826
Positive Economic Impacts
Benefits on local economy 0.794
E.V = 4.118 Employment opportunities 0.774
% of Variance explained = 18.716
Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.849 Tax revenue 0.688
Standard of living 0.504
Positive Social Impacts Better leisure facilities 0.785
E.V = 1.636 Infrastructure improvement 0.737

% of Variance explained = 7.437 Image improvement 0.688
Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.803
Diversified cultural activities 0.675
Positive Cultural Impacts Restoration of cultural assets 0.700

Understanding of other culture 0.651
E.V = 1.504
% of Variance explained = 6.838 Conservation of cultural assets 0.621
Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.713 Cultural pride 0.614
Negative Social Impacts Traffic congestion 0.748

Crime 0.739
E.V = 1.286
% of Variance explained = 5.846 Increased real estate prices 0.635
Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.691 Increased cost of living 0.562
Total variance explained: 64.24%; E.V: Eigenvlalue
168
Table 3
Factor Loadings and Reliability Test for Community Attachment
Factor
Domains Items
Loadings
Respect for elderly opinion 0.774
Social Attachment Neighborhood friendship 0.698
Ability to participate in
0.673
community events
E.V. = 2.980
% of Variance explained = 37.254 Like to live here 0.630
Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.710
Respect for traditional social norm 0.462
Cultural Attachment Happy to maintain traditional culture 0.838
E.V = 1.271 Pride of preserving traditional culture 0.819

% of Variance explained = 15.890
Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.732 Like to live in a traditional way 0.608
Total variance explained: 53.14%
E.V: Eigenvalue
Table 4
Factor Loadings and Reliability Test for Support for Tourism
Item Factor loadings

New tourism development 0.891
The local government tourism policy 0.877
Current tourism marketing promotion strategies 0.869
Attract more visitors 0.751
E.V. = 2.88; % of Variance explained = 72.05%; Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.869
E.V: Eigenvalue
FINDINGS
To understand the effects of tourism impacts and attachment on attitudes for future tourism
development and concomitantly to test hypothesized causal relationships among variables, a multiple
regression was performed. The models tested and the result of multiple regression analysis is
presented in Table 5. The findings revealed six independent variables that contribute significantly to
explaining residents’ attitudes toward future tourism development in both cultural destinations (F (7,
196) =22.57, p<0.001). The bigger the β-values are the higher the importance of that variable to the
overall model. The results demonstrated that seven variables explained about 42 percent of the
variance interpreting more meaningfulness of multiple correlations. The regression coefficients
indicate that perceived positive social impact had a positive relationship with support for tourism as
hypothesized and can be considered as an important factor (β = 0.38) in explaining resident behavioral
intentions to support future tourism development while perceived negative environmental impact has
a negative relationship (β = -0.31). As hypothesized, positive economic impact (β = 0.13) and
positive cultural impacts (β = 0.15) were positively related to behavioral intention to support future
tourism. Both attachment factors had a positive relationship, with intention to support (β = 0.311; β =
169
0.131 respectively). However, the perceived negative social impact factor did not reach the
conventional level of significance (β = 0.05, t=0.90).
Table 5
Multiple Regression Analysis Results for Residents’ Attitudes toward Tourism
DV = Support for Tourism

Variable Regression Coefficients SE t-value
Negative Environmental Impact -0.305 0.053 -5.693**

Positive Economic Impact 0.128 0.054 2.346*
Positive Social Impact 0.383 0.052 7.194**
Positive Cultural Impact 0.152 0.059 2.761*
Negative Social Impact 0.048 0.054 0.902
Social Attachment to Community 0.311 0.055 5.584**
Cultural Attachment to Community 0.131 0.054 2.428*
F = 22.556; degrees of freedom = 7, 196; Model significance: p < 0.001
R2 = 0.446; Adjusted R2 = 0.426;
** indicates significance at the 0.001 level
* indicates significance at the 0.01 level
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The current study investigated community residents’ perceptions and attitudes toward tourism
development in Cheonghak-Dong and Hahoi villages in Korea. This study tested the hypotheses, the
associations of the perceived positive and negative impact factors of tourism such as economic
benefits, environmental costs and other socio-cultural benefits and costs with support for tourism.
This study confirmed the results of previous studies. Furthermore, this study examined the concept of
community social and cultural attachment. The results of previous studies are inconclusive on the
association between community attachment and key variables. The study results indicate that highly
attached residents appear to evaluate additional tourism positively and support future tourism
development and government actions.
The findings of this study may be useful in assisting planners and academic researchers to
assess, monitor, and evaluate current or potential community tourism development processes for
culturally well-preserved community destinations. Current tourism development at the two
destinations is seen as marginal; however, this may change quickly due to the nature of tourism
development. Without proper long-term planning strategies, their appropriate implementation and
continuous monitoring of development progress, current and future development in an area and the
attainment of community goals may be in question. Therefore, planners, governments, developers,
industry, non-governmental organizations, and community residents are responsible for rising to the
challenges and driving development in the right direction. Finally, residents’ attitudes as a subjective
indicator should be recognized as a tool to evaluate development progress at the local level and further
monitoring research into resident attitudes will be needed as tourism increases at these two cultural
destinations.
170
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Cowell, D. K., & Green, G. P. (1994). Community attachment and spending location: The importance
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Davis, D., Allen, J., & Cosenza, R. M. (1988). Segmenting local residents by their attitudes, interests,
and opinions toward tourism. Journal of Travel Research, 27(2), 2-8.
Deccio, C., & Baloglu, S. (2002). Garfield county resident perceptions of the 2002 Winter Olympics:
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Faulkner, B., & Tideswell, C. (1997). A framework for monitoring community impacts of tourism.
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Goudy, W. J. (1990). Community attachment in a rural region. Rural Sociology, 55(2), 178-198.
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Gupta, A., & Ferguson, J. (Eds.). (1997). Culture, power, place: Explorations in critical anthropology.
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Gursoy, D., Jurowski, C., & Uysal, M. (2002). Resident attitudes: A structural modeling approach.
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Jurowski, C., Uysal, M., & Williams, D. R. (1997). A theoretical analysis of host community resident
reactions to tourism. Journal of Travel Research, 36(2), 3-11.
Hall, C. M., & Lew, A. (Eds.) (1998). Sustainable tourism development: Geographical perspectives.
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Lankford, S. V., & Howard, D. (1994). Developing a tourism impact attitude scale. Annals of
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This publication was made possible by Korea Research Foundation (KRF-002-B00384).
172
RESIDENT ATTITUDES TOWARD TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: A CASE OF HERITAGE CITY
IN TAIWAN
Ching-Fu Chen
Nan Hua University
and
Pei-Chun Chen
Nan Hua University
ABSTRACT
Heritage has been deemed as an important tourism resource for tourism development all over
the world. Heritage tourism has been one kind of prevalent special interest tourism, and usually
related to the domains of cultural tourism and urban tourism. The success of heritage tourism relies on
not only the unique, attractive heritage resources and tourism policy but also the support of residents.
Hence, it is of importance to investigate the influences of resident attitudes toward tourism
development.
This study investigated the inter-relationships between community attachment, economic

dependence on tourism, perceived positive tourism impacts, perceived negative impacts, and support
for tourism development using a resident questionnaire data obtained from Tainan city, a heritage city,
in Taiwan. The findings of this study suggest that community attachment has significant effect on
positive tourism impact and negative tourism impact while economic dependence only has significant
effect on the former impact. Both positive and negative tourism impacts have significant effect on
support for tourism development.
Key Words: residents’ attitude, tourism impact, heritage tourism, tourism development
INTRODUCTION
Heritage has been deemed as an important tourism resource for tourism development all over
the world. Heritage tourism has been one kind of prevalent special interest tourism, and usually
related to the domains of cultural tourism and urban tourism. The success of heritage tourism relies on
not only the unique, attractive heritage resources and tourism policy but also the support of residents.
Hence, it is of importance to investigate the influences of resident attitudes toward tourism
development.
Tourism development has been identified as an effective mean to revitalize the economy of a
destination, rural or urban. However, the success of tourism development largely relies upon the
support from local residents. Understanding local residents’ reactions towards tourism development
and factors that may influence their reactions is essential in achieving a host community’s support for
tourism development (Perdue, Long and Allen, 1990; Yoon, Gursoy and Chen, 2001). Residents’
attitudes have been studied extensively in the literature. The results of such studies suggest that local
residents’ support for tourism development are affected by the perceived impact tourism in three basic
types of benefits and costs: economic, social and cultural, and environmental( Yoon, et. al, 2001;
Gursoy, Jurowski and Uysal, 2002).
Although it is generally accepted that residents’ support is tied to perceived impacts, as

argued by Yoon, et al. (2001), the structural effects of tourism impacts on local residents’ support for
tourism development have not been rigorously investigated. In their study, Yoon, et al. (2001)
proposed an integrated model to examine the structural effects of four tourism-impact factor (i.e.
173
economic, social, cultural and environmental) on total impact and on local residents’ support for
tourism development. Tourism development leads not only to positive, but also has potential for
negative outcomes at the local level (Ko and Stewart, 2002). However, only positive items of
economic impact and negative items of social, cultural, and environmental impacts were considered in
their empirical model. It casts some doubts on the robustness of the model proposed by Yoon, et al.
(2001).
In addition, according to Gursoy et al. (2002), the potential links between the impacts and
attitudes toward tourism have been investigated by factors such as residents’ levels of participation in
recreation, attachment to the community, length of residence, knowledge about the industry,
proximity to its business zone or contact with tourists, sociodemographic characteristics, political and
demographic position in society, type and form of tourism, and economic benefits derived from the
industry. However, most studies were descriptive and largely atheoretical. In other words, it is still
needs more research efforts to explore the effect of various factors on resident perceptions of impacts
of tourism and resident attitudes toward tourism development.
The purpose of this study is to construct an integrated structural model to examine the direct
and / or indirect causal effects of various factors on residents’ attitudes toward support for tourism
development in heritage city setting. Community attachment and economic dependence are chosen as
the antecedents of resident’s perceptions of tourism impact including positive and negative impacts.
The support for tourism development is chosen as the consequence of resident’s perceptions of
tourism impact.
CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF SUPPORT FOR TORISM
The hypothetical model (Figure 1) is adapted from Ko and Stewart (2002) and Gursoy and
Rutherford (2004). The former consisted of five latent constructs related to resident’s support for
tourism development: personal benefits from tourism development, positive perceived tourism
impacts, negative perceived tourism impact, overall community satisfaction, and attitudes fore
additional tourism development. The later consisted of eleven latent constructs: community
attachment, community concern, ecocentric attitude, utilization of tourism resource base by resident,
the state of the local economy, economic benefits, social costs, social benefits, cultural benefits,
cultural costs, and support for tourism. As seen in Figure, this study proposes a five- latent-construct
model to investigate the determinants of support for tourism development. The five latent constructs
are community attachment, economic dependence on tourism, perceived positive tourism impacts,
perceived negative tourism impacts, and support for tourism development. The proposed model has
eight path hypotheses as follows.
174
H7+
H1+
Community Positive
attachment impact H5+
H2+
Support for
H3+ tourism
Economic Negative
dependence H2+ impact H6+
H4+
H8+
Figure 1
Proposed conceptual model
H1: A direct positive relationship exists between community attachment and perceived positive
tourism impacts.
H2: A direct negative relationship exists between community attachment and perceived negative
tourism impacts.
H3: A direct positive relationship exists between economic dependence on tourism and perceived
positive tourism impacts.
H4: A direct negative relationship exists between economic dependence on tourism and perceived
negative tourism impacts.
H5: A direct positive relationship exists between perceived positive tourism impacts and support for
tourism development.
H6: A direct negative relationship exists between perceived negative tourism impacts and support for
H7: A direct positive relationship exists between community attachment and support for tourism
development.
H8: A direct negative relationship exists between economic dependence on tourism and support for
/ Figure 1 inserted here/
METHOD
1. Study site
Due to its rich historical heritages and cultural value, the Tainan city located in southern
Taiwan has its unique comparative advantage for developing urban/cultural tourism in Taiwan. The
local government has actively taken heritage tourism strategy and held a great number of cultural
events to revitalize the city’s economy in recent years. While various cultural festivals and events
have been carried out to attract tourists’ visits, they seem not very related to residents’ life. Some
doubts have been cast on the benefits of strategies of tourism development taken by the local
175
government. Whether or not the strategies of local government are successful, or more precisely,
whether or not the residents support the local government’s strategies is an important issue to
investigate.
2. Questionnaire design
The questionnaire was designed as the survey instrument including all constructs of the
proposed model to investigate the hypotheses of interest. The questions in the questionnaire are based
on a review of the literature. The questionnaire consists of four parts. Part 1 of the questionnaire deals
with the perceptions of tourism impacts with 27 items. More specifically, this part is divided into
three sub-sections including economic impact with 9 items, social/cultural impact with 10 items and
environmental impact with 8 items. Part 2 deals with the measurement of community attachment with
4 items and economic dependence with 2 items. Part 3 deals with the attitudes toward support for
tourism development. A 5-point Likert-type scale was utilized for the items of the first three parts (5 =
strongly agreed; 1 = strongly disagreed) Finally, Part 4 reports respondents’ demographic information
with seven items, such as gender, age, martial status, occupation , personal monthly income,
education level, length of residence via a categorical scale
3. Sample design and data collection
Self-administrated questionnaires were distributed to the residents of Tainan city at main

community parks and public areas. Due to the limit f time and cost, the sample of the study was
selected by convenient sampling technique. The respondents were confirmed as residents and the
willingness to participate the survey when being approached by the interviewers. A total 500
questionnaires were distributed during the period from November to December, 2005. After
eliminating the incomplete questionnaires, 336 useable ones were obtained yielding a 67.2% response
rate.The respondent profile is summarised as Table 1.
4. Data analysis
Data analysis was performed in two stages. In the first stage, a confirmatory factor analysis
was conducted to test the reliability and validity of the constructs of tourism impacts. In the second
stage, the evaluation of goodness-of-fit indices for the proposed structural equation model and
testifying hypotheses were performed.
Table 1
Respondent profile
Variable Frequency percent(%) Variable Frequency percent(%)

Gender Monthly income
male 159 47.3 20000NT$ or 74 22.0

less
female 177 52.7 20001- 122 36.3
30000NT$
Age 30001- 83 24.7
40000NT$
20 and less 44 13.1 40001- 30 8.9
50000NT$
21-30 137 40.8 50001NT$or 27 8.0
more
31-40 94 28.0 Education
41-50 39 11.6 junior high 20 6.0
school or less
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50 and over 22 6.5 senior high 104 31.0
school
Martial status undergraduate 197 58.6
married 133 39.6 postgraduate 15 4.5
unmarried 203 60.4 Length of
residence
Vocation 2years or less 35 10.4
student 56 16.7 2-5 years 33 9.8
civil servant 29 8.6 6-10years 43 12.8
housekeeper 18 5.4 11-15years 38 11.3
agriculture 5 1.5 16 years or more 186 55.7
Manufacture 80 23.8
Self-employed 49 14.6
commercial 99 29.5
RESULTS
1. Confirmatory factor analysis
Tourism impact was hypothesized as two constructs: positive tourism impact and negative
tourism impact. Each impact consists of three components: economic impact, socio-cultural impact
and environmental impact. The scale reliability analysis was conducted to test the internal consistency
of items under each impact component. Cronbach alpha values all exceed 0.7, the threshold
recommended by Nunnally (1978), indicating the reliability for the scales. More specifically, the
items of positive economic impacts (6 items), positive socio-cultural impacts (4 items), positive
environmental impacts (4 items), negative economic impacts (2 items), negative socio-cultural
impacts (5 items) and negative environmental impacts (4 items) are remained after reliability analysis.
Hence, the mean scores for six impact components are calculated for further analysis of proposed
model.
The proposed model hypothesized that there are significant casual relationships among five
latent constructs of ‘community attachment’, ‘economic dependence’, ‘positive tourism impact’,
‘negative tourism impact’, and ‘support for tourism development’. The casual relationships
represented the eight hypotheses in the path model. Empirical evaluation of such hypotheses is
complicated by the fact that latent constructs are not directly observable. Evaluation is based on sets
of observed or measured variables that serve as indicators of latent variables, with the relationship
between the observed and latent variables being estimated using factor analysis. Structural equation
modeling (SEM) is used to estimate the causal relationships of the proposed model. A confirmatory
factor analysis was used to evaluate the measurement model. The observed variables of ‘community
attachment’, ‘economic dependence’ and ‘support for tourism development’ were items measured
directly. The observed variables of ‘positive tourism impacts’ and ‘negative tourism impacts’ were the
summated rating scales of the first stage of the reliability analysis. The final measurement model had
a chi-square value of 122.02 with 56 degrees of freedom and a p-value of 0.000; GFI = 0.95; CFI =
0.95; NFI = 0.91, PNFI = 0.66; PGFI = 0.58, further, the indicators of residuals, RMR (root mean
square) and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) are 0.05 and 0.059, respectively. The
results indicate a well-fitting model.
As shown in Table 2, convergent validity of CFA results should be supported by item

reliability, construct (composite) reliability and average variance extracted (Hair et al. 1998).Item
reliability denotes the amount of variance in an item due to the underlying construct, t-values for all
the standardized factor loadings of items were found significant (p<0.01), assuring item reliability.
Hair et al. (1998) proposed construct reliability estimates as being greater than 0.7. In this study
construct reliability estimates range from 0.77 to 0.91, which are generally satisfactory. The average
variance extracted, which should be above 0.50, measures the amount of variance explained by the
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construct. Table 2 shows that the average variance extracted falls between 0.5 and 0.77. The results
indicate that the measure items have high reliability and validity.
Table 2
Reliability and validity of constructs
Item reliabilty Average

Construct
Constructs Items Factor loading Standard Standardize t-value variance
reliability
errors d loading extracted
community X1 1.00 -- 0.39 --
attachment x2 2.10 0.36 0.69 6.02** 0.77 0.55
x3 2.66 0.48 0.84 5.6**
economic X4 1.00 -- 0.56 --
0.77 0.50
dependence x5 1.27 0.43 0.72 3.05**
positive impact y1 1.00 -- 0.62 --
y2 1.29 0.14 0.83 9.86** 0.91 0.77
y3 1.14 0.13 0.68 9.35**
negative impact y4 1.00 -- 0.52 -
y5 1.48 0.19 0.84 8.24** 0.86 0.67
y6 1.35 0.16 0.78 8.50**
support for tourism y7 1.00 -- 0.78 --
0.85 0.74
development y8 1.35 0.13 0.82 10.60**
Note: Variables under each construct see Figure 2.
2 Structural model
Within the structural model, the estimates of the structural coefficients provide the basis for
testing the proposed hypotheses. As shown in Figure 2, community attachment has a significantly
positive effect on positive tourism impact and negative tourism impact (γ1 = .23, t-value = 2.84, , and
γ 2= -0.17, t-value = -2.14, respectively) thus supporting H1 and H2. Economic dependence has a
significantly positive effect on positive tourism impact ((γ3 = 0.17, t-value = 2.03), supporting H3
whereas the effect of economic dependence on negative tourism impact (H3) not significant. In
addition, positive tourism impact has a significantly positive effect on support for tourism
development (γ5 =0.59, t-value = 6.98) , supporting (H5) and negative tourism impact has a
significantly negative effect on support for tourism development (γ6 =-0.21, t-value = -3.37),
supporting(H6). Furthermore, community attachment has a significantly positive effect on support for
tourism development (γ7 = .15, t-value = 2.51), supporting (H7), while the effect of economic
dependence on support for tourism development is not significant.
178
y1 y2 y3
X1
0.62 0.83 0.68
0.39
X2 0.69
0.23(2.84)
Community Positive
0.59(6.98)
X3 attachmentξ impact
0.84 0.78 y7
1 -0.17(-2.14) Support for
0.56 0.17(2.03) tourism
0.82 y8
X4 Negative
Economic impact
-0.21(-3.37)
dependence 0.05(0.62)
X5
0.72 0.52 0.78
0.84
y4 y5 y6
X1: the level of familiarity with community, X2: the frequency of participation in community activities
X3: the frequency of interaction with community residents, X4: the degree of relationship between my job and
tourism
X5: the degree of relationship between family income and tourism, Y1: positive economic impact
Y2: positive socio-cultural impact, Y3: positive environmental impact, Y4: negative economic impact
Y5: negative socio-cultural impact, Y6: negative environmental impact, Y7: overall, I will support Tainan’s
tourism development
Y8: overall, I will support tourism development in my community
Figure 2
Estimated model
Table 3 reports the direct and indirect effects of all variables on support for tourism
development. The total effect of community attachment on support for tourism development is 0.32,
i.e. sum of direct and indirect effect while the total effect of economic dependence on support for
tourism development is merely 0.05. It suggests the support for tourism development relies much
more on resident’s community attachment than economic dependence on tourism. In addition, the
contribution of resident’s perception of positive tourism impact to support for tourism development
(0.59) is much more than resident’s negative perception of negative tourism impact (-0.24). The
findings imply that in the study setting residents place more importance on the benefits of tourism
than the costs of tourism when determining their attitudes to tourism development.
179
Table 3
The direct, indirect and total effects on support for tourism development
direct indirect
path total effects
effects effects
community attachment → positive impact 0.23 -- 0.23
community attachment → negative impact -0.17 -- -0.17
community attachment → support for tourism 0.15 0.17 0.32
economic dependence → positive impact 0.17 -- 0.17
economic dependence → negative impact 0.05 -- 0.05
economic dependence → support for tourism -0.06 0.09 0.03
positive impact → support for tourism 0.59 -- 0.59
negative impact → support for tourism -0.21 -- -0.21
CONCLUSIONS
This study investigated resident’s attitudes towards support for tourism development by
constructing a integrated model considering community attachment, economic dependence, perceived
tourism impacts and support for tourism development. The structural relationships between all
variables in the study were tested using data obtained from a resident questionnaire survey at a
heritage city, Taiwan city, in southern Taiwan. The results reveal that both perceived positive tourism
impacts and negative tourism impacts are the determinants of residents’ support for tourism
development. As expected, the former has a positive effect while the latter has negative effect. The
residents with higher community attachment tend to have higher positive tourism impacts and lower
negative tourism impacts. However, the residents with higher economic dependence on tourism only
have a significant positive effect on positive tourism impacts but not significant effect on negative
tourism impacts. Finally, the residents with higher community attachment also suggest their higher
support for tourism development.
REFERENCES
Ko, D.W., & Stewart, W. P. (2002). A structural equation model of residents’ attitudes for tourism
development, Tourism Management, 23, 521-530.
Gursoy, D., Jurowski, C., & Uysal, M. (2002). Resident attitudes: a structural modeling approach,
Yoon, Y., Gursoy, D. & Chen, J. S. (2001). Validating a tourism development theory with structural
equation modeling, Tourism Management, 22, 363-372.
Gursory, D. & Rutherford, D. G. (2004). Host attitudes toward tourism: an improved structural model,
Perdue, R. R. , Long, P. T. & Allen, L. (1990). Resident support for tourism development, Annals of
Tourism Research, 17, 586-599.
180
REVOLUTION IN FOOD INDUSTRY:
TRANSFORM THE PARADIGM OF CONVENTIONAL TO ADVANCED COOKING PROCESS
Juke Sjukriana
Hotel Salak The Heritage
ABSTRACT
As a four-star hotel with 120 rooms located in front of Bogor Presidential Palace, Indonesia,
Hotel Salak The Heritage serves more than 200,000 pax of individual, family and business guests per
year. The hotel has a high demand of traditional foods for buffet and ala carte services. As traditional
food uses a wide variety of ingredients, it requires relatively long cooking processes and results in
high raw material waste. Hotel Salak The Heritage and PT Ayam Goreng Fatmawati Indonesia
(AGFI) have initiated to generate a new method to transform from conventional to advanced, effective
and clean cooking processes by using spice powders for traditional food recipes. This advanced
cooking method has given an enormous contribution to the food production efficiency for more than
IDR 9 billion (USD 1 million) per year for buffet services.
Key Words: spice powder, conventional cooking process, food production efficiency
INTRODUCTION
In the past few years, Indonesian tourism industry has grown rapidly. The rapid growth in
tourism industry gives a significant contribution to food industry, especially for traditional Indonesian
foods, since tourists are likely to try and eat traditional foods during their stay in Indonesia. Therefore,
the need for delicious, healthy and various food products has been one of the most important aspects
in the food industry.
An effective and efficient production process is highly recommended especially for

restaurants and hotels which provide a high capacity of banquet and food services. Fast and simple
food processes will also give benefits in production and human resource costs. Hygiene and sanitary
in production processes are strongly related to clean and healthy food products, and those are the most
vital issues for kitchen working areas and staff. In addition, consistency in food taste, quality and
performance will strengthen customers’ image and reliability to always use the products.
Hotel Salak The Heritage is a four-star hotel with 120 rooms located in front of Bogor
Presidential Palace, where the APEC meeting was held in 1994. The hotel was built in 1856 and
originally named Binnenhof Hotel. It was used for the elite groups of the Palace and Governor
General of Netherlands Indies. Today, Hotel Salak The Heritage is a prominent business hotel in
Bogor with thousands of guests coming from international institutions and companies, such as the US
Embassy, United Nations, LG and Samsung. The hotel serves more than 200,000 pax of individual,
family and business guests per year. The hotel has a high demand of traditional foods, such as
Sundanese and Padang foods for buffet and ala carte menus. The demand does not only come from
domestic guests, but also from international guests. As traditional food uses a wide variety of
ingredients, it requires relatively a long cooking process and results in high raw material waste. The
long cooking process with high varieties of ingredients may also affect inconsistency of product taste
and performance, as well as service delivery time. Hotel Salak The Heritage and PT Ayam Goreng
Fatmawati Indonesia (AGFI) have initiated to generate a new method to improve the production
process and results. PT AGFI has been a manufacturing company of instant seasonings for traditional
foods for almost 10 years. By early 2006, PT AGFI has 51 franchise restaurants and outlets in all over
Indonesia. Due to its capability in maintaining product quality and implementing the most updated
technology in manufacturing processes, Hotel Salak The Heritage has made cooperation with PT
AGFI to conduct some researches and develop spice powders.
181
This paper focuses on the comparison between conventional and spice powder cooking
processes in daily food production and the benefits of spice powder in increasing production
efficiency in Hotel Salak The Heritage. Beef Rendang is selected in the discussion as the case recipe,
because it is one of the most favorite Indonesian traditional foods.
WHAT IS SPICE POWDER?
Spice powder is an instant blended seasoning made from pure dried spices. Spice powders
have been produced by PT AGFI for more than 5 years. There are 17 different pure spices have been
produced, such as garlic, red chili, shallot, and lemon grass. The primary production process of pure
spices is by sorting, cleaning and chopping raw spices and boiling them until 90°C. The spices are
then put into ambient temperature water (25-30°C) to kill bacteria and eliminate air trapped in
material tissues. The spices are then dried by using vacuum drying technology. Vacuum drying is a
process where spices are dried out in a stable pressure and a low temperature oven (50-60°C). The
surrounding air inside the oven will be then pumped out (vacuumed), so the spice water content will
slowly evaporate and the spices will gradually dry. Unlike an ordinary heating process, this vacuum
technology gives some outstanding benefits to the end products: the originality of spice colors, taste
and aroma can be maintained, the spice water content is low (less than 8%), and the products are
hygienic as they are free from bacterial filth, other impurities and any filling materials. By using
vacuum drying process technology, 100 (one hundred) grams of raw garlic, for example, will produce
23 grams of garlic powder (23% yield) (Membuat Aneka Bumbu Instan Kering, 2005).
Beef Rendang spice powder is made from 9 different pure spices (excluding salt). The
formulation for Beef Rendang spice powder is made referring to the conventional recipe. Table 1
shows the conversion of raw spices to spice powder to make 1 kg of Beef Rendang.
Table 1
Raw Spice to Spice Powder Conversion
Weight (g)
Ingredient in raw form Spice Powder (g)
Red Chili 300.0 20.8
Shallot 60.0 9.5
Garlic 40.0 9.0
Dry cumin 1.0 1.0
Dry coriander 1.0 1.0
Dry anistar 1.0 1.0
Galingale 10.0 1.7
Ginger 10.0 1.2
Dry cloves 0.8 0.8
Salt 2.0 2.0
Total 425.8 48.0
CONVENTIONAL VS SPICE POWDER COOKING PROCESS
A. Cooking Process
In this part, different stages between conventional (by using raw ingredients) and spice
powder cooking processes will be shown. The illustrations for the comparison can be seen in Figure 1
and 2.
182
Figure 1
Work Flow of Conventional Cooking Process
1. Prepare and weigh

meat, all materials and
ingredients
Time: 15’
2. Peel, clean and wash

all raw spices
Preparation Stage
Time: 15’
3. Blend all
raw spices with water
Time: 5’
4. Put oil into the pan

Cooking Stage
183
5. Mix blended spices
with oil
6. Sauté and leave

blended spices and oil
until boiled
Time: 10’
Cooking Stage
7. Add water to boiled
blended spices and oil
8. Add coconut milk and

other raw spices
184
9. Leave mixture until
boiled
Time: 15’
10. Put meat to the

boiled mixture
Cooking Stage
11. Leave the meat
mixture until boiled
Time: 120’
12. Leave meat until

coconut milk dries and
the meat tenders
Time: 15’
185
13. Beef Rendang is
ready to eat
The conventional cooking process requires:

Preparation time : 35 minutes
Cooking time : 160 minutes
Total cooking process : 195 minutes
Figure 2
Work Flow of Spice Powder Cooking Process
1. Prepare and weigh

meat and other materials
and powder ingredients
Preparation Stage
Time: 5’
2. Put water into the pan
Cooking Stage
3. Mix spice powder and

other ingredients into the
water
186
4. Add coconut milk into
the mixture
5. Leave the mixture

until boiled
Time: 15’
Cooking Stage
6. Put meat to the boiled
mixture
7. Leave the meat

mixture until boiled
Time: 120’
187
8. Leave meat until
coconut milk dries and
the meat tenders
Cooking Stage
Time: 15’
9. Beef Rendang
is ready to eat
The spice powder cooking process requires:

Preparation time : 5 minutes
Cooking time :150 minutes
Total cooking process :155 minutes
Based on the above comparison, it can be seen that the preparation time for the spice powder
process is only 5 minutes, while that for the conventional process is 35 minutes. This will save 85.7%
of the preparation time. This huge time saving is because all raw spice materials (10 types of spices,
such as red chili, shallot and garlic) have been in powder forms. Peeling, cleaning, washing and
blending processes of raw spice materials can be avoided. Moreover, the cooking time for spice
powder is 10 minutes (6.25%) faster than the conventional cooking time. This is because there is no
sauté process of blended raw materials in spice powder cooking. The sauté process is no longer
required since spice materials have already been well cooked in the vacuum drying process (when the
spice powder is being manufactured), and the powder form can also disperse more easily while
cooking.
B. Material Cost
Material cost is the cost for all direct food materials and ingredients used for cooking Beef
Rendang. The list of materials costs for conventional cooking recipe can be seen in Table 2, and for
spice powder recipe is shown in Table 3. Materials and ingredients listed are those to cook 1 kg of
Beef Rendang.
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Table 2
Material Cost for Conventional Cooking Process
MATERIAL WEIGHT COST (IDR)

Red Chili* 300.0 g 4,350
Shallot* 60.0 g 510
Garlic* 40.0 g 300
Dry cumin* 1.0 g 14
Dry coriander* 1.0 g 40
Dry anistar* 1.0 g 50
Galingale* 10.0 g 40
Ginger* 10.0 g 65
Dry cloves* 0.8 g 44
Salt* 2.0 g 4
Lemon Grass 10 g 40
Kaffir Lime Leaves 10 g 18
Tamarind 10 g 100
Turmeric Leaves 6g 48
Beef 1 kg 47,500
Coconut Milk 1000 ml 12,500
Water 250 ml ~
TOTAL 65,623
Table 3
Material Cost for Spice Powder Cooking Process
MATERIAL WEIGHT COST (IDR)

Spice Powder 48g 6,000
Beef 1 kg 47,500
Coconut Milk 400 ml 5,000
Water 250 ml ~
TOTAL 58,500
(*) The ingredients which are formulated as spice powder
FOOD PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY
There are 3 (three) variables will be taken into consideration to analyze the food production
efficiency:
• Production process
• Material use
• Space requirement
The assumptions and analysis will be made according to the current condition in Hotel Salak The
Heritage to accommodate the required number of yearly buffet capacity.
A. Production process
Based on the comparison between conventional and spice powder cooking process, it can be
seen that the preparation time for conventional process is 35 minutes, whereas spice powder cooking
189
process is only 5 minutes. The cooking time for conventional process is 160 minutes, while spice
powder process is 150 minutes. The total production process for conventional process is 195 minutes,
and spice powder process is 155 minutes. Therefore, the efficiency of spice powder production
process is 20.51%.
To calculate the efficiency in production process, some assumptions are made as follows:
• Number of cooks employed: 20 persons
• Salary for cooks: @IDR 4,000,000,- per month
Yearly production efficiency is:

20 cooks x @ 4,000,000/month = IDR 80,000,000/month
Production Process Efficiency = 20.51% x IDR 80,000,000 = IDR 16,408,000/month
Yearly Efficiency = 12 months x IDR 16,408,000/month = IDR 196,896,000,-
B. Material
According to the comparison between material cost for conventional and spice powder Beef
Rendang (see Table 2 and 3), it is shown that material cost for conventional product is IDR 65,623,
while spice powder product is IDR 58,500. Therefore, the efficiency of material cost is 10.85%.
To calculate the material efficiency, some assumptions are made as follows:

• Food price: IDR 200,000 per pax
• Food cost: 35%
• Total hotel room: 120; average occupancy: 80%
Daily pax for breakfast, lunch and dinner: 600. Yearly pax is 216,000.
Yearly material efficiency is:

Food Cost: 35% x IDR 200,000/pax = IDR 70,000/pax
Material Efficiency = 10.85% x IDR 70,000/pax = IDR 7,595/pax
Yearly Efficiency = 216,000 pax x IDR 7,595/pax = IDR 1,640,520,000,-
C. Space
Space efficiency is taken into account because by substituting raw and bulky materials with
spice powders (stored in packages or containers) will reduce storage and preparation space in the
kitchen area.
To calculate the space efficiency, some assumptions are made as follows:

• Kitchen area: 200 m2
• Efficiency for storage and preparation space/area: 10%
• Space value/rent: IDR 150,000/m2/month
Yearly space efficiency is:
Efficiency for storage and preparation space/area = 10% x 200 m2 = 20 m2
Yearly Efficiency = 20 m2 x IDR 150,000/m2/month x 12 months= IDR 36,000,000,-
To summarize, the total efficiency of food production is: IDR 1,873,416,000,- per year, or
equivalent to USD 208,157,- per year (assumption: 1 USD = IDR 9,000).
CONCLUSION
The issues related to the way of how to increase efficiency in food production in Hotel Salak
The Heritage particularly for high volume cooking can be overcome by using spice powder in the
daily cooking process. The use of spice powder, especially in the traditional food cooking process, has
demonstrated some benefits as follows:
190
• The most significant time saving factor is less preparation time. The required time can be reduced
by more than 85%, since all raw spice materials are substituted by powders; therefore, the need for
peeling, cleaning, washing and blending process can be avoided.
• Cooking process can also be reduced by more than 6% as no sauté process is required, and
powders can blend and mix more easily in the cooking process.
• Material costs and space required can also be reduced by 10%.
• The total efficiency is IDR 1,873,416,000,- or equivalent to USD 208,157,- per year for one type
of menu. If one buffet setting consists of 5 (five) main courses, the grand total efficiency is IDR
9,367,080,000,- or USD 1,040,787,- per year.
To conclude, this advanced cooking process is expected to transform the paradigm of

conventional to more effective cooking processes, which support to:
• Shorter delivery time to guests.
• Cleaner cooking processes and kitchen areas, as well as waste and water use reduction.
• Standardization in food taste and performance.
• Storage and kitchen space reduction.
• Longer life time of food materials or ingredients.
This technology can be implemented in all types of food industry, not only for hotels but also
caterings and restaurants which need to accommodate a high capacity of production and fast service.
REFERENCES
Hambali E, Fatmawati & Permanik R. (2005). Membuat Aneka Bumbu Instan Kering, Jakarta,
Penebar Swadaya.
J.S. Pruthi. (1980). Spices & Condiments: Chemistry, Microbiology, Technology, India, Central Food
Technological Research Institute Punjab.
Tartib, A. (1990). Cost of Food & Beverage, Jakarta, ATA & Associate.
Yudd, RA. (1990). Successful Buffet Management, van Nostrand Reinhold.
191
SERVICE QUALITY, SYSTEMS EFFECTIVE, AND CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
MANAGEMENT: EVIDENCE FROM TAIWAN’S CATERING INDUSTRY
Edward C. S. Ku
Department of Leisure Management
Yu Da College of Business
and
Pei-Yun Yu
Tunghai University
ABSTRACT
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is currently one of the hottest topics in the fields
of business strategy, information technology, and marketing management. Organizations today must
focus on delivering the highest value to customers through better communication, faster delivery, and
personalized products and services.
Province research argued CRM as a tool specifically designed for customer communications,
a sole responsibility of sales/service; call centers, or marketing departments. We believe that CRM is
not merely technology applications for marketing, sales and service, but rather, when fully and
successfully implemented, a cross-functional, customer-driven, technology-integrated business
process management strategy that maximizes relationships and encompasses the entire organization.
The use of dedicated computerized reservation systems to support management and

operations in catering industry has become commonplace, from operation level, a Point of Sales (POS)
Systems helps manage all restaurant activities interactions. Computerized guest-history systems for
restaurants are a technological alternative to the cumbersome, hand-kept method of maintaining
rolodex files for personalized service. The systems are designed to store such information as the
product that guest has bought, number of sales, preferred food, and credit information. The guest's
preferences can be verified at the time the reservation is made, making the guest feel special and
ensuring that the food with the desired amenities is reserved.
The research goals are to further develop the CRM success model based on empirically
evident instruments; we formulate the CRM success model. We mail survey questionnaires to the
restaurants in the international hotels and the coffee shops in Taiwan, the total 1932 questionnaires
was mailed, and the forecast 40% of the mailing questionnaires were collected. The research findings
and implications include customer relationship management success is not only consider technology
or systems quality but also concern service concept and operation procedure for future academic
research and management.
Key Words: System Success, Service Quality, Customer Relationship management.
1. INTRODUCTION
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is currently one of the hottest topics in the fields
of business strategy, information technology, and marketing management. Organizations today must
focus on delivering the highest value to customers through better communication, faster delivery, and
personalized products and services. Since a large percentage of customer interactions will occur on
the Internet rather than with employees (Chen and Popvich, 2003), technology must adapt to the
changing and unpredictable market. Organizations that implement CRM and applications will have
the greatest gains.
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With increasing competition for marketing dominance, many firms have utilized the customer
relationship management system for improved business intelligence, better decision making,
enhanced customer relations, and good quality of services and product offerings. The underpinning of
the customer-oriented managing concept is that identification and satisfaction of customer needs lead
to improved customer retention, which is based on corporate CRM Profitability (Day, 1994; Sivadas
and Baker-Prewitt, 2000). In some organizations, CRM is simply a technology solution that extends
separate databases and sales force automation tools to bridge sales and marketing functions in order to
improve targeting efforts. Other organizations consider CRM as a tool specifically designed for
one-to-one (Gulati and Garino, 2000) customer communications, a sole responsibility of sales/service,
call centers, or marketing departments.
Successful CRM is not merely technology applications for marketing, sales and service(Chan,
2005), but rather, when fully and successfully implemented, customer-driven, technology-integrated
business process management strategy that maximizes relationships and encompasses the entire
organization(Chan, 2005; Gulati and Garino, 2000). A CRM business strategy leverages marketing,
operations, sales, customer service, human resources, R&D and finance, as well as information
technology and the Internet to maximize CRM Profitability of customer interactions. For customers,
CRM offers customization, simplicity, and convenience for completing transactions, regardless of the
channel used for interaction.
For the service industry, however, is not the only industry to harness people, process, and
technology to manage resilient customer relationships. Innovations in technology, competitive
environments, and the Internet are just several factors that make one-to-one initiatives a reality.
Companies can develop these relationships to customize the shopping experience, better predict
online buying patterns, entice customers with special offers or services, evaluate the economic
advantage of each customer, and build long-term mutually beneficial relationships. The Loading
industry examples highlight some of the benefits of CRM applications.
Catering industry is an important component of the tourism industry, providing food and
beverage to travelers while away from home. Today's lodging industry is more global, consolidated,
and culturally diverse than ever before. Lodging professionals should be properly tooled with the
knowledge, skills, and abilities (Kay and Moncarz, 2004) necessary to enable them to face the
industry's challenges and ensure their future success. Thus, it is timely to reexamine the requisites
needed for managers to succeed in today's lodging environment.
By developing a closer relationship with customers, the Catering may gain a competitive
advantage and, through increased switching costs, may be able to defend it. Over time individual
customers typically educate a company about their individual needs, wants, and preferences-a costly
process that they are reluctant to repeat with a rival. In the other hand, effective CRM can lead to
increased employee satisfaction.
The research goals are to further develop the CRM success model based on empirically
evident instruments. In the paper, we formulate the CRM success model by information systems and
service quality perspective, and we collected international Catering samples by mailing questionnaire
survey in Taiwan, and we test the model and hypotheses by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) for
our research. In particular, we aim to examine the full range of variables that have been identified in
prior studies and test the completeness of the model.
2. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
This CRM issue should therefore be examined in light of both marketing and IS literatures.
Customers have also increasingly become the end-user of information technology applications with
the emergence of electronic commerce (Khalifa and Liu, 2002). For many firms, the strong quality
management of process, customer information, and system has become an essential ingredient for
successful competition (Fok and Hartman, 2001).
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In the marketing and service management, the impacts of employee satisfaction and its CRM
Profitability have been a major focus. The literature propose that there is a strong theoretical
underpinning for an empirical exploration of the linkages between employee satisfaction and
customer loyalty, which in turn affects CRM Profitability (Anderson, Fornell, and Lehmann, 1994;
Day, 1994; Garbarino and Jonhnson, 1999; Hallowell, 1996; Sivadas and Baker-Prewitt, 2000
(Anderson et al., 1994, Day, 1994, Garbarino and Jonhnson, 1999, Hallowell, 1996, Sivadas and
Baker-Prewitt, 2000).
This approach to CRM demands more than computer systems and information technology.
The customer must become the focal point of the organization. All members of the organization must
understand and support the shared values required for CRM, its philosophy must encompass not just
marketing but the entire organization, and it must be used to manage all aspects of the customer
relationship in a coordinated way.
Although the widespread acceptance of this relationship is evident in the growing popular
literature on market-oriented and Information System (IS) success models, it is not yet clearly
understood why and how CRM becomes successful while others fail.
2.1 DELONE AND MCLEAN MODEL：EFFICIENCY PERSPECTIVE
The IS success model has been treated as a major issue of MIS research. The Davis's (1986)
technology acceptance model (TAM), an adaptation of the theory of reasoned action (TRA) (Fishbein
and Ajzen, 1975) and DeLone and McLean's (1992) IS success model provide the basic idea of user
acceptance of IS and IS success measures. In addition to these models, numerous researches have
tried to find the underlying factor that may contribute to the relative success of dynamically changing
IS (Cavaye and Cragg, 1995; Johnston and Carrico, 1988; Reich and Benbasat, 1990). The
measurements of several dimensions of success factors have been used to assess IS success, such as
process fit, customer information quality, and system support (Wixom, 2001).
DeLone and McLean (1992) formulated an IS success model using information and system
quality to determine the effectiveness of an IS. The primary purpose of the original DeLone and
McLean paper was to synthesize previous research involving IS success into a more coherent body of
knowledge and to provide guidance to future researchers. In the D&M IS Success Model, “systems
quality” measures technical success; “information quality” measures semantic success; and “use, user
satisfaction, individual impacts,” and “organizational impacts” measure effectiveness success.
Their comprehensive review of IS success measures makes two important contributions to

understanding of IS success. First, it postulates a scheme for classifying a multitude of IS success
measure into six aspects: system quality, information quality, System Support, individual impact,
organizational impact, and user satisfaction. Second, it suggests a model of ‘temporal and causal’
interdependencies between these categories. Based on their model, several IS success measures are
proposed: system effectiveness, business CRM Profitability, improved decision quality and
performance, perceived benefit of systems, level of system usage, and user satisfaction (Pitt, Watson,
and Kavan, 1995; Yoon, Guimaraes, and O'Neal, 1995, Pitt et al., 1995, Yoon et al., 1995).
2.1.1. INFORMATION QUALITY.
Information can be defined as “data that have been processed into a form that is meaningful to
therecipient and is of real or perceived value in current or prospective decisions” (Davis, 1974) cited
in Vandenbosch & Higgins, 1995). This information, whether it is a message in a communication
system or the output of an IS, can be measured at different levels including the semantic, technical
and effectiveness levels (DeLone & McLean, 1992).
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A function of the output value produced by the CRM system as perceived by the System
Supportrs. Making effective use of customer information resources is the critical issues facing IS
executives. This reflects the high value of customer data resources and the importance of managing
them effectively. Knowing customers is critical to overall CRM success; however, just gathering
customer data is not enough. With customer information analytics, these organizations can begin to
realize the value from their CRM implementation. Customer information analytics is more than just
information about the facts. It builds insight into customer and market behaviors, enabling businesses
to take the correct action necessary in ever-changing market environments.
Many different information characteristics, generated by an information system, are

considered as important determinants of information quality perception including: integrity,
usefulness, currency, output timeliness, reliability, completeness, conciseness, format, and relevance
(Bailey and Pearson, 1983); understandability (Srinivasan, 1985); report usefulness (Mahmood and
Medewitz, 1985). DeLone and McLean (1992) point to the link by suggesting high quality of
customer information will result in IS success and also suggest that to a large extent this relationship
is intuitive. Here, customer information quality is measured as follows: integrity of customer
information, usefulness of customer information, support of scoring and segmentation information,
and forecasting the customer's purchasing power.
DeLone and McLean (2003) state that information quality and system quality, are the most
important quality components to measure the success of an IS in an organization. As part of their
everyday life, people at all levels of organizations, make decisions that affect themselves or other
people (Denby & Gammack, 1999). Thus, the quality of an IS needs to be assessed in the context of
organizational members and their work practices by assessing how well their everyday information
needs are satisfied” (von Hellens, 1997). Assessment of information quality “is concerned with such
issues as the timeliness, accuracy, relevance and format of information” (Lindroos, 1997).
Furthermore, Swanson (1997) states that information quality attributes include importance, relevance,
usefulness, accuracy, precision, conciseness, completeness, currency amongst others.
2.1.2 SYSTEMS EFFICIENCY
IS implementation success is frequently defined in terms of the achievement of some

predetermined goals, which normally include multiple efficiency parameters such as time, cost, and
function (Hong and Kim, 2002; Markus and Tanis, 2000). Efficiency is an important and useful
measure of performance, which is closely related to, but different from, productivity. Unlike
productivity, technical efficiency has been studied less frequently by IS researchers (Shao and Lin,
2002). When the purpose of IT investments is to improve operational efficiency, many traditional
appraisal techniques may be considered appropriate. Such investments are largely geared to the
generation of tangible (financial) benefits, and are based on direct (financial) project costs. Such
operational IT deployments have traditionally exploited the efficiency benefits of investing in IT.
However, many managers are now appreciating the wider strategic implications of developing a
robust and responsive IT infrastructure; yet this in turn presents businesses with the dilemma of how
to assess, quantify and accommodate the implications of infrastructural investments (Irani, 2002).
Efficiency, in this study, is different from the traditional IS success measure in that it is
comprehensive internal achievement of a firm's CRM process. We measured internal efficiency as one
of the intrinsic measures of CRM implementation success in terms of perceived improvements such as
easiness of CRM, cost reduction, time saving, and alleviation of CRM load. We use efficiency to
indicate internal success of a CRM system, determined by the process fit, customer information
quality, and system support. Higher levels of internal efficiency are assumed to correspond to higher
levels of CRM system.
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2.2 DELONE AND MCLEAN MODEL：QUALITY PERSPECTIVE
2.2.1 SERVICE ORIENTED
A customers' relationship with a company is strengthened when that customer makes a

favorable assessment about the company's service quality and weakened when a customer makes
negative assessments about the company's service quality (Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman, 1996).
Both the service management and the marketing literatures suggest that there is a strong theoretical
underpinning for an empirical exploration of the linkages among employee satisfaction, customer
loyalty, and CRM Profitability (Hallowell, 1996). We measure employee satisfaction as an intrinsic
CRM success by perceived level of the shift after CRM system implementation: friendly interaction
with customer, brand value, customer complains, and overall employee satisfaction.
Pitt et al. observed that “commonly used measures of IS effectiveness focus on the products
rather than the services of the IS function. Thus, there is a danger that IS researchers will mismeasure
IS effectiveness if they do not include in their assessment package a measure of IS service quality” .
Other researchers have agreed with this, citing the need for a service quality measure to be a part of IS
success (Kettinger, and Lee, 1995).
The goals of a customer-centric model are to increase revenue, promote customer loyalty,
reduce the cost of sales and service, and improve operations. Optimizing customer relationships
requires a complete understanding of all customers; profitable as well as non-profitable, and then to
organize business processes to treat customers individually based on their needs and their values
(Renner, 2000).
2.2.2. PROCESS FIT
Customer relationship management is an enterprise-wide customer-centric business model

that must be built around the customer. It is a continuous effort that requires redesigning core business
processes starting from the customer perspective and involving customer feedback. The Seybold
Group starts this process by asking customers what barriers they encounter from the company
(Seybold, 1998; Seybold et aL, 2001). In a product-focused approach, the goal is to find customers for
the products using mass marketing efforts. In a customer-centric approach, the goal becomes
developing products and services to fit customer needs.
CRM require vision and each and every employee must understand the purpose and changes
that CRM will bring. Re-engineering a customer-centric business model requires cultural change and
the participation of all employees within the organization. Some employees may opt to leave; others
will have positions eliminated in the new business model. Successful implementation of CRM means
that some jobs will be significantly changed. Management must show its commitment to an ongoing
company-wide education and training program. In addition to enhancing employee skills and
knowledge, education boosts motivation and commitment of employee and reduces employee
resistance. Additionally, management must ensure that job evaluations, compensation programs, and
reward systems are modified on a basis that facilitate and reward customer orientation. After all, how
people are measured will determine their behavior.
2.2.3. EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION
Employee satisfaction is a customer-driven concept; that is, it allows customers to be in

control of the system. Employee satisfaction is the collective outcome of the customer's perception,
evaluation, and psychological reaction to the consumption experience with product or service (Fornell,
1992; Yi, 1990). As employee satisfaction is commonly acknowledged as one of the most useful
measurements of system success (Chen, Soliman, Mao, and Frolick, 2000), we identify the underlying
factors of employee satisfaction and develop an instrument to measure these factors. In the marketing
studies focused on employee satisfaction with physical products and services delivered through
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channel (Khalifa and Liu, 2002). It is not clear whether the findings of these studies apply to CRM.
This study demonstrates that employee satisfaction with customer relationship depends heavily on the
roles and performance of organizational CRM activities.
2.3 THE POTENTIAL OF CRM IN THE CATERING INDUSTRY
Catering-industry participants face an increasingly competitive market. In addition, the basis

of competition is changing. Location, a key driver of business, is fixed in the short and medium term
and attracting and retaining customers based on facilities and amenities is becoming increasingly
difficult as they have become increasingly standardized across competing brands. Price competition is
unattractive, even more so as consumers are able to easily find and compare prices over the internet.
As a consequence consumers are increasingly displaying less brand loyalty and CRM is becoming
increasingly attractive as a way for Catering companies to differentiate themselves from their
competitors.
The Catering sector is ideally suited to applying the principles of CRM. In few other
industries is there such potential to build up a comprehensive and accurate picture of the client. In few
other industries do customers provide the significant amount of information when making a
reservation and during their Catering stay (Piccoli et al., 2003). Every interaction between the guest
and the customer is an opportunity to refine knowledge about her or him and to further build a
relationship. By methodically collecting, consolidating, and analyzing both guest preferences and
transactional data, Catering chains have the potential to develop a deep understanding of each
customer's needs and preferences, provide substantially improved service levels, individually tailor
the customer experience, and generally offer more personalized service. Providing outstanding
personal service is certainly not a new concept in the Catering sector.
Province research argued CRM as a tool specifically designed for customer communications,
a sole responsibility of sales/service; call centers, or marketing departments. We believe that CRM is
not merely technology applications for marketing, sales and service, but rather, when fully and
successfully implemented, a cross-functional, customer-driven, technology-integrated business
process management strategy that maximizes relationships and encompasses the entire organization.
The use of dedicated computerized reservation systems to support management and

operations in catering industry has become commonplace, from operation level, a Point of Sales (POS)
Systems helps manage all restaurant activities interactions. Computerized guest-history systems for
restaurants are a technological alternative to the cumbersome, hand-kept method of maintaining
rolodex files for personalized service. The systems are designed to store such information as the
product that guest has bought, number of sales, preferred food, and credit information. The guest's
preferences can be verified at the time the reservation is made, making the guest feel special and
ensuring that the food with the desired amenities is reserved.
The ultimate measure of CRM success is whether, if net benefit could be measured with
precision, CRM success would equal net benefits logically. The issue of measuring IT returns has
become even more pressing because the expenditures on IT equipment and service activities have
risen. Several reasons are identified why management needs to scrutinize IT spending (Remenyi and
Twite, 1991). Firstly, the amounts of financial resources invested in IT are substantial and they are
thus very likely to supplant other capital spending. Secondly, IT investments are seldom tied to the
revenue-generating or profit-making aspects of the business and as a result, management may not
readily agree to IT's value, contribution, or performance. Thirdly, IT investments have frequently been
perceived as high risk, compared with other traditional capital budgets.
However, CRM success has implicit and emotive areas of achievement which are not
measurable by net benefits which is an idealized comprehensive measure of the monetary sum of all
past and expected future benefits, less all past and expected future costs, attributed to the use of an
information technology application. We use CRM Profitability as an alternative to net benefit. The
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operationalized scales of CRM Profitability are increase of new customers, reselling or up-selling,
decrease of customers' churn, and increase of overall CRM Profitability.
3. THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH MODEL
CRM will integrate business function, service oriented of business, process and strategy, that
provide high quality service or goods to customer efficiency. We examine the relationships among
these constructs and develop the research hypotheses. The research model is presented in Fig. 1.
System
H1a
effective H4
Information H3
quality
H1b H1d
H1c CRM
Employee
H2a satisfactions H7
H2b
H2d
H5
Service
H2c
oriented H6
SOP
Fig 1
Research Model
First, we discuss the direct effects of CRM initiatives and CRM Profitability in H1. The
literature on information quality, and system support has addressed the IS success that are associated
with corporate CRM Profitability. In the customer information centric characteristic of CRM,
companies should analyze customers' experiences and problems, then respond and support their needs.
CRM requires the perfect alignment with ever-changing customers' needs based on the integrated and
reliable customer information. In order to put the conceptual CRM into shape, systemic support
leverages the every aspect of the CRM operation. It is therefore hypothesized that better customer
information quality will positively influence CRM success. Thus, we develop H1 that are stated as
follows.
H1a：Information quality is positively associated with System Efficiency.

H1b：Information quality is positively associated with Employee Satisfaction.
H1c： Information quality is positively associated with standard operation procedures.
H1d：Information quality is positively associated with CRM.
The goals of a customer-centric model are to increase revenue, promote customer loyalty,
reduce the cost of sales and service, and improve operations. Company organized their Standard
Operating Procedures, the SOP will lead employee to use information systems. With the system
support, the interaction between customer, employee and systems, Pitt et al. argued that IS should
198
focus on quality and services of the IS function to user. Thus, we develop H3 that are stated as
follows.
H2a：Service Oriented is positively associated with System Effective.

H2b：Service Oriented is positively associated with Employee Satisfaction.
H2c：Service Oriented is positively associated with SOP.
H2d：Service Oriented is positively associated with CRM.
Other important perspectives for achieving CRM success is efficiency. The relationships
between CRM success such as efficiency and employee satisfaction are dealt in H2. The underlying
assumptions are that CRM initiatives will improve firm's efficiency and enhance employee
satisfaction and retention. It is hypothesized that making process, customer information, and system
fitter to corporate CRM are positively associated with achieving efficiency and employee satisfaction.
H2, therefore, is tested based on three sub-hypotheses.
H3：Systems Effective is positively associated with Employee Satisfaction.

H4：Systems Effective is positively associated with CRM Profitability.
There is resurgent interest in understanding the links among efficiency, employee satisfaction,
and CRM Profitability. Finally, the links of intrinsic success to CRM Profitability in H4 will be tested.
In a meta-analysis of strategy variables, several studies found a positive relationship between quality
and economic returns (Anderson et al., 1994; Capon, Farley, and Hoenig, 1990). In addition to this
relationship, some theories are suggested that employee satisfaction is related to customer loyalty,
which in return is related to CRM Profitability (Hallowell, 1996). Because employee satisfaction is
critical for establishing long-term customer relationships (McKinney, Yoon, and Zahedi, 2002;
Patterson, Johnson, and Spreng, 1997) and consequently significant in sustaining CRM Profitability, a
fundamental understanding of factors impacting employee satisfaction is of great importance to CRM
success. Given the increased emphasis on employee satisfaction, the question that begs our attention
focuses on whether improvements in efficiency and employee satisfaction lead to improvements in the
CRM Profitability of firms (Sivadas and Baker-Prewitt, 2000). Thus it is hypothesized in H4, that
intrinsic CRM success has a direct effect on CRM Profitability.
H5：Employee satisfaction is positively associated with CRM.

H6：SOP is positively associated with Employee satisfaction.
H7：SOP is positively associated with CRM Profitability.
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.1. DATA COLLECTION AND SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS
There are 58 Caterings of international hotel identification from Tourism Bureau of

Transportation and communication, and coffee shop chain in Taiwan. We mail 3 survey questionnaires
to each Catering property, and the 1138 questionnaires was mailed.
There are 358 survey questionnaires were collected, which have implemented and are
operating the POS and PMS Systems. Each Catering has been using the system for upper 1 year.
4.2 TESTS OF THE MEASURING SCALES
Since each latent construct was measured by the multiitems, tests of construct validity were
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performed. Construct validity means that the underlying structure of the developed construct is found
also in reality. Construct validity is established by relating a measuring instrument to a general
theoretical framework in order to determine whether the instrument is tied to the concepts and
theoretical assumption they are employing. This can be analyzed first, by correlating with the detailed
items and scale.
Convergent validity, the degree to which multiple attempts to measure the same concept are
in agreement, was evaluated by examining the item–total correlation, based on the correlation of each
item to the sum of the remaining items. This approach assumes that the total score is valid and thus
the extent to which the item correlates with the total score is indicative of convergent validity for the
item.
Discriminant validity was checked by factor analysis (Kerlinger, 1964). Because multi-item
constructs measure each variable, factor analysis with varimax was employed to check
unidimensionality among the items. We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with LISREL 8.5 to
examine the convergent validity of each construct.
4.2. SCALE DEVELOPMENT
We first conducted literature reviews on related topics to examine the external validity of our
research model. We then developed the questionnaire items based on the literature. The measures
used to operationalize the constructs in the research model were mainly adopted from some of the
related studies conducted in the past, with minor wording changes tailored to the interviewees. This
resulted in the identification of 21 potential research items. These scales are presented in Appendix A
and summarized in Table 2 with their related literature.
Table 2
Scale development with their relatied
Item Construst Variables Reference
Exogenous Information Quality Guest information DeLone & McLean (2003)

Variables including payment record.
Guest reservation Piccoli et al., (2003)
information.
Provided personal service DeLone & McLean (2003)
information.
Service Oriented Firm forced on guest Day (2003)

service
Firm forced on sales Day (2003)
profit.
Employee understood the Day (2003)，Piccoli et al., (2003)
service concept of firm.
Endogenous SOP Employee prepared Day (2003)

variables worksheet for guest in
advance.
Employee recorded guest Piccoli et al., (2003)
requestment.
Employee used guest Day (2003)
history information.
Systems Effective Saved service working Roh, Ahn, Han (2005)

hours.
Saved service working Roh, Ahn, Han (2005)
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Item Construst Variables Reference
cost.
Released service working Roh, Ahn, Han (2005)
loading.
Employee Guest shared requestment DeLone & McLean (2003)

Satisfaction information with firm.
Guest queried their history Piccoli et al., (2003)
information with
employee.
Guest requeried firms’ DeLone & McLean (2003)
information.
Custoner Developed new market by Roh, Ahn, Han (2005)

Relationship systems.
Management
Increased occupancy by Roh, Ahn, Han (2005)
systems.
Increased revenue by Roh, Ahn, Han (2005)
systems.
5. RESULTS
Tests of the measuring scales Internal consistency reliability is the accuracy or precision of a
measuring instrument, which is the extent of uni-dimensionality, i.e. the detailed items (questions)
measure the same thing (Hong and Kim, 2002; Straub, 1989). The internal consistency (Cronbach’s
alpha) of the construct over 0.9, which were above the acceptable threshold.
The factor structure was not difficult to interpret, corresponding with information quality,
service orientation, system effective, System Support, standard operating procedure, employee
satisfaction, and customer relationship management. The model explained 79.696% of the variance.
The range for factor loadings was 0.590–0.866. Table 3 reports the results of factor analysis.
Table 3
Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Constructs Information Customer SOP Systems Employee Service

Variable Quality Relationship Effective Satisfaction Oriented
Management
Guest information 0.822
including payment
record.
Guest reservation 0.705
information.
Provided personal 0.590
service information.
Developed new market 0.785
by systems.
Increased occupancy by 0.866
systems.
Increased revenue by 0.845
systems.
Employee prepared 0.785
worksheet for guest in
advance.
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Constructs Information Customer SOP Systems Employee Service
Variable Quality Relationship Effective Satisfaction Oriented
Management
Employee recorded guest 0.845
requestment.
Employee used guest 0.788
history information.
Saved service working 0.752
hours.
Saved service working 0.833
cost.
Released service 0.834
working loading.
Guest shared 0.763
requestment information
with firm.
Guest queried their 0.799
history information with
employee.
Guest requeried firms’ 0.795
information.
Firm forced on guest 0.717
service
Firm forced on sales 0.835
profit.
Employee understood 0.790
the service concept of
firm.
Eigenvalue 8.370 2.362 1.281 1.132 1.041 0.956
Percent of Variance 44.053 12.430 6.741 5.959 5.480 5.032
Cumulative Percent of 44.053 56.483 63.224 69.183 74.663 79.696
Variance
5.2. TEST OF THE STRUCTURAL MODEL
Structural equation modeling was performed to test the hypothesized model presented in Fig.
1. We used the LISREL 8.50 software for this analysis. The overall goodness-of-fit was assessed in
terms of the following 7 common model fit measures: Chi-square (P-value), Chi-square/degree of
freedom, goodness-of-fit index (GFI), root mean square error (RMR), adjusted goodness-of-fit index
(AFGI), Comparative fit index (CFI) and parsimonious goodness-of- fit index (PGFI). All other
indicators point to a good fit except the Chi-square statistics. As the Chi-square has an inherent
problem with sample size (Hartwick & Barki, 1994), discrepancy/degree of freedom was used as an
alternative indicator of the Chi-square statistics. GFI is 0.89, AGFI is 0.85, RMR is 0.052, RMSEA is
0.064, PNFI is 0.76 and PGFI is 0.68. Thus overall the data indicate a favorable fit for our
hypothesized model.
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Table 4
Model measures
Model Modified Suggested index

Model
Absolute Fit Measures
268.62 213.31
1. Normal Theory Weighted Least the Chi-square has an
(P = 0.00) (P = 0.00)
Squares Chi-Square inherent problem with
sample size
0.89 0.91
2. Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) >0.9
0.85 0.88
3. Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index >0.9
(AGFI)
0.052 0.041
4. Standardized RMR <0.05
0.064 0.050 <0.05 is good fit；
5. Root Mean Square Error of
Approximation (RMSEA) 0.05-0.08is fair fit
Incremental Fit Measures
3217.86 3217.86
6. Chi-Square for Independence
Model with 210 Degrees of
Freedom
0.94 0.96
7. Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI) >0.9
=
0.91 0.93
8. Normed Fit Index (NFI) = >0.9
0.96 0.97
9. Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = >0.9
0.96 0.97
10. Incremental Fit Index (IFI) = >0.9
0.89 0.91
11. Relative Fit Index (RFI) = >0.9
Parsimonious Fit Measures
0.74 0.73
12. Parsimony Normed Fit Index >0.5
(PNFI)
0.65 0.64
13. Parsimony Goodness of Fit >0.5
Index (PGFI)
3255.86 3255.86
14. Independence AIC
372.62 325.31 < Independence AIC；
15. Model AIC
Saturated AIC
380.00 380.00
16. Saturated AIC
154.03 188.54
17. Critical N (CN)
1.95 1.59
18. Normed Chi-Square 1<….<2
The significance and the relative strength of individual links specified by the research model
were also evaluated. The results provide meaningful support for research hypotheses.
203
Table 5
Hypothesis and results
Hypothesis t Testing
H1a Information quality-> Systems Effective 7.50* Accepted
H1b Information quality-> Employee Satisfaction 1.95 Rejected
H1c Information quality->SOP 1.77 Rejected
H1d Information quality->CRM 2.12* Accepted
H2a Service Oriented-> Systems Effective 1.53 Rejected
H2b Service Oriented -> Employee Satisfaction 0.98 Rejected
H2c Service Oriented ->SOP 6.84* Accepted
H2d Service Oriented ->CRM 1.11 Rejected
H3 Systems Effective ->Employee Satisfaction 0.37 Rejected
H4 Systems Effective -> CRM 4.96* Accepted
H5 SOP-> Employee Satisfaction 4.12* Accepted
H6 SOP->CRM -0.94 Rejected
H7 Employee Satisfaction -> CRM 1.00 Rejected
6. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS
In this paper, we discovered multidimensional measures of factors that influence CRM

Performance through CRM that are intuitively appealing and reliable. The analysis of the
measurement model indicates that the proposed metrics have a relatively high degree of validity and
reliability. The results of the study provide reliable instruments for operationalizing the key constructs
in the analysis of CRM success and have some important implications for implementing CRM
systems.
The study discovered multidimensional measures of factors that influence CRM Profitability
through CRM that are intuitively appealing and reliable. The analysis of the measurement model
indicates that the proposed metrics have a relatively high degree of validity and reliability. These
measures can be used to evaluate what influences CRM success and to provide insight for making
204
decisions about the priority of CRM investment. The results of the study provide reliable instruments
for operationalizing the key constructs in the analysis of CRM success and have some important
implications for implementing CRM systems.
For the practice, ,Management level of a catering industry shall training their staffs to collect,
analysis, and use customers’ data, including personal behavior, sell records, and history data, do not
just put information in information systems. By use information systems, a service oriented company
will provide more efficiency CRM activity for their customers.
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208
THE ANALYSIS OF KOREAN TRADITIONAL COLOR RANGE ON BIBIMBOB
Kyung-Mi Seo
Hotel & Food Science
Kyungnam Information & Technology
and
In-Hwa Kim
Department of Visual Communication Design
Yuhan College
ABSTRACT
The purpose of the study was to identify the color range of each ingredient on Bibimbob. For
the study, the Bibimbob recipe by Korean traditional food was selected. Normally, customer who
visited Korean restaurant firstly would choose the Bibimbob menu from the menu picture. So, the
color range of Bibimbob was analyzed under the condition for taking photo. We used two types of
color system such as Lab, and CMYK. Generally, Lab value would be tested lighteness, a meant the
range of redness, b was the range of yellowness. CMYK meant printed color value. C meant cyan that
was the blue color range, M meant “majenta” that indicated pink color range, Y was yellow, and K
was black color.
Key Words: Bibimbob, color range, Lab, CMYK
I. INTRODUCTION
Food, nature, and culture were related to each other. Especially, Korean culture was based on
the harmonization of the nature. Also Korean food originated the sprit. Food was evaluated not only
taste but also visual sensation, olfactory sense, tactile sensation, and auditory sense. In those of them,
visual sensation was the most important on Korean traditional food. Korean has five basic colors
called “Obangsak”. Obangsak was composed of blue color, white color, red color, black color, and
yellow color. Most Korean food was consisted of five basic colors, and each food had to take the
colors. Each color had typical means. Blue color means tree, spring, east, and red color contained the
sun, fire, summer, south. Yellow color included earth, center, fertility and dignity, and white color
meant metal, autumn, west, and innocence. Black color was symbolized water, winter, north, and
darkness. Therefore, eating Korean traditional food meant taking the world. However, most Korean
didn’t know the facts that the color’s implication, and the traditional food habit has been going to
disappear.
Bibimbob was one of the representative Korean food. In Korea, we have various kinds of
Bibimbob that was classified depend on the ingredients and province. Especially, Jeonju Bibimbob
was the most famous than other various Bibimbob. Generally, there had some rules to cook Bibimbob.
To make Bibimbob, 5 traditional colors were contained, but the kind of ingredients weren’t important.
The color was most essential point. However, the research of the Bibimbob color has not been
accomplished still now.
Recently, the interest of color psychology has been increasing on food. For example, a orange
color was stimulus people’ appetite, a black color was helpful for person’s healthy.
Therefore, the purpose of the study was identify the color range, and suggested the standard color
range of each ingredient on Bibimbob.
209
II. THE CONCEPTUAL FRAME WORK
1. The sample and Sampling method.
The purpose of this research was to identify the color range of each ingredient on Bibimbob.
For the study, Bibimbob recipe was selected by Korean traditional food. There had reason why chosen
the recipe In Korea, we had many kind of Bibimbob recipe depend on province and the material, so it
was difficult to decide the recipe. The Bibimbob recipe by Korean tradition food was written by
Hwang hye sung who was nominated 38th intangible cultural asset of Korea.
Picture 1
The sample for the research
2. The research process
The process for the research was accomplished as followed. First stage selected of the recipe
and took picture on Bibimbob. To fix Bibimbob for the research, the recipe wad from “Korean
traditional food” by Korean Royal Cuisine Institute. The cooking procedure was followed by food
stylist. Second stage, after taking photo few times, the best condition of photo was chosen by
researchers and photographer, and then checked the color range of each sample’s ingredient used :
Lab value by color testing machine and CMYK by photo shop CS program value was tested . Lab
value for checking lightness, redness, and yellowness. CMYK value meant printed color value. C
meant cyan that was the blue color range, M meant “majenta” that indicated pink color range, Y was
yellow, and K was black color. Third stage was the analysis the color range. Lastly, suggested the
standard color on each material using CMYK
To derive the results, descriptive statistics was used to know the mean and standard deviation,
and t-test was used to understand using optimized lightening or not by SPSS 11.0 version.
3. The standard of photographing condition
For the study, we used the camera 1D MARKⅡ by Canon, the lense for taking photo was
Cannon 520mm 1.8, and the light meter was SEKONIC L-558. To check the sensitometry, ISO 400
was used. The angle between menu and camera was 45 degree, and the distance between and
lightening and food 50cm.
Ⅲ. THE RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The prospective effects from the results of the study, we could decide the best appetite color
range of Bibimbob. Also, the color range of Bibimbob would be used for making Bibimbob menu
model, and could derive the best range of Obangsak on Korean traditional food.
We tested two times conditions one was optimized lightening system, and the other one was
normal condition that didn’t use specialized lightening system.
1. Optimized lightening
The best condition of Bibimbob photo was as followed.

Tungsten lightening was 3200K, an iris of camera was F 5.6, and shooter speed was 1/30 second.
Total variables were statistically different. It meant that the records on test machine were
different depend on the situation.
210
Table 1
The color range of Bibimbob’s ingredient by Lab on optimized lightening
Ingredient First Second Third Mean ± SD t (p)

L 54.58 L 54.75 L 54.81 L 54.71 ± 1.767 54.594(.000*)
green bean curd a -0.98 a -0.95 a -0.96 a -0.96 ± .494 -2.343(.144)
b -7.57 b -7.55 b -7.52 b -7.52 ± 3.913 -2.335(.145)
L 54.75 L 54.37 L 54.39 L 54.50 ± .130 441.436(.000*)
bean sprout a -3.31 a -3.08 a -3.09 a -3.16 ± .315 -42.102(.001*)
b 17.35 b 16.78 b 16.83 b 16.98 ± .213 93.211(.000*)
L 40.13 L 39.95 L 39.91 L39.99 ± .117 591.148(.000*)
carrot a 16.66 a 16.79 a 16.73 a 19.73 ± .065 445.275(.000*)
b 17.77 b 17.97 b 17.99 b 17.91 ± .121 254.991(.000*)
L 33.08 L 33.28 L 33.34 L 33.23 ± .136 422.822(.000*)
bracken a 2.43 a 2.55 a 2.62 a 2.53 ± .096 45.664(.000*)
b 8.75 b 8.96 b 9.05 b 8.92 ± .153 100.358(.000*)
L 26.65 L 26.67 L 26.72 L 26.68 ± .036 1281.666(.000*)
spinach a -7.66 a -7.71 a -7.73 a -7.70 ± .036 -369.896(.000*)
b 8.33 b 8.33 b 8.34 b 8.33 ± .005 2500.000(.000*)
L 48.76 L 48.76 L 48.87 L 48.80 ± .063 1330.818(.000*)
squash a -10.83 a -10.83 a -10.89 a -10.85 ± .034 -542.500(.000*)
b 19.89 b 19.96 b 20.00 b 19.95 ± .055 620.616(.000*)
L 33.90 L 33.91 L 34.06 L 33.96 ± .089 656.202(.000*)
beef a 3.48 a 3.50 a 3.54 a 3.51 ± .030 198.809(.000*)
b 5.68 b 5.67 b 5.77 b 5.71 ± .055 179.466(.000*)
L 54.40 L 54.55 L 54.59 L 54.51 ± .100 942.629(.000*)
bellflower
a -1.30 a -1.30 a -1.27 a -1.29 ± .017 -129.000(.000*)
root
b 10.04 b 10.15 b 10.17 b 10.12 ± .070 250.405(.000*)
L 45.70 L 45.70 L 45.68 L 45.69 ± .011 6854.000(.000*)
egg a 2.10 a 2.10 a 2.11 a 2.10 ± .005 631.000(.000*)
b 23.54 b 23.51 b 23.50 b 23.52 ± .020 1956.705(.000*)
L 38.77 L 38.99 L 39.28 L 39.01 ± .255 264.164(.000*)
shitake
a 2.54 a 2.51 a 2.55 a 2.53 ± .020 210.786(.000*)
mushroom
b 9.85 b 9.99 b 10.07 b 9.94 ± .080 213.071(.000*)
* meant p < .05
２．The color range of indoor condition(without optimized lightening)
This time was normal condition that meant under the fluorescent light. The condition of photo
situation was as followed. The fluorescent light was 4000K, an iris of camera was F 5.6 1/2, and
shooter speed was 1/60 second. Total variables were statistically different. It meant that the records on
test machine were different depend on the situation.
Table 2
211
The color range of Bibimbob’s ingredient by Lab on indoor lightening
First Second Third Mean± SD t(p)

L 54.76 L 54.54 L 54.49 L 54.596±.143 658.32（.000*）
Green bean
a -0.75 a -0.69 a -0.70 a -.716±.037 -32.78（.001*）
curd
b -7.38 b -7.40 b -7.44 b -7.406±.030 -419.91（.000*）
L 58.10 L 56.75 L 56.70 L 57.183±.794 124.70（.000*）
Bean
a -4.21 a -3.62 a -3.48 a-3.770±.38７ -16.85（.004*）
sprout
b 22.10 b 19.88 b 19.59 b 20.523±1.373 25.88（.001*）
L 40.78 L 40.51 L 40.46 L 40.583±.172 408.33（.000*）
Carrot a 16.13 a 16.24 a 16.29 a 16.220±.081 343.22（.000*）
b 17.45 b 17.53 b 17.48 b 17.486±.040 749.42（.000*）
L 33.30 L 33.66 L 33.72 L 33.560±.227 255.89（.000*）
Bracken a 2.36 a 3.04 a 3.06 a 2.820±.398 12.25（.007*）
b 8.16 b 9.34 b 9.35 b 8.950±.684 22.65（.002*）
L 26.54 L 26.58 L 26.72 L 26.613±.094 487.70（.000*）
Spinach a -6.82 a -7.06 a -7.04 a -6.973±.133 -90.70（.000*）
b 7.50 b 7.79 b 7.79 b 7.693±.167 79.58（.000*）
L 49.39 L 49.37 L 49.35 L 49.370±.020 4275.56（.000*）
Squash a -9.82 a -9.88 a -9.88 a -9.860±.034 -493.00（.000*）
b 20.10 b 20.25 b 20.31 b 20.220±.108 323.77（.000*）
L 33.87 L 33.83 L 33.80 L 33.833±.035 1668.65（.000*）
Beef a 3.48 a 3.49 a 3.49 a 3.486±.005 1046.00（.000*）
b 5.57 b 5.57 b 5.56 b 5.566±.005 1670.00（.000*）
L 54.53 L 54.30 L 54.25 L 54.360±.149 630.50（.000*）
Bellflower root a -1.02 a -1.05 a -1.06 a -1.043±.020 -86.81（.000*）
b 9.61 b 9.83 b 9.89 b 9.773±.153 110.58（.000*）
L 45.94 L 46.11 L 46.12 L 46.056±.101 788.57（.000*）
Egg a 2.17 a 2.18 a 2.23 a 2.193±.032 118.18（.000*）
b 23.67 b 23.73 b 23.67 b 23.690±.034 1184.50（.000*）
L 41.91 L 36.70 L 36.84 L 38.483±2.968 22.45（.002*）
Shitake
a 2.68 a 2.48 a 2.45 a 2.536±.125 35.14（.001*）
mushroom
b 11.36 b 9.01 b 9.19 b9.853±1.307 13.04（.006*）
* meant p < .05
3. t-test on the color range of Bibimbob’s ingredient whether optimized lightening or not
To know the gap whether lightening or not, t- test was accomplished whether optimized
lightening or not.
Each material was tested by Lab value. Carrot a, Spinach a, squash a, squash b, bellflower a,
bellflower b, egg b were statistically different, and other variables were not different depend on
lightening. However, when it was tested on eyesight, the different of visibility was certainly existed.
There had some reasons why the different was existed between numerical value and eyesight. The test
time of numerical value was just three times, and the distinguishable eyesight was limited.
212
Table 3
t-test the color range of Bibimbob whether optimized lightening or not
La M ± SD t(p) L M ± SD t(p)
Yes 55.71 ±1.77 1.091 Yes 48.79± .06 -14.914
greenbean curd L squash L
No 54.59 ± .14 （.388） No 49.37± .02 （.002*）
Yes -.66 ± .49 .165 Yes -10.85± .03 -35.002
greenbean curd a squash a
No -.71 ± .04 （.884） No -9.86 ± .03 （.000*）
Yes -5.28 ±3.91 .943 Yes 19.95 ± .06 -3.844
greenbean curd b squash b
No -7.41 ± .03 （.445） No 20.22 ± .11 （.031*）
Yes 54.50 ± .21 -5.643 Yes 33.96 ± .09 2.219
Bean sprout L beef L
No 57.18 ± .79 （.022） No 33.83 ± .04 （.127）
Bean Yes -3.16 ± .13 2.585 Yes 3.51 ± .03 1.114

beef a
sprout a No -3.77 ± .39 （.100） No 3.49 ± .01 （.375）
Yes 16.99 ± .32 -4.348 Yes 5.71 ± .06 4.379
bean sprout b beef b
No 20.52 ±1.37 （.041） No 5.57 ± .01 （.047*）
Yes 39.99 ± .12 -4.879 bellflower Yes 54.51 ± .10 1.477
carrot L
No 40.58 ± .17 （.011） root L No 54.36 ± .15 （.224）
Yes 16.73 ± .07 8.393 bellflower Yes -1.29 ± .02 -15.777
carrot a *
No 16.22 ± .08 （.001 ） root a No -1.04 ± .02 （.000*）
Yes 17.91 ± .12 5.720 bellflower Yes 10.12 ± .07 3.567
carrot b
No 17.49 ± .04 （.018） root b No 9.77 ± .15 （.042*）
Yes 33.23 ± .14 -2.137 Yes 45.69 ± .01 -6.181
bracken L egg L
No 33.56 ± .23 （.115） No 46.06 ± .10 （.024）
Yes 2.53 ± .09 -1.211 Yes 2.10 ± .01 -4.773
bracken a egg a
No 2.82 ± .39 （.338） No 2.19 ± .03 （.036）
Yes 8.92 ± .15 -.074 Yes 23.52 ± .02 -7.429
bracken b egg b
No 8.95 ± .68 （.947） No 23.69 ± .03 （.004*）
Yes 26.68 ± .04 1.141 shitake Yes 39.01 ± .26 .308
spinach L
No 26.61 ± .09 （.349） Mushroom L No 38.48 ± 2.97 （.787）
Yes -7.70 ± .03 -9.123 shitake Yes 2.53 ± .02 -.046
spinach a *
No -6.97 ± .13 （.008 ） Mushroom a No 2.54 ± .13 （.968）
Yes 8.33 ± .01 6.617 shitake Yes 9.94 ± .08 .119
spinach b
No 7.69 ± .17 （.022） Mushroom b No 9.85 ±1.31 （.916）
a = L meant Lightening
* was meant p < .05
4. Comparing between optimized lightening and indoor lightening
From the results of the color composition on each ingredient by CMYK, we derived the
printed color in visible.
213
Table 4
Comparing between optimized lightening and indoor lightening
Optimized
Ingredient Indoor lightening
lightening
Green bean curd C23 M5 Y8 K0 C17 M12 Y17 K0
Squash C75 M24 Y100 K9 C59 M29 Y100 K10
Bracken C64 M55 Y76 K55 C45 M62 Y85 K44
Bean sprout C38 M24 Y55 K1 C16 M23 Y41 K0
Carrot C12 M75 Y87 K2 C4 M66 Y94 K0
Shitake mushroom C45 M37 Y78 K11 C26 M42 Y73 K3
C82 M44 Y100

Spinach C77 M54 Y82 K0
K48
Bellflower root C25 M5 Y24 K0 C14 M10 Y32 K0
Egg
C26 M19 Y100 K0 C3 M10 Y41 K0
Beef
C66 M5 Y72 K0 C44 M72 Y80 K57
Ⅳ. CONCLUSION
The purpose of the study was identify the color range, and suggested the standard color range
of each ingredient on Bibimbob.
Tungsten lightening was 3200K, an iris of camera was F 5.6, and shooter speed was 1/30
second. Total variables were statistically different. It meant that the records on test machine were
different depend on the situation.
This time was normal condition that meant under the fluorescent light. The condition of photo
situation was as followed. The fluorescent light was 4000K, an iris of camera was F 5.6 1/2, and
shooter speed was 1/60 second. Total variables were statistically different. It meant that the records on
test machine were different depend on the situation.
There had been some limitation. When we select the best condition’s Bibimbob photo,
researchers’ opinion was considered.
From the results of the study, we need to search new ingredient instead of the each color
ingredient on Bibimbob.
214
REFERENCES
Kim, I.H. (2005). A study on the color arrangement of menu, master degree of kyonggi university.
Kim, K.O. , & Lee, Y. C (1997). The sensory evaluation of food, Seoul : Hakyunsa.
You, K. H. (1998). The typology of digital color, Seoul: Sejinsa, 40-44.
Cho, P.K., & Cheong, H.M. (2001). Fashion design and color, Seoul : Chunwon munhwasa, 76.
Park, D. Y. (1995). Practical color, Seoul : Ban do, 30
Hwang, H. S. (1995). Korean traditional food, Seoul : Kyomunsa,
215
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF RURAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA
Ma Ai-ping
School of Tourism Management
Beijing International Studies University
& People’s University
ABSTRACT
As an important and growing element for national and regional economies, and as an
important parameter of life quality, rural tourism and recreation in China has been developed very fast
within recent years. This paper examines the characteristics of rural tourism development in China.
China especially Beijing is the geographical contexts of reference. However, the development
of rural tourism in developed countries in such as Finland is also mentioned here and the potential
applicability of the outcomes to other areas is not excluded.
To gain insight into how important the rural tourism is in China, the researchers collected over
800 hundred questionnaires in Beijing urban areas .The outcomes of deep personal interviews have
also been employed. The major two different models of rural tourism in China are distinguished here.
Comparative studies approach is also important in this study. Results indicated that after examining
the development of rural tourism in Europe, many characteristics of rural tourism share in common
both in China and developed countries. By systematically analysis the features of different
segmentations of rural tourists, the trend and characteristics of rural tourism market are distinguished.
The study predicts the further fast development of rural tourism in China, several trends are
mentioned and strategies for sound rural tourism development are proposed in the paper.
This research offers some useful enlightenment for other developing countries in Asia.
Key Words: rural tourism; China; characteristics.
RELATED LITERATURE
The rural tourism Working Group of the Finnish Government has defined rural tourism as:
customer-oriented tourism in rural areas. It is based on rural areas’ natural facilities and
resources-culture, nature, landscapes-and on family and small-scale entrepreneurship (Lesley Roberts
& Derek Hall, 2001).
Rural tourism’s importance to the economy of the countryside has been widely recognized in
recent years. The concept of sustainable tourism has been highly significant in tourism planning (J
Christopher Holloway, 2002).
In the 19th century, rural tourism has been developed in the western countries for escaping
industrial pollution in urban areas, it has seen rapid development since the 50s in the 20th centuries
(He Jing-ming, 2005).Many countries have paid much attention of rural tourism development and
have formed unique features and brand. France, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus , Italy and Britain have all
invested much in agritourism (J Christopher Holloway, 2002),but different regions have developed
different types of rural tourism products in the development of rural tourism development, for
example, Farm-based holidays are much rarer in rural USA and Canada than in Europe.( Lesley
Roberts & Derek Hall,2001).Traditionally, rural tourism has long been popular especially with the
independent travelers(J Christopher Holloway, 2002).Nowadays, Back to nature has become a world
theme of tourism today. Rural tourism has become a fashion both at home and abroad (CHEN
Wen-jun, 2003).
In China, the research focuses on the definitions of rural tourism, case studies, the
216
characteristics of rural tourism development in other countries as well as rural tourism product
programming and planning (Wu Bi-Hu, 2004).However, in China, the statistics of rural tourism is
rare(HE Jing-ming,(2005).This paper, tries to illustrate the characteristics of rural tourism
development in China and describe its basic characteristics of market segmentation. The results of 833
copies of questionnaire collected in Beijing urban area can offer some useful enlightenments for other
developing countries in Asia.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL TOURISM IN CHINA
China is a big country with agriculture. The majority of the population is farmers. In China,
rural tourism started at the late 1980s. According to the estimates, visitors to rural areas had reached to
over100million in 1998, the domestic tourism arrived at 6.9 billions with the revenue of 2391billion
RMB in the same year. Rural tourism has witnessed a rapid growth in the recent years, we can see
from the figures show from Beijing area as a whole (TABLE 1) and one district of Beijing (Figure
1)in particular.
TABLE 1
The number of visitor trips and revenues from Beijing suburbs rural tourism
Year n (10 thousands) revenue ( 100million)

2002 462 3.71
2003 626 6.1
2004 893.9 7.57
1200000
1000000
800000
600000
400000
蚔諦杅講
200000
0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
爛爺
source: from Chang ping tourism bureau in Beijing.
Figure 1
Number of receiving rural visitors to Beijing Changping district from year 1999-2004
The horizontal axis represent year and vertical axis represent for numbers of visitors.
Changping district is one of the ten most important counties of Beijing where famous Great
Wall is situated. Rural tourism developed in the area was on a voluntary bases at the beginning.It is
only an example here. Nowadays, in China, almost all of the big cities promote their suburbs rural
217
tourism resources and the competition within and among those services become fierce.
Several reasons can be distinguished for the development of rural tourism development in
China, the first one is due to the boom of holiday economy which starts several years ago, now
Chinese have three seven –day break during spring, May and October nationwide, in addition to two
weekend days per week. The second is the acceleration of urbanization, which stimulates people back
to nature; the third is post-SARS effect. Since then, people value health and clean air more than ever.
CNTA (China National Tourism Administration) has designated year 1998 as “the year of China
urban-rural travel” and 1999 as “the year of ecologically environmental tourism”, this also laid the
foundation for the development of rural tourism in China. The theme for Year 2006 now in China is
Rural tourism. Many provinces in China have initiated many related activities.
China is a big country and it has a rich variety of agriculture, regional features and ethnic
characteristics. We can categorize the two major different models of rural tourism in China from the
perspective of geographical areas, they are rural tourism in the north and rural tourism in the south
respectively. Southern rural tourism activities enjoy rich habitation and rich minority ethnic resources.
At the initial stage in China, rural tourism areas have been developed near scenic spots and areas,
rural tourism areas near big urban cities, has been developed rapidly within recent years.
A SURVEY IN BEIJING
Method
The questionnaire survey, led by Professor Zhou Tong-qian, is part of the program of Beijing
tourism Administration Bureau and The Association of Beijing Rural tourism. The questionnaires
were distributed by graduate students from Beijing International Studies University during Dec.
30,2004 to Jan. 3, 2005 near big supermarkets in eight districts of urban Beijing. The reason for
selecting supermarket is due to a survey .The result of which demonstrates that the major activities for
Beijing Citizens during their leisure time is shopping. The sample size was 1‰ in proportion to the
population of Beijing (residents)in down town areas. The supermarkets designated are situated in the
most populated streets in that district .The percentage of questionnaires distributed is in
correspondence to the percentage of the population in that district. In total, 833 questionnaires were
collected which constituted an overall response rate of 98%.
Results
Through descriptive analysis by SPSS, basic information on interviewees is presented . Out of

833 respondents, 74.8% have Beijing countryside visiting experiences. Table 2 shows the choice of
activities during leisure time, 76.2% of cases select traveling outside Beijing or going abroad.
TABLE 2
Frequency and percentage of leisure activity choice (N=825)
Leisure activity multiple choice n % %

of responses of cases
at home 100 8.7 12.1
going abroad 177 15.3 21.5
traveling outside Beijing 451 39.0 54.7
Around Beijing suburbs 371 32.1 45.0
Others 57 4.9 6.9
In terms of interests, 61.1% of respondents express interests in Beijing rural areas. 33% out of
total 196.3% cases in table3 selected going to Beijing suburbs due to convenient distance and 20.8%
due to low prices.
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TABLE 3
Reasons for going to Beijing suburbs (N=830)
n % %
sightseeing 283 17.4 34.1

leisure & holiday making 548 33.6 66
rural custom 243 14.9 29.3
meeting 85 5.2 10.2
distance & traffic 274 16.8 33.0
price 173 10.6 20.8
others 23 1.4 2.8
From table 4, we can see that the major interest of visitors to Beijing suburban areas is fruit
picking, followed by rural gardening, rural cuisine, folk handicraft and traditional festivals
respectively.
TABLE 4
Frequency and percentage of interests to different kinds of rural tourism activities
(multiple choice) (N=830)
Interest to different kinds of rural tourism activities

n % %
rural gardening 242 13.6 29.2
(fruit)picking 339 19.0 40.8
farming 93 5.2 11.1
rural cuisine 220 12.4 26.5
farm house 165 9.3 19.9
folk handicraft 207 11.6 24.9
traditional festival 204 11.5 24.6
others 43 2.4 5.2
no interest 20 1.1 2.4
In terms of time selection, Most respondents would like to select holiday period and autumn,
summer season for their visiting. These results can be seen clearly in table 5.
Table 5
Frequency and percentage of time preference for rural tourism activities
(multiple choice) (N=694)
n % %
festival 142 10.2 20.5
holiday 401 28.7 57.8
event 75 5.4 10.8
spring 288 20.6 41.5
summer 200 14.3 28.8
autumn 262 18.8 37.8
winter 29 2.1 4.2
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From the questionnaire survey, we can see other characteristics of behaviors to Beijing suburb
rural tourism activities from interviewees, which have been summarized in table7.
TABLE 7
Characteristics of behaviors to Beijing suburban rural tourism activities from interviewees
Average stay in suburb 1.69 days

Annual average numbers of going to suburbs 2.40
Average numbers of places from interviewees 1.99
Number of willingness to spend each time 55.6 USD
THE CHARACTWRISTICS OF RURAL TOURIST SEGMENTATION IN CHINA COMPARED

WITH OTHER COUNTRIES
Studies have shown that three major rural tourism activity types could be seen in China. The
first one is participation pattern, people would like to do farming, shopping, especially fruit picking
during autumn in urban suburbs. Another pattern is sightseeing, people see farmhouse, attend festivals.
The third kind is holiday making, which can be typically termed as “ stay, eat and experience in farm”,
this type has just been explored but developed quickly(Chen Wen-jun,2003).
Rural tourism activities in China can be characterized as:

- Short-term in character mainly of daytrip suburban type;
- Mainly domestic especially from locals and surrounding package visitors, international visitors
accounts for a limited number.
- At about 50km section away from the central city, a less developed area for rural tourism existed
according to a large- scale investigation conducted in China because sub-central cities around the
major cities are located at the distance and thus bring interference to rural tourism activities
(Wu-Bi-Hu, 2004).
Segmenting tourists by purposes of trip, niche market can be identified as fruit picking, rural
gardening, rural cuisine, folk handicraft and traditional festivals etc. But more often than not, visitors
would like to enjoy the composite of these elements. Family tour, senior citizens and students are
major markets segmented by age, profession and composition. By segmenting niche market by
nationality, international markets are found. For example, a village with more than three hundred
years with unique architecture, attracts many tourists, many foreign visitors likes to go them too. At
the same time, a new kinds of accommodation offerings recently have been designed for western
group tourists especially for American senior tourists to stay one night during their visit in Beijing to
“touch” new contemporary countryside life proven to be successful.
The Beijing survey conducted recently further support the major conclusions from previous
studies in China.
After comparing the characteristics of rural tourism activities in China with foreign countries,
several features shared in common both home abroad can be discovered:
·Rural tourism in the world are mainly domestic;

·Rural local cuisine is one of local identity which is an important element for attracting visitors. As
Jacinthe Bessiere states, “ Consuming regional specialties where they come from, eating ‘else where’
and ‘differently’ is an act of complicity with place, a way of becoming part of the intimacy of that
place and of the other, a symbolic consumption of a land, a region, a province, its climate, its history,
its scenery ”.
·From tourists to residents especially to those retired citizens and professionals such as painters in the
form of second homes and others.
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FUTURE TRENDS AND SUGGESTIONS
Histories show the evolution of rural tourism in the world as Summerhouse Culture (late-19th
century)-boarding house and spa business (1910sand 1920s)-rural camping and cycling (1930s and
heyday in 1950s-hiking,ski,on foot(1950s)-farm holidays with urban, car-owning families built
cottages by farmers for rent (the mid-1970s)(lesley Roberts and Derek Hall,2001).In China, with the
increasing number of family cars, and the advocating of quality of life, rural tourism market in China
will continues to grow within recent years.
The major problems existed in rural tourism development at the same times, however, are
the homogeneity of product offering and lack of deep marketing techniques.. Sustainable theme and
the appropriate governmental regulating, supporting and planning are major concerns. Two relevant
suggestions are raised here: (1) from government leading /supporting gradually to self regulation.
(2) Avoid low-level competition by offering different service and Brand building.
CONCLUSION
Based on a survey of rural tourism in Beijing, the paper summarized the basic characteristics
of rural tourism development in China by comparison the world rural tourism activity development.
The lack of applying deeper statistical analysis tools is the limitation of the study .The study offers
rich information for further study in this field both home and abroad. Deep segmentation analysis of
rural tourism is a future research area.
REFERENCES
Chen, J. Q. (2001). Study of consumption trend of domestic tourism in China in the early 21st century.
Social Scientist, 16.
Chen, W. J. (2003). Study of In-depth Development of Rural Tourism in China. Journal of

GUANGZHOU University, 2.
He, J. M. (2005). Rural tourism at both China and abroad: comparison, reflection and outlook. Rural
Economy, 1.
Holloway, J. C. (2002). The Business of Tourism. Beijing, Foreign Language Teaching and research
press.
Mcghee, N.G., & Andereck, K. L. (2004) Factors Predicting Rural Residents’ Support of Tourism.
Journal of Travel Research, 43, 131-140.
Roberts, L., & Hall, D. (2001). Rural Tourism and Recreation: principles to practice. UK, CABI
Publishing.
Wu, B. H., & Huang, Z. W., & Ma, X. M.. (2004). Spatial Structure of Rural Tourism Attractions in
Suburban Areas of China. Scientia Geograohica, SINICA ,24.
221
THE CURRENT STATUS OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF MICE INDUSTRY TALENTS IN
CHINA AND IN SHANGHAI
Jingxian Jiang
Tourism Department
Fudan University
Yingzhi Guo
Tourism Department
Fudan University
and
Hailin Qu
School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration
Oklahoma State University
ABSTRACT
The MICE industry in China is growing faster and faster. However, restricted by the lack of
qualified personnel, it is still very imperfect. Based on the analysis of main characteristics of current
status of education and training of MICE industry talents in China and Shanghai, this article pointed
out the disadvantages and challenges confronted, at last constructed a framework of education and
training system. However, this article still needs to reveal the situation of on-the -job training in MICE
enterprises and further investigate and analyze the ways and effects of vocational training executed by
social education organizations.
Key Words: the MICE industry of China; talents; education and training
1. INTRODUCTION
The MICE industry has become a new drive of national economy (Yu & Zhong, 2004) since its
profit margin could reach as high as 5% to 30%. This industry, which is esteemed as "bread for modern
cities", is also able to foster emerging industries as well as to pull the transportation, travel and tourism,
catering, realty business and other related industries. In China, restricted by the lack of qualified
personnel, its MICE industry is still very imperfect.
The MICE industry is the product of modern economy, and the market demand on qualified
MICE talents should be satisfied when training them, which can be distinguished into three levels,
namely core , assistant , and supportive talents. To be specified, core talents mainly refer to the high-
level planning personnel, demanding but relatively less demanded, who are required for a strong sense
for organizing and operating conventions and exhibitions from a macro perspective with innovation;
assistant talents include the design, construction, and transportation personnel; and, supporting talents
comprise personnel in such fields as translation or interpretation, business reception and so on (Xu,
2005). Through years of mill of practice in this industry, a number of corporations or departments
specializing in the organization and service of conventions and exhibitions have been established, and
some operation and service expertise have been accumulated (Li, 2005). According to industry
statistics, there are more than one million practitioners all over China although (Li, 2005), the low
quality and poor management of whom are quite not in accord with the development of the industry.
Take Shanghai for example. According to the figures provided by Shanghai Convention and Exhibition
industries Association, there are over 150 companies registered and half of the travel agencies in
Shanghai having set up Exhibition Department. As a contrast, according to a survey conducted by
tourism College, Shanghai Normal University, at present in the MICE industry of Shanghai, there are
only less than 50 experienced senior project managers and no more than 100 compound MICE talents,
which shows the present MICE talents in Shanghai just can meet 1/3 of the market demands (Jiang,
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2004). Thus, of the so-called "millions" of MICE personnel, only less than 1% is real professionals that
are good at operation and management.
There is a big gap between the demand and supply of MICE talents. Some statistics says, in
2003, the ratio of vacancies to job seekers in MICE industry is: in Shanghai, 10:1; in Beijing, 8:1; in
Guangzhou, 8:1; in Shenyang, 6:1; in Nanjing, 6:1; in Chongqing, 5:1, averaged 7:1. Meanwhile, as
estimated by professionals, in the next three years in China, we will need about 200 million
practitioners as well as around 500,000 Senior Convention & Exhibition managers with an annual
increasing rate of 15%. Furthermore, before, during and after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and
2010 Shanghai World Expo, more than three million practitioners are needed in various domestic and
international conferences, forums, exhibitions, shows, etc., and the number of practitioners in related
fields such as transportation, tourism, catering, construction, decoration, decoration, arts, design and so
on will also surge up. Hence, the quality and quantity of the education and training of MICE talents in
China must be further improved.
With the expansion of demands on MICE talents and the approaching international
competition, a good momentum has appeared in the education and training of MICE talents and the
construction of MICE discipline. Recent years, MICE specialties have being opened up in colleges and
universities across the country and professional training of various levels is also increasing. According
to statistics, in Shanghai, there are already nearly 30 colleges and universities and vocational
institutions with MICE Specialty or related direction (Xu, 2004).
This study will focus on the problems and challenges of the education and training of MICE
talents in China and in Shanghai. When respect to the significance of this study, theoretically, it
concluded predecessors' researches for more in-depth studies in the future; practically, it provided
relevant information and recommendations to managers and practitioners to promote the quality of the
education and training.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Along with the prosperity of the MICE industry in China and the coming of 2010 Shanghai
Expo day by day, researches of this industry has attracted the same level of attention. Studies in
literatures were conducted to include the four following aspects. Firstly, reports on the current status
and certain problems of MICE talents in China (Sun, 2005; Li, 2005; Di & Wang, 2005; Lin, 2005 etc.);
Secondly, researches on the cultivation mode of China's MICE talents (LIU & Xu, 2005; He,2005; Xu,
2005); Thirdly, the characteristics and disadvantages of MICE or similar Specialty in China's
universities and colleges with suggestions for promotion (Yu & Zhong, 2004; Zhou & Zhang, 2004;
Wu & Fu, 2005; Ma & Xiao, 2005; Rao, 2005; Xia & Li, 2005); Fourthly, introductions to successful
experiences of MICE education in overseas countries and the enlightening for our own (Wu et al.,2004;
Zhang,2005).
There limited international studies on the education and training of MICE talents in a specified
MICE destination. Donald MacLaurin oriented readers to the key macro business and convention
trends that shape the parameters of the human resource policies and practices and addressed
employment opportunities and skill requirements, reviews factors shaping human resource policies,
and provided an overview of education and training programs offered by associations and universities
in Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific (Marianna, 2003).Vivienne McCabe presented a
preliminary findings of a study that was focused on establishing the potential career paths, patterns and
strategies of managers in the convention and exhibition industry in Australia (McCabe，2001). Terry
Lam & Honggen Xiao presented a comprehensive review of current tourism education in China in
terms of the various educational programs (Lam & Xiao，2000). Brian et al. evaluated the career
experiences and perceptions of graduates from the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the
Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Marketing at Victoria
University in Melbourne, Australia towards the programmers that they undertook (Brian et al., 2003).
223
3. DATA SOURCES
There are two main data sources for this paper: first, study literatures on this subject in China;
second, searching findings on Chinese searching engine Baidu with the key words "MICE education"
and so on.
4. METHODOLOGY
This article adopted qualitative analysis. First, classify, induct and summarize previous
researches, then get to the results and conclusions combined with searching findings on the internet.
5. ANALYSIS AND STUDY RESULTS
To meet the enormous demand for qualified personnel in MICE industry, more and more
concern has gradually been paid to their education and training, and the "MICE specialty” or similar
direction are emerging, especially in the China's three major MICE cities -- Beijing, Shanghai and
Guangzhou (Ma & Xiao, 2005). At present the ways of China's MICE talents' education and training
can be concluded and discussed into three aspects: university and college education in MICE specialty
or similar direction; on - the - job training in MICE industry enterprises; vocational training executed
by social education organizations.
5.1 The characteristics of education and training of MICE talents in China and in Shanghai
5.1.1 Types of training
Firstly, academic education provide by MICE specialties or similar directions. Colleges and
universities and other educational institutions. With respect of undergraduate education, shanghai
Normal University formally opened up MICE Management Department on 15th April, 2004 with the
approval of National Ministry of Education, thus became the first university to set up this department.
Moreover, sino-foreign cooperation is another point. For instance, cooperated with Osnabrueck
University of Applied Sciences of German, Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade has set a specialty of
MICE Economy and Management, which is the only sino-foreign cooperative one of 4-year higher
education. At the same time, some private colleges, vocational schools, and 2-to-3-year technical
secondary schools were also developing specialties or courses of MICE management, as colleges and
universities did, to foster the professional talents with specialized skills and techniques. For example,
Beijing Lvzhou Private Vocational School, which was the first one that set this specialty among
vocational schools in Beijing according to its headmaster, opened a specialty called exhibition arts
design in 2003.
Characteristics. The specialty of MICE Management is formed during the publication of higher
education; as a result, it has the main attributes of public education (Wu & Fu, 2005), whose basic
features are a series of different courses, a credit system and conventional teaching patterns of lectures,
aiming at educating core talents of MICE industry and passing on theories of management and
operations.
Secondly, on- the-job training within MICE businesses. At present, most practitioners in
China's MICE industry are engaged halfway, and MICE enterprises usually use the workshop pattern in
which information and skills come down from generation to generation. Therefore, most employees are
not systematically trained and short of knowledge and skills, which causes that master talents owning
the ability of planning and operation are so limited. In general, employees’ knowledge instruction and
professional qualities have too much to be desired compared with international standards of convention
and exhibition operation.(Li, 2005)
Thirdly, vocational training. Vocational training is urgently needed for MICE employees.
According to Chinese Trade Council, 100% of exhibition organizations need to have their employees
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trained; 77% of senior exhibition managers hoped that they could acquire the training from senior
exhibition experts in well-known foreign exhibition companies; 68% of the exhibition managers had
the willing to obtain foreign MICE theories and practical knowledge; and 70% of them expressed their
strongest wishes to participate in domestic short courses., which invited a variety of social vocational
institutions to join the MICE talent training market. However, various advantages of institutions led to
different emphases on training. Some concentrate on enhancing theories or practical skills, others stress
the authority of their certification or the introduction of training course from developed MICE
countries etc.
To date there are two kinds of renowned credentials to certify MICE vocational qualifications
in China: "Vocational Training of MICE Industry" granted all over the country by China Employment
Training Technical Instruction Center(CETTIC), Ministry of Labor and Social Security, and,
"Convention & Exhibition Planning and the Practice" in Shanghai.
To be specified, credentials for the former training will include following items: 1)
Certification of National Convention & Exhibition Administrator; 2) Certification of National
Convention & Exhibition Planner; 3) Certification of National Convention & Exhibition Display
Designers 4) Certification of Image Designer for Pet Exhibition 5) Certification of National
Convention & Exhibition Marketers 6) Certification of National Convention & Exhibition Managers,
which can be divided into junior, middle and senior levels. To acquire these certificates, employees
must take part in relevant training and pass the examination, whose content is general, practical and
technical knowledge. Those who pass the examination will be brought into the professional talent
library for “New Career, New Knowledge, New Techniques, New Skills in CETTIC application field
of forward industries”.
The certification of “Convention & Exhibition Planning and the Practice" in Shanghai aims at
foster a number of largely demanded professionals in planning, management, marketing, reception,
design and other aspects, whose examiner is the Tourism Training Centre of Shanghai, a subordinate
unit of Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administrative Commission. There are four levels of certificates,
that is “Assistant Exhibitioner”, “Exhibitioner”, “Registered Exhibition division” and “Senior
Exhibitioner “. Each of the level requires different educational and business background, and
examinations of all subjects should be passed within 3 years after the first time of examination. Those
who has passed examinations of all subjects of a certain level will get a corresponding "Convention &
Exhibition planning and the practice" certificate granted by the examination office.
Moreover, to cultivate expertise for 2010 Shanghai World Expo, the first training base for
Shanghai Expo talents ---international talents training center of Shanghai Foreign Service Company
has been established in July, 2005. In the next 5 years, the international talents training center will
launch six professional training courses: convention & exhibition operation, professional logistics,
customer service, project management, public relations and human resources. Considered the demand
of foreign language specialists, the training centre particularly set up training courses of "Certificates
of Foreign Language for Expo". The English language courses have begun, the French, Japanese,
Spanish language training will continue to be brought out.
5.1.2 Content of education and training
MICE specialties in colleges and universities. Emerging as a cross-disciplinary subject, MICE

management integrates knowledge of multiple disciplines, including information science, economics,
tourism, arts, management, laws, and pedagogy and so on. To analyze this discipline from the aspect of
curriculum sources, management, economics, arts etc. are involved, but without linkages between each
other; from the content of disciplines, its knowledge is characteristic of comprehensiveness.
Vocational training. Take the certification of "Vocational Training of MICE Industry" by

CETTIC and "Convention & Exhibition Planning and the Practice" in Shanghai for example. The
courses of the former contain introduction of MICE, the planning and organization of Convention &
225
Exhibition, Convention & Exhibition marketing, exhibition participating plans of enterprises, design
and layout of exhibitions, exhibits transportation, exhibition stand service and follow-up works,
participating objective selection of enterprises, MICE laws and regulations, the integrity education etc.,
varying according to the certifying items. In the light of prevailing international industry rules and
intellectual and skill system, the courses of the latter, being relatively closer to the practice, embody
the overview of MICE industry, Convention & Exhibition planning, Convention & Exhibition
management, Convention & Exhibition design and layout, Convention & Exhibition reception and
service, Convention & Exhibition marketing, Convention & Exhibition operational decision-making,
Convention & Exhibition correspondence and telecommunications, Convention & Exhibition foreign
language training and other subjects.
5.1.3 Teaching materials
In China MICE talents education and training is so new that experienced teachers as well as
monographs and textbooks are quite insufficient. Therefore, in addition to a small amount of original
editions introduced from abroad, most of the MICE specialties in colleges and universities build their
own theoretical framework by virtue of some theories of relevant discipline systems.
The first set of MICE textbook series in China has been published by the Commercial Press.
Chiefly edit by Liu Dake, the Director of the Convention & Exhibition Department, Beijing
International Studies University, this set of textbooks systematically discuss the current status of
China's MICE industry and operating procedures of conventions and exhibitions, consisting of 10
books , namely the introduction of Convention & Exhibition, MICE economics, Convention &
Exhibition marketing, MICE laws and regulations, customer relationship management of Convention
& Exhibition, conference management, MICE tourism, professional English of MICE, Convention &
Exhibition project management and Convention & Exhibition information management. Meanwhile,
the textbook systems of vocational schools, and 2-to-3-year technical secondary schools are also in the
formation. According to the Domestic and Foreign Convention & Exhibition Network
(http://www.zwhz.com) of January 24, 2005, there were 42 species of convention and exhibition or
related textbooks.
5.1.4 Training places
Sites where MICE talent education and training service can be found are major MICE cities in
China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, where the service is the most intensive, and Chengdu,
Shenzhen and Kunming and so on.
5.2 The problems and challenges of education and training of MICE talents in China and in Shanghai
Lam & Xiao believed the supply of labor force from existing tourism institutions and
vocational training schools cannot fulfill the expanding needs for high quality service providers (Lam
& Xiao, 2000). In China, as a direction of tourism management, it is the same with MICE Specialty.
5.2.1 Problems
The main problems of current status of education and training of MICE industry talents in
China and Shanghai are as follows:
Firstly, the education system has not been completely formed yet. In developed MICE
countries, 71.8% of MICE practitioners possess undergraduate backgrounds or above, 23.5% associate
degree, and the qualification of MICE managers are almost equal to "undergraduate degree plus work
experiences of about 10 years (Yutong,2004). In contrast, China's education and training system from
technical secondary school, junior college, to undergraduate, master and doctor has not been
completely formed yet.
226
Current researches on MICE theory are scarce and superficial and have lagged behind the
practice. In existing MICE specialties or similar directions, the curriculum of each college or university
varies greatly since there are no generally accepted standards. As a new discipline, there is also lack of
teaching materials, the edition and lecture of which are not professional enough to meet the needs of
MICE market.
Secondly, the education and training target is ambiguous. At present, there are gaps not only
between the quantities of demand and supply of China's MICE talents, but also the levels of them.
As mentioned before, MICE talents can be distinguished into three levels, which distribute like
an eddy or an inverted pyramid. It is generally accepted that MICE talents are critically needed: form
the perspective of the quantity, the majority is assistant and supporting personnel, whose ratio is about
90% (He, 2005); from the perspective of talent levels, the core talents are most urgently required.
The aforesaid situation results in the ambiguous education and training target, which can be
described as follows: The separation of functions between academic education and vocational training
remains unclear, which means that there is no general acknowledgement about the type and structure of
the talents that colleges and universities should cultivate and disputes about the categories of MICE
talents remain; the curriculum of institutions, colleges and universities are of no characteristics and
advantages, most of which concentrate on the convention & exhibition planning, exhibition stand
design, being a little bit general and limited and in a lack of overall consideration from the point of the
whole industry. Obviously it is against the long-term development of ICE specialties.
Thirdly, the training content is parochial. At present, the way of academic education and
vocational training of MICE talents in China is mainly lectures, whose disadvantages are, on one hand,
the lack of systematic and practicable teaching materials and systematic theory structure, on the other
hand, the incapability of students to immediately satisfy the market demand under the single way of
teaching without effectively combining with practice.
As far as vocational training market is concerned, it is mostly in an extensive state of not

seeing the wood for the trees. The main purpose of joining a training program is still information
exchange, meanwhile, the curriculum and the assessment of the quality of teachers, teaching materials,
certifications, sponsors and training effects etc. are not completely satisfied the demands of enterprises
on MICE professionals (Lin, 2005).
5.2.2 Challenges
On January 13th, 2004, the interim provisions concerning establishment of meeting and
exhibition Company on foreign businessman investment were promulgated and effective 30 days after
the date of promulgation. Since meeting and exhibition companies on foreign businessman investment
are permitted to China, a new campaign to attract MICE professionals in domestic market will be
unavoidable, in the course of which may appear the conflict between domestic and foreign ways of
educating and training MICE talents.
Take Germany as an example for academic education. Germany is a developed MICE country;
however, there are only two universities with MICE specialties, of which the Convention & Exhibition
Management Department of Baravensburg University began their MICE talents education since 1989
cooperated with exhibition organizing businesses. During the three years in the university, students are
supposed to adopt a learning pattern of lecture-practice- lecture, and the time for lectures and practice
are almost the same. The curriculum, which includes exhibition management, convention management,
special events management, exhibition stand construction and so on, is pragmatically oriented.
To move on to the vocational training, now the training system of Certified Exhibition
Manager has been introduced to China. Certified Exhibition Manager (CEM) is the professional
training and certificating system for exhibition management developed and operated by International
227
Association of Exhibition Management (IAEM) of America, which is gradually accepted by worldwide
MICE industry. The training system of CEM introduced to China is characteristic of systematization,
integrity, utility, regularity and the speeding-up localization supported by domestic training institutions.
Up to January 11, 2005, 85 persons from 60 different exhibition enterprises in 25 cities across the
country (Hongkong included) have participated in three periods of training and obtained the CEM
certificate.
The irresistible appeal of foreign education and vocational training system to MICE
practitioners has posed a threat to native ones. Training systems like CEM has established a so positive
word-of -mouth that half of the new applicants registered through the recommendation of friends or
colleagues. The increasing ratio of leading convention & exhibition enterprises involved in and
valuable high-level talents in favor of this kind of training underlies more requests for native
educational system construction as well as the training ways and content etc.
6. CONCLUSIONS AND LIMITS
Since large number of high-quality professionals are needed for the prospect of MICE market,
China's MICE talents education and training system, which is oriented in MICE enterprises' demands
and based and centered on university and college education complemented by social vocational
training, should bind university and college education, on - the - job training and vocational training
together combined with the guidance and administration of government.
6.1 The guidance and administration of government
Government guidance and management mainly refer to the instruction and supervision of the
education and training of MICE talents by macro-control efforts to ensure that it functions orderly. The
role the government plays reflect mainly in the following aspects:
Firstly, to promote the construction and improvement of academic education system. Recent
years, the number of MICE specialties in colleges and universities has continued to expand. Aiming at
the problems of China’s current MICE education system and the unproportionate situation between
demand and supply of MICE market, the government should first develop an overall plan for MICE
talents education to clarify the goals and directions of academic education. Then the education
departments should executive unified guidance and assessment of the opening of MICE Specialty or
similar directions in colleges and universities, the construction of MICE discipline system and other
works to ensure teaching qualities.
Secondly, to strengthen the supervision and management of vocational training institutions.

First, relevant government departments should strictly monitor the quality of training institutions,
particularly that of the faculty members, to assure the interests of trainees; Secondly, the government
should establish scientific standards of quality assessment and management and instruct the training
orientation and curriculum of these institutions to ensure the training market to operate healthily and
orderly; Third, the accreditation of practitioners should be normalized in order to further enhance the
quality of industry talents.
6.2 University and college education
College and university education ought to become the main body of MICE education system,
for generally speaking, college and university graduates, who possess solid theoretical basis and
expertise with stronger capacity of acquiring new knowledge that helps them to grow faster in practice,
are often the main force in every industry. So it is with the MICE industry. College and university
education can be carried on from both theoretical and practical aspects.
Firstly, theoretical education. Clarify the educating targets. Colleges and universities devote
themselves in educating core MICE talents, concentrating on theoretical research and capabilities of
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management and decision-making; vocational and technical schools mainly cultivate technical
personnel, focusing on the training of operating skills.
Construct the disciplinary textbook system. On the basis of current demand of MICE talents
and resources each institution and taking the curriculum of higher education in counties with
developed educating and training system, on one hand, textbooks and references need to be introduced,
on the other hand, textbook system characteristic of China should be hurried to be written.
Select advanced educating and training models. Firstly, the export-oriented school policies
should be continued to cultivate MICE talents of high quality, which means to actively absorb
advanced experience of teaching and construction of education system, enrich teaching ways through
adopting case studies, discussions and so on, and to invite overseas professors for lectures; Secondly,
insist on the ways of cooperation ,that is to cooperate with and well-known institutions of higher
education abroad, with the international authority of the vocational qualification certification agencies,
with industry associations, and, with local MICE enterprises .
Secondly, the teaching of practice. MICE talents are required to have not only solid theoretical
knowledge, but also operating skills in practice. Therefore, social practice should be included in the
curriculum. In order to achieve better effect, not only the time for practice must be guaranteed, but the
methods of how to combine theoretical learning and practical experiences should be explored.
6.3 on-the-job training
The demand of talents of MICE enterprises is both the determinant and the direct examiners of
MICE education and training, for candidates usually are able to obtain further exercise in the enterprise
to become qualified MICE talents. So it is wise for enterprises to develop a modern pattern of raising
echelon manpower.
On-the-job training within the enterprise. MICE enterprises are supposed to foster their own
professionals with high quality and harmonious enterprise culture, which means to help the staff with
their profession plans, construct reasonable and effective HR system, and normalize the work of
training, motivation and promotion.
Communications with educational organizations. MICE enterprises are supposed to pay close
attention to the changes of economic policies, laws and regulations, according to which their personnel
structure and level have to be adjusted. At the same time, communications with colleges and
universities and vocational training institutions should be extended, that is to invite teachers from
colleges and universities and vocational training institutions to give lectures to the staff, on the other
hand, to send the staff to these organizations to enhance their comprehensive qualities and abilities.
6.4 Vocational training
Social vocational training is the extension of academic education, through which MICE
practitioners are able to improve their capabilities and non-professionals who are willing to be engaged
in this industry may also become talents of various levels and thus alleviate the critical supply shortage
as a result of a short but effective period of training (Liu & Xu, 2005). Following perspectives should
be considered in vocational training:
Clear training plans. Vocational training institutions should work out training plans complying
with their actual strengths and offer services worthy of the name. Otherwise they would mislead the
youth as well as harm their own prestige.
Do in line with international practice. Vocational training institutions should make
acquaintance with the current conditions of international MICE education and training development,
benefit from the experiences of well-known international MICE vocational training organizations to
improve the training qualities and cope with the competition from domestic and overseas counterparts.
229
Establish training characteristic. Vocational training institutions should take advantage of
unique resources to build up prominent training characteristic, which can be exemplified either by
cooperation with enterprises or participations of famous professionals or others.
However, this article still needs to reveal the situation of on-the -job training in MICE
enterprises and further investigate and analyze the ways and effects of vocational training executed by
social education organizations.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
231
THE ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION OF CONVENTION MARKETING ORGANIZATION: THE
CASE OF DAEGU, KOREA
Changsoo Park
Dept. of Tourism Management
Kongju National University
Deokhyun Jo
Korea National Tourism Organization &
Dept. of Hospitality & Tourism, Kyunghee University
and
Yoosik Yoon
Dept. of Tourism & Event Management
Paichai University
ABSTRACT
In spite of the rapid growth and the economic contribution of the meeting and convention
industry, only a few researches have been done on the economic contribution and its relationship
among principals of the industry segment in depth. This research focuses on the economic
contribution of the convention marketing organization. Results of the research indicate that the
activities of the convention marketing organization significantly contribute to the net growth of 5
sectors even though the industry mix or competitiveness is unfavorable. Implications of the research
results are discussed.
Key Words: Convention Marketing Organization; Economic Contribution.
INTRODUCTION
Recently the Asia-Pacific region has emerged as the fastest growing market. And not only
have many countries established convention and visitors bureaus (CVB) but also have built
convention centers at the national and the regional level for promoting the meeting and convention
industry. The importance of CVB’s functions and roles is increasing as rapidly as this industry grows
in the Asia-Pacific region. The reason is that the CVB is the sole organization which does the
predominant and exclusive activities, marketing and sale, associated with ‘Sell the city’ (Gets,
Anderson and Sheehan, 1998).
CVB’s main functions, listed by Gartell (1994), are six; developing an image of city as an
attractive destination, coordinating the industrial elements of private and public sector, representing
both the demand and the supply side, providing information and responding to inquires, and providing
leadership for the industry. But most of CVB’s functions emphasized on the destination promotion,
other functions are not or are minor roles in the supply side (Gets, Anderson and Sheehan, 1998). This
observable fact is an important issue in the industry, and is concerned with the gap between the
private sector and public sector, industry mix, economic problems associated with the scale, and
contributions vs. benefits, etc. For the fulfillment of CVB’s functions as the destination marketing
organization, several issues as aforesaid must be addressed not only by the analysis on the relation
with constituent elements of the industry and public sector, the importance of the function and the role,
and other issues, but also by the analysis on the economic impact, the industry mix associated with
CVB activities, and the contribution to the change of the regional net growth as well.
To analyze the regional economic contribution of the convention marketing organization, the
case of Daegu is undertaken in this research. The regional economic contribution is estimated by
232
measuring the economic impact and analyzing the contribution to the regional total change effect
associated with industry mix and industry competitiveness by comparing before and after the launch
of the organization in business. Two organizations, related with destination marketing, have been in
operation in Daegu. One is the marketing department of the Daegu Exhibition & Convention Center
(EXCO) established in 2001 and the other is Daegu Convention and Visitors Bureau established in
2003. Since EXCO had played a role in the destination promotion with the support of Daegu
Metropolitan government until the establishment of Daegu CVB, the base years for comparison
between before and after are 1996 and 2001 in this research.
Definition of Terminology
Throughout this research three terms are frequently used: the economic contribution,
convention marketing organization, international meeting and conventions.
Various type of the regional economic contribution is generated by international meetings and
conventions. The economic contribution is limited to the economic impact associated with the output,
the employment, and the regional total change effect in Daegu from 1996 to 2004.
The convention marketing organization is confined to the Daegu CVB, and the marketing
department of Daegu Convention Center (EXCO) for comparison before and after the establishment
of two organizations.
The definition of the international meeting and convention is adopted from Korea Convention
Bureau, Korea National Tourism Organization (KNTO). International meeting and convention is
defined to include a meeting and convention organized or sponsored by the international body or the
national organization and the national branch of the international organization, which meets the
following criteria: minimum number of ten foreign participants and minimum number of three
countries, and the duration of at least one day.
PREVIOUS RESEARCH
CVB is considered to represent an important element of the host location (Webber, 2001) and
to play a key role in promoting the convention industry. CVB can apply to two terms; one is
Destination Marketing Organization (Gartell, 1994; Morrison, Bruen, & Anderson, 1998) the other is
Destination Management Organization (Gets, Anderson and Sheehan, 1998). The former organization
is the developer of an image that will position their cities in the marketplaces as a viable destination
for meetings and visitors (Gartell, 1994); the latter organization plays not only a role in destination
marketing but also a role in planning and product development (Gets, Anderson and Sheehan, 1998).
Gets, Anderson and Sheehan (1998) noted that there is a large gap between the marketing of
destinations and ensuring their development and long-term sustainability through planning and direct
intervention on the supply side. And the need for destination management has arisen among the CVB
in recent years. The business expansion of CVB from Destination Marketing Organization to
Destination Management Organization requires substantial funding. But most of CVBs are limited in
raising funds for activities since the traditional funding sources have eroded (Weber, 2001), and have
been restricted to members of CVB. Many CVBs have tried to diversify funding sources either
traditional or nontraditional. For diversify funding sources, CVB has matters claiming prior settlement.
One of matters is related with the economic beneficiary. Gets, Anderson and Sheehan (1998) noted
that the benefits of DMO marketing can accrue to many persons and businesses whether they
participate or not.
In spite of the economic significance of the convention industry, relatively little academic
research has been conducted (Oppermann, 1996). And only infrequently have researches examined
the economic impact on the host region. Most of researches on the economic impact of the convention
industry use the Input-Output (I/O) Model to quantify the economic impact of the meeting and
convention spending on the national or regional level. The reason is that the major impact of the
233
convention industry is generated by the meeting and convention spending that is injected into the
regional economy as the meeting and convention spending can be viewed as an injection of new
revenues from outside region (Braun, 1992), not just a recycling of wealth that already existed (Smith,
1990).
Giulani, Modicamore and Avalt(2005) has measured impacts of the Democratic National
Convention of 2004, attempted to qualify the major state and local taxes affected and qualify
additional collections from those taxes. Kim and Lee(2002) has measured impacts of international
meetings and conventions hosted in Korea for 2000, attempted to compare various criteria of the
international meeting and convention sector with other industries’. Park (1998) has measured
expected impacts of ASEM2000, attempted to compare various coefficients of industries associated
with economic classification of the host organization and participants’ activities with other industries’.
Braun (1992) has also attempted to measure additional impacts that arise from the spending by
participants before and after a convention was hosted in Orlando, Florida in 1989.
METHODS
Analyzing the regional economic contribution of a convention marketing organization can be

done after three steps; deriving 9 Regional I/O models from national I/O models, estimating the
spending of each international meeting and convention, attracted and assisted by marketing
organizations, every year from 1996 to 2004, and measuring Net Relatives Change Effect (NRCE).
Methods of deriving the regional I/O Model and measuring NRCE have to be based on only one type
of data for estimating the economic contribution. The employment data (“Analysis of Employment
Data,” n.d.) is used for calculating the Location Quotients (LQ), deriving Regional I/O Models, and
measuring NRCE in this research.
Classifying International meeting and convention Spending Categories
Setting international meeting and conventions’ spending categories on the basis of the
activities of the host organization and participants seen from the supply point of view and based on
the Korean Standard Industrial Classification (KSIC) is necessary for estimating the economic
contribution of international meetings and conventions.
A Professional Group Meeting (PGM) is used for setting international meeting and
convention spending categories and deciding an injection sector of Bench Mark Tables (BMT),
provided by the Bank of Korea and based on the KSIC, linked to each spending categories. The
identification of spending and the aggregation into sectors of BMT are modeled on the process
illuminated by the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, Hawaii (Ludberg,
Stavenga, & Krishnamoorthy, 1995) . The Professional Group is composed of 10 professionals in the
convention industry, 3 professors, 3 directors of CVBs, 3 independent meeting planners, 1 institute
researcher, and is held on the 11th, March, 2006.
14 spending categories are classified on the basis of the activities of the host organization, 11
spending categories on the basis of the activities of participants, and 9 injection sectors are set after
the Professional Group Meeting. Two types of the expenditures are generated by international
meeting and conventions: by the host organization and by participants. The host organization
purchases are for accommodations, food & beverage services, meeting room & exhibition space rental
services, transportations, audiovisuals, tour services, entertainments and social functions, publishing
and printing materials, production and set-up equipments, advertisement and publicity, operations,
staffing and overhead, commissions for meeting planner, and other services. Participant spending
includes expenditures on the registration fee, the accommodation, the transportation, the food &
beverage, the tour, the cultural activities, the games, the amusement, shopping, and others.
And injection sectors of BMT are nine; Eating and Drinking Places, and Hotels and Other
Lodging Places, Transportation and Warehousing, Wholesale and Retail Trade, Printing, Publishing
234
and Reproduction of Recorded Media, Civil Engineering, Real Estate Agencies and Rental, Business
Services, Culture and Recreational Services and Other Services.
Method of Estimating International Meeting and Convention Spending
Five sources for calculating spending of international meeting and convention hosted in
Daegu were used; Reports of the economic impact of the convention industry in 1994, 2000, 2004,
published by KNTO, a Foreign Visitors Survey, including international meeting and convention
visitors conducted from 1996 to 2004 by KNTO, and regional data collected by the Daegu CVB from
2000 to 2004 to reflect the local situation. To estimate spending of the international meeting and
convention hosted in Daegu every year from 1996 to 2004, average spending per guest and host
organization, surveyed by KNTO, is adjusted by data provided by Daegu CVB.
Method of Deriving the Regional Input-Output Model
Location Quotients Approach, independently deriving a final demand vector to obtain the
level of gross output for each industry in the region necessary to satisfy this final demand(“I/O
Equations,” n.d.) is used for estimating regional coefficients in this research. The method of using
Location Quotients and national input coefficients for estimating regional input coefficients is divided
into two as follows:
For local industries (i) with L.Q. ≥ 1 ---- atijreg= atijnat

For local industries (i) with L.Q. < 1 ---- atijreg = atijnat x LQti
Where:
LQti : Location Quotients in a t-year.
atijnat : National input coefficients in a t-year.
atijreg : Regional input coefficients in a t-year.
Then inverse matrix coefficients and employment coefficients are derived from regional input
coefficients per year from 1996 to 2004. The method of deriving Inverse matrix coefficients is
follows:
Xtijreg = (I - atijreg)-1(Y-M)
Where:
Xtijreg : Regional inverse matrix coefficients in a t-year.
(I - atijreg)-1: Leontief Inverse Matrix.
Y: Column vector of final demand.
M: Column vector of import.
And the method of deriving the employment coefficient matrix is follows;
Ltijreg = L(I - atijreg)-1
Where:
Ltijreg : Regional employment coefficients matrix in a t-year.
(I - atijreg)-1: Leontief Inverse Matrix
L: diagonal matrix of demand for labor per 1 million dollars.
77–sector location Quotients and Korea National I/O models provided by Bank of Korea are
used for deriving 9 regional I/O models per year from 1996 to 2004.
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Method of Measuring Net Relative Change Effect (NRCE)
Shift Share Analysis is used for measuring the Net Relative Change Effect (NRCE) of
Daegu’s industries, linked to meetings and conventions’ spending categories. For comparing changes
of regional NRCE before and after launching the convention marketing organization in business, two
base years, 1996 and 2001, are set. Before deriving NRCE, three components of the regional growth
are measured. Three components are Regional National Growth Component (RNGC), Regional
Industry Mix Component (RIMC), and Competitiveness Component (CC). And the method of
measuring NRCE is follows;
n=1
NRCE = ∑〔{ejt-nⅹ(Et/ Et-n- 1)}+ {ejt-nⅹ(Ejt/ Ejt-n - Et/ Et-n)}+{ ejt-nⅹ(ejt / ejt-n - Ejt/ Ejt-n) }〕
i
Where:
Et:Total number of national employment on t-year.

Et-n: Total number of national employment on base year.
Ejt: Total number of i-industry’s national employment on t-year.
Ejt-n: Total number of i-industry’s national employment on base year.
ejt: Total number of i-industry’s regional employment on t-year.
ejt-n: Total number of i-industry’s regional employment on base year.
ESTIMATING ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION
International Meeting and Convention Spending
Estimating International Meeting and Convention Spending per Participant
Before adjusting international meeting and convention spending figures in Daegu from 1996
to 2004, the national figures surveyed from 1996 to 1999 have to be adjusted to KSIC. The reason is
that Cultural Activities, Games, and Amusement have been surveyed as one category, entertainment.
These refinements were based on data from the Foreign Visitors Survey conducted by KNTO from
1996 to 2004. And estimating domestic participant spending is based on data and information
provided by KNTO.
Then international meeting and convention spending figures for Daegu are adjusted. These
adjustments were based on data and information provided by KNTO and Daegu CVB. Table1 shows
the adjustment to the international meeting and convention spending figures by type from 1996 to
2004. The reason why the adjusted spending figures of year 1997 are not listed is that no international
meetings or conventions were held due to the national financial crisis, which generated the IMF
Conditionality in 1997.
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Table 1
International Meeting and Convention Average Spending by type
Per Host Organization and Participant
(In Dollars)
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Host Organization
Accommodation 33,590 - 20,750 25,290 27,570 25,030 26,670 29,110 31,410
Food & Beverage
143,580 - 88,700 108,100 117,850 106,970 113,990 124,400 134,230
Services
Meeting room &
Exhibition Space 52,570 - 32,480 39,580 43,150 39,170 41,740 45,550 49,150
Rental
Transportation 33,590 - 20,750 25,290 27,570 25,030 26,670 29,110 31,410
Audiovisuals 40,050 - 24,740 30,150 32,870 29,840 31,800 34,700 37,440
Tour 12,400 - 7,660 9,340 10,180 9,240 9,850 10,750 11,590
Entertainment and
15,950 - 9,860 12,010 13,100 11,890 12,670 13,820 14,920
Social Functions
Publishing and
46,460 - 28,700 34,980 38,130 34,610 36,890 40,250 43,430
Printing materials
Production and Set-
38,610 - 23,850 29,070 31,690 28,770 30,660 33,460 36,100
up Equipments
Advertisement and
24,540 - 15,160 18,480 20,140 18,280 19,480 21,260 22,940
Publicity
Operations 53,200 - 32,870 40,060 43,670 39,640 42,240 46,100 49,740
Staffing and
19,590 - 12,100 14,750 16,080 14,590 15,550 16,970 18,310
Overhead
Commissions for
75,470 - 46,630 56,830 61,950 56,230 59,920 65,400 70,560
Meeting Planner
Other Services 15,960 - 9,860 12,010 13,100 11,890 12,670 13,830 14,920
Total 605,570 - 374,120 455,950 497,070 451,170 480,800 524,700 566,160
Participant
Overseas
Registration Fees 219.63 - 251.23 268.69 278.44 333.39 345.48 358.02 371
Accommodation 509.95 - 583.32 623.87 646.5 751.26 778.5 806.74 836
Transportation 75.95 - 81.56 84.52 87.59 90.76 94.05 97.47 101.00
Food & Beverage
206.88 - 236.65 253.1 262.28 254.31 263.54 273.1 283
Services
Tour 36.8 - 28.01 46.14 155.74 188.76 195.6 202.7 210.05
Cultural Activities 20.13 - 15.32 25.24 121.04 103.25 107 110.88 114.9
Games 6.71 - 5.11 8.41 20.17 34.42 35.67 36.96 38.3
Amusements 3.36 - 2.55 4.21 40.35 17.21 17.83 18.48 19.15
Shopping 280.15 - 320.45 342.73 355.16 239.04 247.71 256.69 266
Other Services 87.56 - 100.15 107.12 111 118.62 122.92 127.38 132
Total 1,447.12 - 1,624.35 1,764.03 2,078.27 2,131.02 2,208.30 2,288.42 2,371.40
Domestics
Registration Fees 219.63 - 251.23 268.69 278.44 333.39 345.48 358.02 371
Accommodation 280.47 - 320.83 343.13 355.58 412.47 427.43 442.94 459
Transportation 62.21 - 71.16 76.11 78.87 86.27 89.4 92.64 96
Food & Beverage
206.88 - 236.65 253.1 262.28 254.31 263.54 273.1 283
Services
237
Tour 36.8 - 28.01 46.14 155.74 188.76 195.6 202.7 210.05
Cultural Activities 20.13 - 15.32 25.24 121.04 103.25 107 110.88 114.9
Games 6.71 - 5.11 8.41 20.17 34.42 35.67 36.96 38.3
Amusements 3.36 - 2.55 4.21 40.35 17.21 17.83 18.48 19.15
Shopping 92.45 - 105.75 113.1 117.2 116.82 121.06 125.45 130
Other Services 81.43 - 93.14 99.62 103.23 110.53 114.54 118.7 123
Total 1,010.07 - 1,129.75 1,237.75 1,532.90 1,657.43 1,717.55 1,779.87 1,844.40
Sources: KNTO. (1997 ~ 2003). Foreign Visitors Survey, Retrieved 10th, January, 2006, from
http://lib.knto.or.kr/.
KNTO. (2005). Foreign Visitors Survey 2004, Retrieved 10th, January, 2006, from http://
http://www.knto.or.kr/.
KNTO. (1994, 2000, 2004). Economic Impact of Convention Industry. Seoul: KNTO.
The largest part of the host organization spending is on food & beverage services. The second
is commissions for meeting planner, and the third is Operations. In the case of the overseas participant
spending, the largest is Accommodation, the second is Registration Fees, and the third is
Transportation. On the other hand, the largest part of the domestic participant spending is
Accommodation, the second is Registration Fees, and the third is Food & Beverage Services.
Total international Meeting and Convention Spending
Total host organization spending was estimated by multiplying the per host organization
spending by total number of the international meeting and convention, and total participant spending
was estimated by multiplying per participants spending by total number of participants. Table2 shows
numbers of international meeting and convention, overseas participants, and domestic participants
from 1996 to 2005.
Table2
Number of International Meeting and Convention, Participants in Daegu
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

International Meeting& Convention 1 0 8 3 4 4 3 8 14
Overseas Participants 12 0 218 46 157 4,045 416 2,230 2,120
Domestic Participants 175 0 1,011 176 1,007 4,396 881 11,933 8,026
Nation 7 0 47 16 44 40 27 153 147
Source: Convention data of KNTO
In 2005, of all the number of international meeting and conventions participants, domestic
participants were the most. And in 2001, the number of overseas participants was the most, and the
year when the most domestic participants came was 2003. The reason why the most number of
overseas participants was in 2001 is that the big international meeting was held to celebrate the
opening of Daegu Convention Center. Table3 shows the total amount of international meeting and
convention spending by type from 1996 to 2004.
238
Table 3
Total International Meeting and Convention Spending by Type
(In Thousands of Dollars)
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Host Organization
Accommodation 33.59 0 166.03 75.88 110.30 100.11 80.01 232.86 439.70
Food & Beverage
143.58 0 709.61 324.31 471.41 427.87 341.98 995.23 1,879.28
services
Meeting room &
52.57 0 259.82 118.75 172.61 156.67 125.22 364.41 688.11
exhibition space rental
Transportation 33.59 0 166.03 75.88 110.30 100.11 80.01 232.86 439.70
Audiovisuals 40.05 0 197.94 90.46 131.49 119.35 95.39 277.61 524.20
Tour 12.40 0 61.29 28.01 40.72 36.96 29.54 85.96 162.32
Entertainment and Social
15.95 0 78.85 36.03 52.38 47.54 38.00 110.58 208.81
Functions
Publishing and Printing
46.46 0 229.61 104.94 152.54 138.45 110.66 322.03 608.08
Materials
Production and Set-up
38.61 0 190.84 87.22 126.78 115.07 91.97 267.65 505.41
Equipments
Advertisement and
24.54 0 121.29 55.43 80.58 73.14 58.45 170.11 321.22
Publicity
Operations 53.20 0 262.95 120.17 174.68 158.55 126.72 368.79 696.37
Staffing and Overhead 19.59 0 96.80 44.24 64.31 58.37 46.65 135.77 256.37
Commissions for
75.47 0 373.02 170.48 247.81 224.92 179.77 523.16 987.88
Meeting Planner
Other Services 15.96 0 78.87 36.04 52.39 47.55 38.01 110.61 208.86
Subtotal 605.57 0 2,992.93 1,367.84 1,988.29 1,804.66 1,442.39 4,197.63 7,926.31
Participant
Overseas
Registration Fees 2.64 0 54.77 12.36 43.72 1348.57 143.72 798.37 786.52
Accommodation 6.12 0 127.16 28.70 101.50 3038.83 323.86 1799.03 1772.32
Transportation 0.91 0 17.78 3.89 13.75 367.13 39.13 217.35 214.12
Food & Beverage
2.48 0 51.59 11.64 41.18 1028.70 109.63 609.00 599.96
Services
Tour 0.44 0 6.11 2.12 24.45 763.52 81.37 452.02 445.31
Cultural Activities 0.24 0 3.34 1.16 19.00 417.66 44.51 247.26 243.59
Games 0.08 0 1.11 0.39 3.17 139.22 14.84 82.42 81.20
Amusements 0.04 0 0.56 0.19 6.33 69.61 7.42 41.21 40.60
Shopping 3.36 0 69.86 15.77 55.76 966.90 103.05 572.42 563.92
Other Services 1.05 0 21.83 4.93 17.43 479.82 51.14 284.06 279.84
Subtotal 17.36 0 354.11 81.15 326.29 8,619.96 918.67 5,103.14 5,027.38
Domestics
Registration Fees 38.44 0 253.99 47.29 280.39 1465.59 304.37 4272.19 2977.65
Accommodation 49.08 0 324.36 60.39 358.06 1813.23 376.57 5285.54 3683.93
Transportation 10.89 0 71.95 13.40 79.42 379.24 78.76 1105.47 770.50
Food & Beverage 36.20 0 239.25 44.55 264.12 1117.96 232.18 3258.84 2271.36
239
Services
Tour 6.44 0 28.32 8.12 156.83 829.78 172.33 2418.80 1685.86
Cultural Activities 3.52 0 15.49 4.44 121.89 453.90 94.27 1323.11 922.19
Games 1.17 0 5.17 1.48 20.31 151.30 31.42 441.04 307.40
Amusements 0.59 0 2.58 0.74 40.63 75.65 15.71 220.52 153.70
Shopping 16.18 0 106.91 19.91 118.02 513.55 106.65 1497.00 1043.38
Other Services 14.25 0 94.17 17.53 103.95 485.90 100.91 1416.39 987.20
Subtotal 176.76 0 1,142.19 217.85 1,543.62 7,286.1 1,513.17 21,238.9 14,803.17
Total 799.68 0 4,489.25 1,666.84 3,858.21 17,710.72 3,874.22 30,539.67 27,756.86
Sources: KNTO. (1997~2003). Foreign Visitors Survey, Retrieved 10th, January, 2006, from
http://lib.knto.or.kr/.
KNTO. (2005). Foreign Visitors Survey 2004, Retrieved 10th, January, 2006, from
http://www.knto.or.kr/.
KNTO. (1994, 2000, 2004). Economic Impact of Convention Industry. Seoul: KNTO.
Economic Impact
The economic impact of international meeting and convention is estimated using the regional
I/O models already described. The international meeting and convention spending can be viewed as
an injection from outside. After aggregating spending categories into nine injection BMT sectors, the
category of Registration Fee is not included to eliminate double counting within categories of Host
organization spending, the output impact and the employment impact are calculated.
The total output impact on the Daegu economy is close to $ 40.23 million in 2004, $ 43.46
million in 2003, $ 5.66 million in 2002, $ 25.5 million in 2001, $ 5.83 million in 2000, $ 2.53 million
in 1999, $ 6.5 million in 1998, and $ 1.15 million in 1996. Each sector’s output impact is shown in
Table4. As Table 4 shows, 9 sectors were affected by spending, with the sector of Eating and
Drinking Places, and Hotels and Other Lodging Places generating over 35% of the total output impact
for 9 years. And the sector with the most increased output impact is Culture and Recreational Services,
the sector most decreased is Business Services.
Table 4
Output Impact
(In Thousands of Dollars)
Sector 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Eating and Drinking Places, and
Hotels and Other Lodging 410.03 0 2,692.12 906.32 2,422.17 13,533.01 2,597.71 22,467.42 19,200.24
Places
Transportation and
93.78 0 507.86 190.46 659.68 3,753.96 715.22 6,744.73 5,270.20
Warehousing
Wholesale and Retail Trade 27.53 0 269.31 54.88 273.5 2,336.03 334.62 2,810.73 2,547.56
Real Estate Agencies and Rental 69.55 0 359.43 166.75 237.55 215.35 168.72 493.75 938.59
Printing, Publishing and
Reproduction of Recorded 80.66 0 417.58 178.26 262.61 251.34 200.29 597.14 1,152.73
Media
Civil Engineering 59.53 0 300.82 136.75 203.37 187.56 156.12 469.79 890.39
Business Services 355.19 0 1,656.24 783.05 1,053.97 944.14 757.16 2,246.52 4,299.48
Culture and Recreational 8.57 0 46.43 14.6 363.53 2,252.58 354.04 3,991.45 2,979.38
240
Services
Other Services 47.29 0 332.38 99.79 356.53 2,026.15 378.97 3,646.25 2,959.98
Total 1,152.12 0 6,582.18 2,530.85 5,832.91 25,500.12 5,662.85 43,467.79 40,238.54
The total employment impact on Daegu economy is estimated at over 638 employments in
2004, 753 employments in 2003, 83 employments in 2002, 351 employments in 2001, 72
employments in 2000, 25 employments in 1999, 71 employments in 1998, and employments jobs in
1996. Each sector’s output impact is shown in Table5. As Table 5 shows, 9 sectors were affected by
spending, with the sector of Eating and Drinking Places, and Hotels and Other Lodging Places
generating over 24% of the total output impact for 9 years. And the sector with the most increased
employment impact is Culture and Recreational Services, the sector most decreased is Real Estate
Agencies and Rental.
Table 5
Employment Impact
(In one person per one million dollars)
Sector 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Eating and Drinking Places, and
3.23 0 21.6 7.27 35.04 195.8 37.58 325 277.74
Hotels and Other Lodging Places
Transportation and Warehousing 1.57 0 8.04 2.34 7.29 41.47 7.9 74.51 61.56
Wholesale and Retail Trade 0.52 0 4.25 0.87 4.58 39.14 5.61 54.72 42.68
Real Estate Agencies and Rental 0.28 0 1.17 0.54 0.52 0.47 0.37 1.09 2.06
Printing, Publishing and
1.52 0 3.58 1.53 2.87 2.75 2.19 6.52 12.59
Reproduction of Recorded Media
Civil Engineering 1.08 0 4.49 2.04 1.89 1.74 1.45 4.36 8.27
Business Services 4.13 0 17.84 8.06 9.43 8.45 6.78 20.11 38.48
Culture and Recreational Services 0.12 0 0.44 0.14 3.96 24.51 3.85 43.43 32.42
Other Services 1.91 0 10.59 3.18 6.5 36.94 17.97 223.3 162.85
Total 14.4 0 71.99 25.97 72.08 351.2 83.7 753 638.66
Contribution to the NRCE
For comparing NRCE before and after the launch of the convention marketing organization,
the 10 year period, from 1996 to 2004, is divided into two periods that are based on two base years.
To estimate NRCE, Shift Share Analysis is done within 9 industry sectors based on BMT, already
described, as shown in Table 6.
The total NRCE in Period A is -15,713 employments, the total NRCE in Period B is 18,864
employments. The former figure means that 15,713 employments have not been created; the latter
figure means that 18,864 employments have been created in Period B. The reason is that the negative
NRCE means that the share of local employment growth attributed by the national economy growth is
unfavorable, or regional industries are less competitive than national industries , or less favorable mix
of industries than nation as a whole in sectors as shown in Table 6. Therefore, the comparison of each
sector that has the positive NRCE with employment impact is done in this research.
241
Table 6
9 BMT Sectors’ Net Relative Change Effect
NRCE RNGC RIMC CC

Sector Period A Period B Period A PeriodB Period A Period B Period A Period B
1996-2000 2001-2004 1996-2000 2001-2004 1996-2000 2001-2004 1996-2000 2001-2004
Eating and Drinking 10,985.09 -1,999.01 -3,673.22 101.46152
Places, and Hotels and 5,283.00 2,272.00 -2,028.90 4,169.55
Other Lodging Places 0.155581* -0.02409* -0.05202** 0.001223**
Transportation and 1,564.44 -1,170.22 2,288.94 -2,718.60

2,772 -1677 -1,081.40 2,211.83
Warehousing 0.041571 *
-0.02659 *
0.060822 **
-0.06177**
Wholesale and 6,584.19 -6,818.68 -12,638.11 -2,050.62

-10,195 -1,946.00 -4,141.10 6,923.30
Retail Trade 0.045687* -0.0495* -0.08769** -0.01488**
Real Estate 2,232.92 2,621.31 -1,716.65 -2381.62

32 1,149.00 -484.27 909.31
Agencies and Rental 0.132494* 0.14488* -0.10186** -0.13163**
Printing, Publishing -296.5009 -545.819 -1,241.96 257.49775
and Reproduction of -1,709 -40 -170.54 248.3215 * * **
Recorded Media -0.04996 -0.11047 -0.20926 0.052114**
-6,926.52 1,657.85 -3,632.02 2,921.63
Civil Engineering -11,419 5,571.00 -860.46 991.53
-0.23131* 0.084031* -0.12129** 0.148087**
3,828.43 6,991.78 -4,746.97 3,118.14
Business Services -1,558 11,317.00 -639.46 1,207.08
0.172033* 0.291106* -0.21330** 0.129825**
Culture and 3,861.09 1,560.66 586.71669 -1,040.08
Recreational 4,095 1,385.00 -352.8 864.43 * *
Services 0.314472 0.090736 0.047786** -0.06047**
1,505.75 -57.6819 -3,336.92 -1,130.22
Other Services -3,014 833.00 -1,182.80 2,020.90
0.036579* -0.00143* -0.08106** -0.02810**
23,338.87 2,240.19 -28,110.18 -2,922.42
Total -15,713 18,864 -10,942 19,546.23
0.617151* 0.398668* -0.75789** 0.034383**
Sources: Korea National Statistical Office (1993 ~ 2004), No. of establishments & workers by
province & industry, census on basic characteristics of establishments, Business enterprise, Retrieved
10th, January, 2006, from http://www.stat.go.kr/.
* Industry Mix Differential
** Competitiveness Differential
As Table 5 shows, the employment impact in Period A shares 0.38% of 4 sectors’ NRCE. In
the Period A, the sector of Eating and Drinking Places, and Hotels and Other Lodging Places shares
0.66 % of its NRCE, the sector of Transportation and Warehousing shares 0.22%, the sector of Real
Estate Agencies and Rental shares 1.62%, and the sector of Culture and Recreational Services shares
0.09%.
The employment impact of Period B shares 4.76% of 5 sectors’ NRCE. In period B, the
sector of Eating and Drinking Places, and Hotels and Other Lodging Places shares 36.79 % of its
NRCE, the sector of Real Estate Agencies and Rental shares 0.34 %, the sector of Civil Engineering
shares 0.28%, the sector of Business Services shares 0.65%, and the sector of Culture and
Recreational Services shares 7.52%.
242
The change of each sector’s share coincides with that of each sector’s share of the economic
impact for 10 years. The sector of Other Services, in spite of the positive NRCE, is not included
within sectors affected by the employment impact. The reason is that the sector of Other Services has
been significantly affected by the negative competitiveness and the unfavorable industry mix (see
Table 5).
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
For measuring the change of economic contributions before and after the launch of the
convention marketing organization, two analyses on the economic contribution are conducted. The
estimation of the economic impact is done firstly; the economic impact’s share of NRCE is measured
secondly.
Before the establishment of convention marketing organizations, the total output impact has
shown a change full of ups and downs over 5 years. But after the establishment, the annual increase
rate of the total output impact is close to 177%, and the annual increase rate of the total employment
impact is close to 197%. The significant annual increase rate is the result of organization’s activities
to attract the international meetings and conventions.
In the direct contribution of the economic impact, the sector of Eating and Drinking Places,
and Hotels and Other Lodging Places receives the most favor from the convention marketing
organization, the second beneficiary is the sector of Other Services, the third beneficiary is the sector
of Transportation and Warehousing Whole sale, the fourth beneficiary is the sector of Culture and
Recreational Services, and the fifth beneficiary is the sector of Business Services.
In the contribution to the net growth, the most beneficiary is also the sector of Eating and
Drinking Places, and Hotels and Other Lodging Places, the second beneficiary is the sector of Culture
and Recreational Services, the third beneficiary is the sector of Business Services, the fourth
beneficiary is the sector of Real Estate Agencies and Rental, and the fifth beneficiary is the sector of
Civil Engineering.
The activities of the convention marketing organization are analyzed to increase the net
growth of 5 sectors; Eating and Drinking Places, and Hotels and Other Lodging Places, Real Estate
Agencies and Rental, Civil Engineering, Business Services, Culture and Recreational Services. The
reasons that only 5 of 9 sectors is favorably affected in each net growth are four; the scale of
economic impact, the positive regional industry growth attributed by the national economy growth,
the favorable mix of regional industries, and the competitiveness of regional industries rather than
national industries. And 4 sectors are shown to be attributed by the negative national economy growth,
or unfavorable mix of regional industries, or competitiveness less than national industries rather than
the scale of economic impact. With the betterment of 9 sectors’ industry mix and competitiveness, the
economic contribution of the convention marketing organization can be increased. The betterment of
9 sectors’ industry mix and competitiveness can be affected by the fulfillment of the function and the
role of the convention marketing organization.
The information illuminated above shows that the role of CVB as a coordinator of industry
and contributor to regional economy is important.
REFERENCES
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IA:Kendall/Hunt Publishing.
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industry, Census on basic characteristics of establishments, Business enterprise, [Online] Retrieved
January 10, 2006, from http://www.stat.go.kr/
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January 10, 2006, from http://www.knto.or.kr/.
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January 10, 2006, from http:// http://lib.knto.or.kr/.
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Seoul: KNTO.
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Retrieved December 10, 2005, from http:// faculty.washington.edu/krumme/systems/ioquations.html
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John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Impacts of MICE. International Journal of Tourism Research, 1, 441-457.
Morrison, A., Bruen, S., & Anderson, D. (1998). Convention and visitor bureaus in the U.S.A.: a
profile of bureaus, bureaus executives, and budgets, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing. 7(1),
1-19.
Park, C. (1998). A Study on the Convention Industry Promotion Policy. Unpublished Doctoral
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244
ecos.bok.or.kr.
ecos.bok.or.kr.
245
THE EFFECT OF TEMPORAL DISTANCE BETWEEN PURCHASE AND CONSUMPTION ON
PURCHASE INTENTION
Eunjoo Yoon
Department of Convention and Event Management
Hallym Institute of Advanced International Studies
ABSTRACT
Consumers buy a product and consume it instantly, or sometimes they buy it but consume it
with temporal distance. If there is a temporal distance, however, the purchase intention can be
influenced by time discounting utility. This study examines how the temporal distance between
purchase and consumption can influence a consumer behavior and his / her purchase intentions and,
if there is a difference, what condition can make this result easy. The result shows that the purchase
intention is relatively discounted more in the utilitarian goal than in the hedonic goal at the point of
2 months prior to the product consumption. Also compared with the case of hedonic attributes price
discount, the purchase intention is discounted more in utilitarian attributes price discount in 2
months before its consumption.
Key Words: temporal distance, hedonic product, utilitarian product
I. INTRODUCTION
Sometimes consumers buy a product which has temporal distance between purchase and
consumption. Even though the delivery service has become a usual process through on-line purchase
in these days, there has been a product which has a temporal distance. This study examines how the
temporal distance between purchase and consumption can influence consumer behaviors and his / her
purchase intentions and, if there is a difference, what condition can make this result easy. Purchase
motivation and price discount could be the moderating factor for purchase intention when there is a
temporal distance. According to the study of Kivetz & Simonson (2002a, 2002b), consumers showed
that they prefer utilitarian products than hedonic products to keep justice of purchase because
consumers could feel guilty when they bought hedonic products. But this study tries to verify that
hedonic products can be preferred to utilitarian products when there is a temporal distance between
purchase and consumption.
The author used conference and vacation package products for the study. Lots of previous
studies about these areas have been conducted, but no research papers dealing with timing issues
could be found. The purpose of this study is to find out the positioning strategy for a conference and
vacation package sales.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
One stream of research suggests that a delay might reduce the enjoyment of the product once
it is consumed. This research focuses on the increased anxiety and stress that can result from a wait
(e.g., Osuna 1985) asserting that this stress can lower a consumer evaluation of consumption
experience (e.g., Houston, Bettencourt, and Wenger 1998). However, another stream of research
suggests that a delay might increase consumption enjoyment due to the positive effects of anticipating
a pleasant experience (e.g., Caplin and Leahy 2001; Lowewnstein 1987).
2.1 Time Discounting Theory
Several lines of previous researches suggest that a temporal distance will have negative
consequences on consumption enjoyment. Discounted Utility Theory assumes a positive discount
rate; that is, people prefer things sooner rather than later (e.g., Loewnstein and Prelec 1992). As a
result, it can be argued that consumers will not enjoy a product much if they must wait for it.
246
Time plays a critical role in almost all decisions. Economic theory provides a simple and
well-known rule for handling the temporal aspect of decisions. The rule says that each course of
action computes the present value of the consequences, using a personal discount rate, and then
chooses the action that has the highest present value.
A central assumption of the discounting utility model is that all of the disparate motives
underlying inter-temporal choice can be condensed into a single parameter - the discount rate.
Discounting utility model is based on that the general value or global utility is equal with the sum of
the discounting utility value in each sequence. With the positive discount rate, people prefer having
products sooner than later (e.g., Loewenstein and Prelec 1992). The value of decision making is
lessened according to the temporal distance.
A considerable amount of research suggests that individuals often place higher value on a
near-future reward than on a distant-future reward, even when the distant-future reward is larger.
Moreover, time discounting has shown to follow a hyperbolic function; that is, as the temporal
distance of an outcome increases, the decline in the value of the outcome is initially steep and then
becomes more moderate. However, marked variations are found in the rate of time discounting and
even reversals of time discounting.
A research (e.g., Loewenstein and Prelec 1993) supports the notion that sometimes people
prefer to anticipate and saver enjoyable outcomes while improving sequences where they can wait for
the best outcome. Thus, a delay between choice and consumption might increase consumption
enjoyment for pleasurable experiences.
2.2 Rosy View
Vacations, trips, casual outings with friends and family, holidays, and academic break periods
are usually positively anticipated and are a major part of our lives and social institutions. The cost of
such events is commonly measured in dollars. The return is measured almost exclusively by
fulfillment, personal reward, and the creation of memories. Generally the evaluation on these kinds of
events depends upon when we evaluate events (Mitchell et al. 1997). Mitchell et al.(1997) divided
these evaluation timings in anticipatory, immediate, and retrospective stage. They found that people's
anticipation and recollection of these events were more positive than their actual experience during
the event. People tend to represent rosy prospects on the hedonic products which are not experienced
yet. The first reason for this psychological status is that people construct narratives to anticipate,
understand and reflect on their personal experiences (Baumeister and Newman 1994). These
narratives contain affective information and evaluations, and changes in these evaluations can be
revealed in a variety of ways and for a variety of cases.
Second, these changes represent some systematic psychological processes. Conceptualizing

the evaluation of events in terms of their underlying constituents or aspects suggests four ways that a
rosy view may occur. First, we may rely more heavily on some aspects of an event than on others to
determine our evaluations (Klaaren, Hodges and Wilson 1994). For example, before a vacation, we
might regard the scenery as something very important; however, during the vacation, the comfort of
travel amenities may be more important. Second, we may rewrite our stories by changing our
evaluation of particular aspects of the event. During the vacation, the food may be rated as mediocre;
our memory, however, may be that the food was very good. Third, we may selectively choose aspects
of the event to focus on, depending upon whether our perspective is before, during, or after the event.
Before a vacation, the scenery, culture, and food may be considered as key aspects; during the
vacation, our traveling companions and weather may become central dimensions. That is, over time,
the set of aspects we consider may change. Finally, just as we may selectively sample actual aspects
of the experience in our anticipations or recollections, we may anticipate aspects that fail to
materialize or create aspects in retrospect. When people anticipate or reconstruct aspects that were in
fact not present at the time of the event, their overall evaluation of the event may be more positive.
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2.3 Savoring
Lowenstein(1988) argues that people utilize a process of "savoring" as desired. According to

the study of Loewenstein and Prelec(1993), if the decision makers are interested in sequential aspects
of decision making frame, a negative time discounting appears, and if they interested in individual
components of choice, a positive time discounting appears.
People, though they deflate the value of the future result, have a tendency to delay a pleasing
result while experiencing a negative result. In particular, such savoring and being dread make the
prediction on a single result certain as well as the prediction on consecutive result.
In the hypothesis of anticipated satisfaction, a decision-maker “can imagine a possibility.”

Such a process of thoughts accompanies a kind of forward-looking counterfactual thinking. Here,
such a thought means “It should be done so and so…” as a countermeasure for the accidents (or any
results). In many cases, accidents formerly happened are expressed in the form of “a conditional
clause composed of two parts (goal achievement/ failure). A decision-maker generates a substitute for
the response to the predetermined satisfaction.
Like the result of the Rosy View previously mentioned, decision-makers, as for the pleasure
elements, enjoy saving the results until they are generated, Hence, they would show the reduction in
change of buying intention though the time distance between buying time and utility time gets far
over the practical elements,
2.4 Buying Motivation
Consumer choices are driven by utilitarian and hedonic considerations. Hedonic goods are the
ones whose consumption is primarily characterized by an affective and sensory experience of
aesthetic or sensual pleasure, fantasy, and fun (Hirschman and Holbrook 1982).
Utilitarian goods are the ones whose consumption is more cognitively driven, instrumental,
and goal oriented and accomplishes a functional or practical task (Strahilevitz and Myers 1998).
Similar to these findings, on perceived product characteristics, the recent work by Bazerman,
Tenbrunsel, and Wade-Benzoni(1998) suggests that we can distinguish between affective preferences
("wants") and cognitive or reasoned preferences ("should") that underlie consumer choice.
The wants/should distinction is broadly compatible with the distinction between hedonic and
utilitarian goods - items that are high on hedonic value are likely to be subject to want preferences,
and items that are high on utilitarian value likely to be subject to should preferences.
Previous researches showed that utilitarian products were preferred to hedonic products
(Sharfir, Simonson, and Tversky 1993). There are two reasons: People try to construct reasons for
justification (Shafir, Simonson, and Tversky 1993); and it is easier to construct excuses for utilitarian
consumption than for hedonic consumption. Hedonic goods deliver benefits primarily in the form of
experiential enjoyment, which may be more difficult to evaluate and qualify than the practical,
functional benefits that utilitarian goods deliver. Because justifiable options are easier for people to
choose (Hsee 1995; Simonson 1989), it should be easier for people to consume hedonic goods when
the situation facilitates the justification.
Both hedonic and utilitarian goods offer benefit to the consumers, the former primarily in the
form of experiential enjoyment and the latter in practical functionality (Batra and Ahtola 1990;
Hirschmand and Holbrook 1982; Mano and Oliver 1993). Because of the difference, there is a sense
of guilt associated with hedonic consumption (Kivetz and Simonson 2002a, b; Strahilevitz and Myers
1998). In part because of this guilt, it is more difficult to justify spending on hedonic goods and easier
to justify spending on utilitarian goods (Prelec and Loewenstein 1998). Intuitively, guilt and
justification are interrelated concepts, not competing theories for explaining the choice of utilitarian
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over hedonic goods. A sense of guilt may arise in anticipation or as a result of making an unjustifiable
choice. An alternative may seem unjustifiable if there is a sense of guilt associated with it.
Consumers pass through different decision making processes due to difference in utilitarian or
hedonic aspects (Batra and Ahtola, 1990 ; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Park et al., 1986). Hedonic
attributes are more sensory and imagery-evoking (MacInnis and Price 1987), and hence, the relative
attractiveness of an item that is superior on the hedonic dimension should thus be enhanced. One
variable that arouses visceral factors is the vividness of a stimulus. A vivid stimulus is one that is
physically or temporally proximate or one that is emotionally appealing (Nisbetta and Ross 1980). For
example, a consumer might be reminded of the product during the wait by seeing someone else using
it, seeing a picture of it, or seeing the actual product in a store. Vividness enhances an individual's
ability to visualize a future outcome (e.g., Shiv and Huber 2000).
III. HYPOTHESIS
According to behavioral economics, the value of a product is lessened with a time distance.
As the size of time distance between purchase and consumption gets bigger, the value of product is
lessened. This research interests in how the buying intention can be influenced by temporal distance.
The hypothesis 1 is established to re-verify the prior research result.
H 1: The buying intention of the product is higher when it has a closer temporal distance between
purchase and consumption than the vise versa.
The hypothesis 1 verifies discounting utility theory, but the value may change with a given
circumstance. Prior research showed that sometimes people savor the pleasure of delay, but
sometimes they prefer doing something as soon as possible because of dread.
More over, the imaginability is more salient in hedonic products than in utilitarian products.
Therefore, the value prospect is more salient in hedonic products. It makes people prospect the result
with a rosy view. In the case of hedonic motivation, the discount rate is relatively lower than in
utilitarian motivation because of such a rosy view.
The discounting utility of the utilitarian motivation is lessened with the time distance. The
discounting utility of the hedonic motivation is relatively lower than that of the utilitarian motivation.
The imaginability can be related with vividness, and vividness is the one of attributes that can cause
emotional changes (Nisbett and Ross 1980). Also the characteristics of a hedonic product is that it is
easy to imagine and sensory (MacInnis & Price 1987). Based on these results, if the savoring and
being dread are applied to the hedonic and utilitarian motivation, hedonic products have more
savoring aspects whereas utilitarian products are more functional and limited to savor.
In the case of the hedonic motivation, consumers can savor the time distance between
purchase and consumption, and there may be no difference in buying intention. On the other hand, in
the case of the utilitarian motivation, because there are limited savoring attributes and it has strong
"should" aspects, consumers feel like doing it sooner. Also in the utilitarian case, like the discounting
utility theory, the buying intention will be lessened with the time distance. The utilitarian products are
difficult to imagine the result and the discount rate is high.
As the Rosy View Theory asserts, before experiencing an activity, a consumer evaluates the
result of hedonic products with a rosy view. The anticipation level is very high. Therefore there is no
change in buying intention.
According to Prelec and Loewenstein (1997), most people want to buy vacation traveling
products in advance even if it is no price discounting. The main reason for paying money in advance
is the wish to protect vacation experiences from ideas by expense payment. Hypothesis 2 is
established to verify the interaction effect of time distance and buying motivation.
H 2: The buying intention with the temporal distance will be more lessened when the buying
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motivation is utilitarian than hedonic.
Like the utilitarian / hedonic motivation, the product attributes are divided into utilitarian and
hedonic. Especially in this research, the author uses package products and divides the product
attributes into utilitarian and hedonic. In the package products, if there is a price discounting,
consumers' interest is concentrated on the attributes and the discounting utility appears. In this case,
the discounting utility is lessened when utilitarian attributes are discounted as temporal distance is far.
However if the hedonic attributes are discounted, consumer awareness on discounting utility will be
lower than when utilitarian attributes are discounted.
Moreover, consumers are more sensitive to the price discount of hedonic attributes than that
of utilitarian attributes due to the possibility that the price discount of utilitarian attributes can change
service level is lower than the possibility of the hedonic attributes' price discount. The hedonic
attributes are related to fun and experience, which are intangible services. It is very sensitive on price.
That is, the hedonic attributes are easy to imagine and have strong relationship with price.
In contrast, the utilitarian attributes are difficult to imagine. When it is hard to recognize the
definite quality of services or when the quality or price changes very extremely depending on
circumstances, prices display the quality of services. Price acts as a very materialistic search attribute
to service product consumers and estimates the quality of service. When we present same products to
consumers, consumers do more purchases the high priced goods (Gabor and Granger 1966; McConne
1968; Olson 1980; Rust and Oliver 1994).
H 3: The lessened buying intention with the temporal distance will be greater when attributes' price
discount is utilitarian than is hedonic.
IV. METHOD OVERVIEW
4.1 Experimental Design
The author conducted a 2(short temporal distance / long temporal distance) × 2(utilitarian
motivation / hedonic motivation) × 2(utilitarian attribute discount / hedonic attribute discount)
between-subjects design.
The author also conducted a 2(closer / far) × 2(utilitarian motivation / hedonic motivation) ×
2(utilitarian attribute discount / hedonic attribute discount) between-subjects design. A 2 ×2 ×2
ANOVA was employed for testing the hypothesis. Participants were 304 graduate students who
completed a scenario survey. Participants selected were those who already knew about international
conferences and vacation trips. The vacation and international conference package was used as an
experiment. To control the purchase motivation, the vacation package was used for the hedonic
motivation, and the international conference package was used for the utilitarian motivation. And to
control price discounting attributes, the package elements were divided into hedonic and utilitarian.
Participants received a scenario survey form. The scenario has 8 types. The temporal distance
was manipulated with 15 days ( a short temporal distance) and 2 months ( a long temporal distance).
Also a buying motivation and price discounting attributes were manipulated in each scenario.
Participants were asked to answer the questions to the detailed reading. After the experiment,
participants were received a small gift.
For the price discounting attributes, proceedings, using business center and internet in a hotel,
transportation between the airport and the hotel, free meals, free internet in the hotel room and airport
tax are presented as a utilitarian attributes. Banquets, optional tours, massage services, museum tours
were presented as a hedonic attributes. The dependent variable of this study was consumer's buying
intention. After reading the scenario, participants answered to the following questions. “What is the
possibility that you buy above package?” Responses about the questions were measured by 7 point
scale.
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4. 2 Results
First, the manipulation was checked. <Table 1> shows that respondents who answered the
utilitarian motivation scenario perceived it as a utilitarian motivation (M = 2.35), and respondents
who answered the hedonic motivation scenario perceived it as the hedonic motivation (M = 5.21).
(t(152) = -24.708, p < 0.001 / t(150) = 14.235 p < 0.001).
Also the manipulation of discounting attributes was checked. <Table 2> shows that
respondents who answered the utilitarian attributes’ price discounting scenario perceived those
attributes as utilitarian (M = 2.33). And respondents who answered the scenario which has hedonic
attributes’ price discount perceived those attributes as hedonic (M = 5.17). (t(138) = -6.568, t(164) = -
6.634, p < 0.001)
To verify Hypothesis 1, the temporal distance was manipulated as 15 days and 2 months and
then the buying intention between subjects was compared. The result shows that the buying intention
of the group who answered the close temporal distance scenario is bigger than that of who answered
the far temporal distance scenario. Hypothesis 1 is supported.
According to this result, consumers prefer purchase products when the temporal distance
between purchase and consumption is short. This has an implication on the conference marketing
strategy. Generally conference registrations do have a pre-registration system. But attendees may not
plan to attend a conference that early. They may make a decision to attend a conference when the
conference date is near. If the pre-registration period is far from the conference date, the attending
intention may be lessened.
There is an interaction effect between temporal distance and buying motivation. The main
effect appears in buying intention along the changes with temporal distance, while the main effect of
buying motivation does not. In case of a utilitarian motivation, buying intention was lessened but in
case of hedonic motivation, there is no change in buying intention. The hypothesis 2 was supported.
If hypothesis 1 verified a general common sense, the author wished to find exceptions in
hypothesis 2. Hypothesis 2 considering interaction effects of the temporal distance and buying
motivation asserts that, in case of a utilitarian motivation, the buying intention is bigger in near
temporal distance than in far temporal distance and that, in case of a hedonic motivation, there is no
change in the buying intention. It showed an interaction effect and the hypothesis 2 was supported.
Thus the buying intention is bigger when the temporal distance is near. On the other hand, if the
temporal distance is far, making a decision to attend in 2 months prior to the conference seems
unrealistic and irrational.
In case of the hedonic motivation, there is no difference in buying intention with the temporal
distance between purchase and consumption. It can be interpreted as follows: the buying intention of
hedonic products is not affected by the temporal distance between purchase and consumption. The
rationale for such an interpretation seems that consumers savor the pleasure and hedonic experience
and that they anticipate the result with a rosy view.
Even when the temporal distance between purchase and consumption is far, the buying
intention of hedonic products is bigger than that of utilitarian products. This result may contradict
against previous research, that is, the guilt feeling of hedonic consumption. The products having a
temporal distance between purchase and consumption are better in positioning themselves when they
are hedonic rather than utilitarian. If the products are proportioned with strong hedonic aspects, the
sales can grow.
When products are sold in advance, for example, by receiving preliminary reservation before
new products are launched, probability of their being sold is higher when they emphasize the hedonic
aspects than when they do the utilitarian aspects. There is a significant difference in buying intention
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of utilitarian products unlike hedonic products. While the main effect of temporal distance is
significant, that of buying motivation is not. The buying intention of utilitarian motivation is lessened
with temporal distance.
The hypothesis 3 was supported with significance (0.003). Like the hypothesis 2, there is no
change in buying intention in hedonic attributes’ price discounting, and the buying intention of
utilitarian attributes’ price discounting was lessened. Also the main effect of price discounting
attribute was verified.
Table 1
Interaction Effects among Temporal Distance, Buying Motivation and Price Discounting
Tests of Between-Subjects Effects
Dependent Variable: 구매의도

Type III Sum
Source of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Corrected Model 55.386a 7 7.912 3.694 .001
Intercept 4717.911 1 4717.911 2202.510 .000
ATTRIBUT 14.456 1 14.456 6.748 .010
PRODUCT 1.258E-03 1 1.258E-03 .001 .981
DATE 18.078 1 18.078 8.440 .004
ATTRIBUT * PRODUCT 1.138 1 1.138 .531 .467
ATTRIBUT * DATE 18.631 1 18.631 8.698 .003
PRODUCT * DATE 8.501 1 8.501 3.968 .047
ATTRIBUT * PRODUCT
.741 1 .741 .346 .557
* DATE
Error 629.766 294 2.142
Total 5390.000 302
Corrected Total 685.152 301
a. R Squared = .081 (Adjusted R Squared = .059)
Figure 1
Average of Buying Intention (H 1)
Estimated Marginal Means of purchase inte

4.3
4.2
Estimated Marginal Means
4.1
4.0
3.9
3.8
3.7
15days 2months
temporal distance
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Figure 2
Average of Buying Intention (H 2, H3)
Estimated Marginal Means of purchase inte Estimated Marginal Means of pruchase inte
4.6 4.8
4.4 4.6

4.2 4.4
4.0 4.2
3.8 4.0
motivation discounting attribut
3.6 utilitarian 3.8 utilitarian attri.
3.4 hedonic 3.6 hedonic attri.

15days 2months 15days 2months
temporal distance temporal distance
In case of international conference products, consumers prefer the price discount on utilitarian
attributes such as proceedings, business center usage and free internet. Also in international vacation
trips, consumers prefer the price discount on transportation between the airport and the hotel, meals,
internet connection at the room, and tax payment. The buying intention with such price discount is
bigger in near temporal distance than in far. There is almost no difference in quality when the
utilitarian attributes’ price discount is offered, but in service products, due to the intangibility of
service products by nature, consumers evaluate the products by price before they experience the
products. <Table 1> shows the interaction effects among temporal distance, buying motivation and
price discounting.
When the temporal distance is short, the buying intention of hedonic attributes’ price discount
is smaller than that of utilitarian attributes’. Because there is no difference in buying intention of
hedonic attributes’ price discount, it is difficult for the price discounting attributes to affect to the
buying intention. As shown in <Figure 2>, the result of hypothesis 3 has a consistency with the result
of hypothesis 2.
V. GENERAL DISCUSSION
5.1 Summary
This study examines how the temporal distance between purchase and consumption can
influence consumer behaviors and his / her purchase intentions and, if there is a difference, what
condition can make this result easy. The result shows that the purchase intention is relatively
discounted more in the utilitarian goal than in the hedonic goal at the point of 2 months prior to the
product consumption. That is, there exists a main effect of temporal distance. Also compared with the
case of hedonic attributes price discount, the purchase intention is discounted more in utilitarian
attributes price discount 2 months before its consumption. There is a two-way interaction effect
between temporal distance and buying motivation. It shows that the buying motivation does a
moderating role with temporal distance. In case of the utilitarian motivation, the buying intention is
bigger in near temporal distance than in far temporal distance. In case of the hedonic motivation, there
is no difference in buying intention in temporal distance. However, with the two-way interaction
effect, the buying intention of hedonic products is bigger than that of utilitarian products when the
temporal distance is far.
In addition, there is an interaction effect between the temporal distance and price discounting
attributes. It means that the price discounting attributes do the moderating role in temporal distance. In
both cases of conference products and vacation products, if the utilitarian attributes’ price discounting
exists, the buying intention is bigger in near temporal distance than in far temporal distance. However,
if there is hedonic attributes’ price discount, there is no difference in buying intention. There exists
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the main effect of utilitarian attributes’ price discount. Thus when products are sold with the temporal
distance, it is better to discount utilitarian attributes.
5.2 Implication
There have been increasing numbers of temporal distance studies in the recent marketing
researches. Previous researches related to temporal distance are about the delivery service or on-line
shopping and delivery. This research showed that the effect of temporal distance on buying intention
exists in conference and vacation package products.
Research activities on the conference package products have been somewhat limited, even
though such products make great economic and socio-cultural contributions. This study presents
marketing strategies to promote the purchase rate in terms of temporal distance and purchase
motivation. The author examines the change of buying intention in certain circumstances such as
different buying motivations or price discounting attributes.
The result can be expanded to the destination positioning strategy. Like conference products,
a destination is sold with temporal distance. According to the result of this study, a destination can
position their status in hedonic aspects better. Because the venues are mostly selected prior to the
conference opening, a hedonic aspect is easy to imagine and arouse the positive situation.
According to the result of hypothesis 1, people don’t prefer buying something before its
consumption. Because most of conference package programs have to be sold prior to the conference
opening, if the pre-registration period is too far from the conference date, the host would provide
more benefits and price discounts better. They need to promote attendees by using a differentiated
promotion tool.
Finally, when the temporal distance between purchase and consumption is near, it is better to
discount utilitarian attributes rather than hedonic attributes. Therefore, when a company develops the
price strategy, this result can be used.
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THE EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAINING NEEDS AND
TRAINING OUTCOMES – IN THE CASE OF HR PROFESSIONALS FOR TOURISM AND
HIGH TECH INDUSTRY IN TAIWAN
Shu-Hsiao Tsen
and
Tun-Jen Yang
ABSTRACT
This is an ongoing study. There are 50 samples collected until now. The samples include the
benchmarking firms from the tourism and high tech industries in Taiwan. The purpose of this study
was to explore the relationship between the training needs and training Outcomes. Demographic
changes may present significant problems for training activities in the next years. Compounding the
problems, experts predict, the coming workforce will be unprepared for the knowledge and
technology jobs that will dominate the organizational competitive capabilities and operational
performance in the future. These and other changes and the makeup of the workforce have
implications for HR and training managers. The organization need to determine the extent on which
they will affect its business and what should be offered for the needed training programs and
succession planning.
Key Words: raining evaluation, learning motivation, HR professionals, Tourism Industry.
INTRODUCTION
In the age of 21st century knowledge economics, ‘Human Resources is becoming an

important strategic investment for enterprise management. Pfeffer(1994)asserted that employees’
development programs are the key factor to success in today’s global economy. The HR professional
plays a vital role on maximizing the employees’ expertise, as well as enhancing organizational
performance to fulfill business strategies. And the tourism industry is a service-based industry; the
operational performance all depends on the interaction between customers and staffs, the feedback
resulting from all procedure when they experience the whole service coming from the qualified
human resource. In the other hand, HR is often seen as a cost center and hard-earned revenue. After
all, for most reason, HR doesn't actually produce or sell goods and services. If in this kind of thinking
overlooks the crucial role HR professionals’ play contributing to operational performance, which is a
key driver to business profits.
As all research reveal that qualified HR professionals successfully will act as a starting gear to
innovate new products and services and could gain competitive advantages that boost the bottom line.
To spur innovation for whole organization, businesses also require skilled HR professionals who can
implementation the HR function and achieve the responsibility loading.
The anticipant results would indicate the pivotal elements account for HR competency and will
further show the linkage with the needs for T&D. In short: the research will deliver a set of clear
concepts for HR performance and the role of HR in their organization; illustrating the real needs for
HR professional training programs.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING
Noe (1986) asserted that the motivation to learn is defined as the trainee’s desire to learn the
content of training and development activities. With regard to training, motivation acts at the force
that energizes or creates enthusiasm for the program (energizer), is a stimulus that guides and directs
learning and content mastery (director) and influences and promotes the application of newly acquired
skills and knowledge (maintenance). In the other hand, trainees who are motivated to do well in
training are more likely to learn the content or the principles of a training program than are less
motivated participants (Smith-Jentsch et al.,1996).
EVALUATION FOR TRAINING
“Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model for training results” is the most dominant evaluation method
for training results in the academic and business field. This study will be carried out based on
Kirkpatrick’s models. That can be briefly stated as follows (Kirkpatrick, 1996, 2004):
Level 1: Reaction. To determine how the trainees fell about the program. This is a measure of how
participants feel about the various aspects of a training program, including the topic, speaker,
schedule, and so forth.
Level 2: Learning. To determine how much the trainees learn in the form of increased knowledge and
understanding. This is a measure of the knowledge acquired, skills improved, or attitudes
changed due to training.
Level 3: Behavior. To measure of the extent to which participants change their on-job behavior
because of training. It’s commonly referred to as transfer of training.
Level 4: Results. This is a measure of the final results that occur due to training, including increased
sales, higher productivity, bigger profits, reduced costs, less employee turnover, and
improved quality.
HR PROFESSIONALS AND HR VALUE
The HR value proposition grounds HR and has five elements that from an integrated HR
blueprint. Figure 2-4-1 shows the framework, with each element represent: external realities,
stakeholders, HR practices, HR resources, and HR professionals.
1. External business realities: HR professionals should be able to cogently discuss these external
realities—the technology, regulatory and economic factors, and demographics of the global
business environment—and connect them to their day-to day work.
2. Stakeholders: Value is defined by the receivers of HR, including the investors, customers, line
managers, and employee; more than by the givers. HR is successful if and when its stakeholders
perceive that it produces value.
3. HR practices: Four domains of HR practices: people, performance management, information, and
work. Traditional HR practices of staffing, training and development, as well as appraisal,
rewards, and feedback. We offer a compendium of choice for how these practices can be designed
and delivered to add value for each of the key HR stakeholders.
4. HR resources: The HR function must create strategies and organize resources so that individual
efforts of HR professionals combine to create value.
5. HR professionalism: HR professionals deliver value through the roles they play and the
competencies they demonstrate.
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Knowing external business
realities (technology,
economics, globalization,
demographics)
Ensuring HR Serving external and

professionalism (HR internal stakeholders
roles, competencies, and (customers, investors,
development) HR value managers, and employees)
proposition
Building HR resources (HR Crafting HR practices (people,

strategy and organization) performance, information, and work)
Figure 2-4-1
The HR value proposition
Source：adapted from Ulrich and Brockbank (2005：10)
Future/strategic focus
Management of Management of
strategic HR transformation
and change
Processes People
Management of firm Management of
infrastructure employee contribution
Day-to-day/operational focus
Figure 2-4-2
HR roles in building a competitive organization
Source：adapted from Ulrich (1997：24)
A MULTIPLE-ROLE FOR HRM
To create value and deliver results, HR professionals must begin not by focusing on the
activities or work of HR but by defining the deliverables of that work. Deliverables guarantee
outcomes of HR work. With deliverables defined, the roles and activities of business partners may be
stipulated (Ulrich, 1997).The framework in Figure 2-4-2 describes in terms of deliverables four key
roles that HR professionals must fulfill to make their business partnership a reality (Ulrich, 1997).The
four principal HR roles: (1) management of strategic human resources; (2) management of firm
infrastructure; (3) management of employee contribution; (4) Management of transformation and
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change. Table 2-4-1 summarizes these issues for each of the roles identified in Figure2- 4-2 (Ulrich,
1997).
Table 2-4-1
Definition of HR roles
Role/cell Deliverable/outcome Metaphor Activity

Management of Executing strategy Strategic partner Aligning HR and business strategic:
strategic HR ‘organization diagnosis’
Management of firm Building an efficient Administrative Reengineering organization
infrastructure infrastructure expert processes: ‘shared services’
Management of Increasing employee Employee Listening and responding and
employee commitment and champion responding to employees:
contribution capability ‘providing resources to employees’
Management of Creating a renewed Change agent Managing transformation and
transformation organization change: ‘ensuring capacity for
and change change’
Source：adapted from Ulrich (1997：25)
LEARNING MOTIVATION & TRAINING EVALUATION
Mathieu and Martineau （ 1997 ） recognized the importance of motivation in training

effectiveness and stated that training programs will be unsuccessful if trainees are not motivated to
transfer information they have learned back to their jobs. ‘Individuals who are motivated to learn
initially (pre-training motivation) are also likely to be motivated to apply the skills they develop
during training once back on the job’. They developed a conceptual framework (illustrated in Figure
2-5-1) depicting the relationship between trainees’ motivation and traditional training criteria. Naquin
and Holton (2003) recognized learning and performance outcome are desired from learning events,
the motivation construct must encompass both motivation to learn and motivation to perform using
that learning. He believes learning motivation can lead HRD researchers to different conclusions
about motivational influence on HRD outcome, and enhancing motivation to improve work through
learning.
259
Training Program Attributes
Individual
Characteristics Work Outcomes
Training Outcome
Post-training
Reaction Motivation
Pre-training
Learning Job Behavior
Motivation
Behavior Utility
Situational
Characteristics
Figure 2-5-1
Conceptual model of training motivation
Source: adapted from Mathieu and Martineau（1997:196）
METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN

SAMPLE
This is an ongoing study. There are 50 samples collected until now. And will examine the
strategic mechanisms of training programs, describes the outcomes of the respective category of
training practices, explains the critical reasons for measuring training outcomes, and proposes a
framework for assessing training programs. Ultimately, organizations would be able to utilize the
information to determine the training programs in which are correlate with better business results;
determine potential category for training investments and modify expanse allocations. The framework
proposed does not merely explain the cost for each training practice, but demonstrates the value of the
training programs in which deserves investment and benefit for creating a competitive advantage. The
samples include the benchmarking firms from the tourism and high tech industries in Taiwan.
Research methodology
The research methodology underpinning the evaluation of training outcomes drew on a

variety of primary and secondary research and utilized quantitative data collection methods. The
research elements included a literature search and review, and will initial and follow-up questionnaire
surveys with the HR professionals from the Taiwan Tourism industry and high tech industry. The
methodology is outlined in greater detail to examine the relationship between the training needs and
outcomes.
QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN
There are two dimensions included in the contents of the questionnaire, and by means of the
Likert 5 scale to measures the relationship between the learning motivation and training results. for
the HR professionals. The grade scale is from 5(very high) to 1(very low) score.
1. the Cronbach’s α for the “learning motivation” is 0.9161.

2. the Cronbach’s α for the “training evaluation” is 0.9598.
260
Table 3-2-1
Question Items for ‘Learning motivation’
Question Item Means
To solve 1. I participated in training program to increase my required skills and 4.30
present job solve job related problems.
needs 2. I participated in training program to increase on the working 4.10
effectiveness.
Cope with 3. I believe that participated in training will provide me a greater job 3.50
future job guarantee.
needs 4. I participated in training to increase the possibility of being promoted. 3.52
5. I participated in training to increase my income in future. 3.48
6. I participated in training in order to enhance my professional career. 4.30
Seek 7. I participated in training to increase my personal competitive edge. 4.10
knowledge 8. I participated in training to satisfy my personal desires for knowledge. 4.30
of interest 9. I participated in training program because I’m interested in the issue 4.10
of training courses.
10. I participated in training because I enjoy myself to gain new 4.22
knowledge and working skills.
11. I participated in training because I have many expectations for my 3.72
Self- job achievement.
promotion 12. I participated in training because of my deeply commitment to my 3.54
job.
13. I participated in training to make up the ability gaps between what I 4.00
need and what I have.
14. I participated in training in order to acquire a certification. 2.80
15. I participated in training to enhance and improve my professional 3.62
authority in the company.
Company 16. I participated in training because our company provides staff with 3.50
designation training program.
17. I participated in training because I am the candidate for the 3.46
succession plan in future organizational development, and I am
assigned to take part in the training program.
18. I was being forced to participate in the training course. 2.22
Networking 19. I participated in training because of the courage of my coworkers 2.62
and friends.
20. I participated in training to enlarge my social network. 3.34
Table 3-2-2
Question Items for ‘Training evaluation’
Level Question Item Means
1. Training course content was meeting with my needs. 3.56
2. Training course content was diversity, and really satisfied what I need. 3.44
3. Teaching style is colorful and lively, and could catch my attention. 3.40
4. The length of training was appropriate. 3.42
Reaction 5. The training material suitable for my needs. 3.56
6. The arrangement of training flow could satisfy my study needs. 3.48
7. Training content can be integrated with practical job applications. 3.68
8. Topics discussed during training were of great importance. 3.78
9. Overall, I was satisfied with the training course. 3.76
10. After participating in training, I have acquired knowledge and skills. 3.72
Learning 11. Knowledge and skills I have learn from the training can be applied to 3.62
my daily working and assignment.
261
12. After participating in training program, I feel a sense of 3.46
accomplishment.
Learning 13. After participating in training program, my ability to communicate 3.34
with others improved.
14. After participating in training program, I have a clear understanding on 3.36
the goal of my career job.
15. After taking training program, I have much more confidence when I 3.46
face the challenges of my job.
16. Generally speaking, I’m satisfied with my learning outcome. 3.52
17. After my training program, I can successfully transfer my training 3.58
outcome to my work.
18. Based on what I have learned from training, I can reduce the 3.42
possibility of making mistakes.
19. Based on what I have learned from training, I can enhance my working 3.68
efficiency on my assignment.
20. My training experience really inspire my enthusiasm on my work and 3.48
Behavior drive me more aggressive to my assignments.
21. Based on what I have learning from training, I get more praises and 3.06
feedbacks from my supervisor when I promote my opinions.
22. My training experience could help me develop the best solution to 3.58
solve problem.
23. My training experience could help me predict the upcoming problem 3.42
and control the outcome.
24. My training experience could help me to audit the outcome meeting 3.36
with the requirement or not.
25. My training experience could help me to interact with my colleagues 3.26
better than before.
26. In the past three years, my training program could help me improve 3.50
my performance. 3.38
27. In the past three years, the plans in my change are all been successfully 3.24
carried out.
28. In the past three years, my training experience can make contribution 3.28
Results to my company’s performance.
29. In the past three years, my training experience can help me to facilitate 3.24
the effective communication between employees and organization.
30. In the past three years, my training experience can help me to facilitate 3.28
the effective communication between employees and managers.
31. Based on my training, I can facilitate all manpower to fulfill the 3.30
assignment and accomplish the organization development.
32. Based on my training, I can propose a suitable solution to meet with 3.34
the transformative on the organization development.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY
The study also was to explore the relationship between the training needs and training
Outcomes. The analysis of training outcomes will distinguish the training needs of the participant
trainees from HR professionals. And to explore the linkage among those factors, which including the
motivation on learning, intention of the learning transferring, and experiences of previous training and
development, then to find the training program how to influence the effect of the outcomes on HR
professionals in T&D activities. Finally this study will present two following subsections: How to
enhance the HR professionals’ current ability, to develop future ability; and to commit the
professional advancement, to demonstrate the criteria of performance loading to facilitate the business
operational profit and performance.
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OUTCOMES FOR ANALYSIS
OUTCOMES FOR ANOVA
1. ANOVA on Position categories to Learning motivation
Table 4-2-1
ANOVA
Sum of Mean
df F Sig.
Squares Square
Between Groups 7.260 1 7.260 9.895 0.003
4. I participated in training to increase
Within Groups 35.220 48 0.734
the possibility of being promoted.
Total 42.480 49
Between Groups 6.046 1 6.046 10.207 0.002
my income in future.
Total 34.480 49
Between Groups 2.278 1 2.278 5.407 0.024
my personal competitive edge.
Total 22.500 49
11. I participated in training because I Between Groups 4.129 1 4.129 7.637 0.008
have many expectations for my Within Groups 25.951 48 0.541
job achievement. Total 30.080 49
12. I participated in training because Between Groups 3.580 1 3.580 4.932 0.031
of my deeply commitment to my Within Groups 34.840 48 0.726
job. Total 38.420 49
19. I participated in training because Between Groups 3.981 1 3.981 5.337 0.025
of the courage of my coworkers Within Groups 35.799 48 0.746
and friends. Total 39.780 49
2. ANOVA on the Industry categories to Learning motivation
Table 4-2-2
ANOVA
Sum of Mean
df F Sig.
Squares Square
Between Groups 7.473 4 1.868 3.113 0.024
5. I participated in training to
increase my income in future
Total 34.480 49
6. I participated in training in order Between Groups 2.671 4 0.668 2.540 0.053
to enhance my professional Within Groups 11.829 45 0.263
career. Total 14.500 49
12. I participated in training Between Groups 13.425 4 3.356 6.042 0.001
because of my deeply Within Groups 24.995 45 0.555
commitment to my job. Total 38.420 49
Between Groups 5.599 4 1.400 2.812 0.036
make up the ability gaps
between what I need and what I
Total 28.000 49
have.
Between Groups 20.783 4 5.196 5.962 0.001
14. I participated in training in
order to acquire a certification.
Total 60.000 49
263
because our company provides Within Groups 28.537 45 0.634
staff with training program. Total 38.500 49

because of the courage of my Within Groups 30.087 45 0.669
coworkers and friends. Total 39.780 49
Between Groups 10.553 4 2.638 4.813 0.003

enlarge my social network.
Total 35.220 49
Table 4-2-3
The comparisons between the industries
Mean Std.
(I) industry (J) industry Sig.
Difference(I~J) Error
travel agency hospitality 1.100* 0.370 0.047
the possibility of being promoted.
hotel hospitality 1.100* 0.356 0.034
my income in future
hotel 1.400* 0.342 0.002
12. I participated in training because of
my deeply commitment to my job.
high tech 1.317* 0.319 0.002
13. I participated in training to make up
the ability gaps between what I need travel agency hospitality 0.917* 0.302 0.040
and what I have.
hotel 1.844* 0.429 0.001
14. I participated in training in order to
acquire a certification.
high tech 1.317* 0.400 0.019
16. I participated in training because hotel 1.189* 0.366 0.022
our company provides staff with hospitality
training program. travel agency 1.217* 0.341 0.009
19. I participated in training because of
the courage of my coworkers and travel agency hospitality 1.267* 0.350 0.007
friends.
20. I participated in training to enlarge travel agency 1.050* 0.317 0.018
hospitality
my social network. high tech 0.967* 0.317 0.038
3. ANOVA on the position level categories to the evaluation for Training outcome
Table 4-2-4
ANOVA
Sum of Mean
df F Sig.
Squares Square
Between Groups 2.146 1 2.146 4.217 0.046
8. Topics discussed during training were of great
importance.
Total 26.580 49
264
11. Knowledge and skills I have learn from the Between Groups 1.585 1 1.585 4.697 0.035
training can be applied to my daily working Within Groups 16.195 48 0.337
and assignment. Total 17.780 49
Between Groups 1.936 1 1.936 5.721 0.021
17. After my training program, I can successfully
transfer my training outcome to my work.
Total 18.180 49
19. Based on what I have learned from training, I Between Groups 2.040 1 2.040 4.287 0.044
can enhance my working efficiency on my Within Groups 22.840 48 0.476
assignment. Total 24.880 49
21. Based on what I have learning from training, I Between Groups 1.622 1 1.622 4.056 0.050
get more praises and feedbacks from my Within Groups 19.198 48 0.400
supervisor when I promote my opinions. Total 20.820 49
24. My training experience could help me to audit Between Groups 1.916 1 1.916 4.256 0.045
the outcome meeting with the requirement or Within Groups 21.604 48 0.450
not. Total 23.520 49
28. In the past three years, my training experience Between Groups 6.340 1 6.340 14.643 0.000
can make contribution to my company's Within Groups 20.780 48 0.433
performance. Total 27.120 49
29. In the past three years, my training experience
Between Groups 5.690 1 5.690 12.198 0.001
can help me to facilitate the effective
communication between employees and
Total 28.080 49
organization.
30. In the past three years, my training experience
Between Groups 2.103 1 2.103 5.899 0.019
can help me to facilitate the effective
communication between employees and
Total 19.220 49
managers.
31. Based on my training, I can facilitate all Between Groups 2.505 1 2.505 6.683 0.013
manpower to fulfill the assignment and Within Groups 17.995 48 0.375
accomplish the organization development. Total 20.500 49
32. Based on my training, I can propose a suitable Between Groups 3.307 1 3.307 11.408 0.001
solution to meet with the transformative on the Within Groups 13.913 48 0.290
organization development. Total 17.220 49
4. ANOVA on the Industry categories to the evaluation for Training outcome
Table 4-2-5
ANOVA
Sum of Mean
df F Sig.
Squares Square
14. After participating in training program, I haveBetween Groups 9.930 4 2.482 3.775 0.010
a clear understanding on the goal of my career Within Groups 29.590 45 0.658
job. Total 39.520 49
15. After taking training program, I have much Between Groups 11.203 4 2.801 5.428 0.001
more confidence when I face the challenges of Within Groups 23.217 45 0.516
my job. Total 34.420 49
Between Groups 8.032 4 2.008 2.997 0.028
18. Based on what I have learned from training, I
can reduce the possibility of making mistakes.
Total 38.180 49
265
Table 4-2-6
Multiples comparisons among industries
Mean
(I) industry (J) industry Std. Error Sig.
Difference(I~J)
14. After participating in training program, I travel 1.233* 0.347 0.009
have a clear understanding on the goal agency hospitality
of my career job. high tech 1.067* 0.347 0.036
15. After taking training program, I have travel
1.317* 0.308 0.001
much more confidence when I face the agency hospitality
challenges of my job. high tech 1.150* 0.308 0.005
18. Based on what I have learned from
training, I can reduce the possibility of high tech hospitality 1.133* 0.350 0.023
making mistakes
21. Based on what I have learning from
training, I get more praises and
high tech hospitality 0.817* 0.260 0.030
feedbacks from my supervisor when I
promote my opinions.
5. ANOVA on the Seniority categories to the evaluation for Training outcome
Table 4-2-7
ANOVA
Sum of Mean
df F Sig.
Squares Square
Table 4-2-8 Multiple comparisons among the categories of Seniority
Mean
(I)Seniority (J) Seniority Std. Error Sig.
Difference(I~J)
21. Based on what I have learning from
training, I get more praises and
7-9 years 10 years up 0.856* 0.281 0.023
feedbacks from my supervisor when I
promote my opinions.
SUMMARY OF FINDING AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE HR PRACYICES
Demographic changes may present significant problems for training activities in the next
years. Although many labors expect they could continue work until past normal retirement age; but in
the other side, it would leave companies short of skilled, experienced employees in critical assignment.
Compounding the problems, experts predict, the coming workforce will be unprepared for the
knowledge and technology jobs that will dominate the organizational competitive capabilities and
operational performance in the future. These and other changes and the makeup of the workforce have
implications for HR and training managers. The organization need to determine the extent on which
they will affect its business and what should be offered for the needed training programs and
succession planning.
This research has provided some valuable evidence that adds to the growing literature on the
extent and nature of training and development activities in Taiwan Tourism industry. The key findings
from an analysis of the survey are as follows:
266
Businesses that get involved and committed to training and development activities, and more
highly committed employers, there is a positive relationship between training motivation on HR
professionals and various indicators on the outcomes of training and development activities. Most of
the larger businesses already had formal systems, but few micro businesses appear to have been
encouraged to become more formal in their approach to training and development. Finally, the
research suggests that the short-term impact on a range of measures of the training outcomes to the
organizational performance is fairly modest, particularly in relation to 'hard' financial measures
organizational profits.
There is substantial evidence that businesses may be in the process of growing and changing
and it may be that the combination of employer interests and a supply side freed to varying degrees
from the constraints of mainstream delivery has contributed to a successful intervention for these
employers. The Study could provide a vehicle for many organizations to support services that meet
the specific needs of HR activities. Policy makers could learn some valuable lessons through a more
detailed examination of “what are the key factors that really effect the training outcomes” and
applying these lessons to mainstream initiative training mechanism and practices. One way of
attempting to widen the business participant to join the training and development activities is to
promote the economic and organizational benefits of training activities. The paper has demonstrated
that here is a moderate positive effectiveness on organizational performance.
In conclusion, this paper can offer evidenced contributions toward training outcomes. The
findings here presented, which will be reinforced by further analysis of the qualitative data, provide
some valuable information, and will be taken for formulating and implementing the training practices.
REFERENCES
Goldstein, I. L.(1992). Training in organization, 3rd edn, Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Kirkpatrick, D. L.(1996).Revisiting Kirkpatrick’s four-level model. Training and Development

Journal, 51(1), 54-59.
Kirkpatrick, D. L.(2004). A T+D classic how to start an objective evaluation of your training program.
Training and Development Journal, 58(5) 1-3.
Mathieu, J. E. & Martineau, J. W. （ 1997 ） . Individual and situational influences on training

motivation, in J. K. Ford, S. W. J. Kozlowski, K. Kraiger, E. Salas and M. S. Teachout (eds)
Improving Training Effectiveness in Work Organizations, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 193-221.
Naquin, S, S., & Holton, Ed. (2003). Motivation to improve work through learning in human resource
development. Human Resource Development International, 6(3), 355-370.
Noe, R. A. (1986).Trainee attributes and attitudes: neglected influences of training effectiveness. The
Academy of Management Review, 11, 736-749.
Noe, R. A., & Wilk, S. L. (1993). Investigation of the factors that influence employees’ participation
in development activities. Journal of applied psychology, 78(2), 291-302.
Smith-Jentsch, K. A., Jentsch, F. G.., Payne, S. C., & Salas, E. (1996). Can pre-training experience
explain individual difference in learning? Journal of applied psychology, 81(1), 110-116.
Ulrich, D. (1997). Human resource champions：the next agenda for adding value and delivering
results. Boston：Harvard business school press.
267
Ulrich, D., & Brockbank, W. (2005). The HR value proposition. Boston：Harvard business school
press.
268
THE GAP BETWEEN TOURISM PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION: A CASE OF CHINA
Yiping Li
The University of Hong Kong
Kun Lai
The University of Hong Kong
and
Xuegang Feng
East China Normal University
ABSTRACT
In tourism literature, a phenomenon is identified, and considered ubiquitous in planning

exercise. Namely, a gap occurs between planning and implementation once the planned approach to
tourism development is adopted. Such a phenomenon is not rare to find in China, where tourism has
become increasingly important for the country’s economy. This paper presents a research that attempts
to examine the causes of the gap in a Chinese context, in order to offer insights about what possible
countermeasures should be sought. A case study is adopted for the examination which focuses on the
3-year implementation of 2001–2020 Guniujiang Guanyintang Tourism Development Master Plan.
These seven major causes are detected: flaws of master planning, planner’s inadequate background
survey and analysis, planner’s inaccurate anticipation, planner’s lack of practical experience,
practitioner’s misunderstanding, divergence of views between practitioner and planner, pitfalls of
private investment and imbalance of development between regions of China.
Key Words: China; Gap; Implementation; Planning; Tourism
INTRODUCTION
It is widely acknowledged that planning is crucial to successful tourism development; and

planning has been a widely adopted principle for tourism development at both regional and national
levels (Inskeep, 1991; World Tourism Organization [hereafter WTO], 1994). Arguably, the merits of
planning can only be possible given that a plan be implemented in the first place. As such, experts
suggest implementation be considered in the planning process; and a plan be practically made for this
purpose (Cooper, Gilbert, Fletcher, & Wanhill, 1993; Gunn, 2002; Inskeep, 1991; McIntosh, Goeldner,
& Ritchie, 1995; Shepherd, 1998; Veal, 2002). Ideally, a plan should be implemented as planned, but
in practice planners are frequently challenged by the fact that their choices ‘‘are nuanced and have to
balance idealism [what ought to happen by and for society] with pragmatism [what can happen with
private sector investment]’’ (Burns, 2004, p. 27). This creates a gap between planning and
implementation (hereafter GPI), leading to failure of tourism plans. For instance, studies have
recorded such failures caused by lack of analytical details or miscalculations regarding the control of
land usage (Cooper et al., 1993; Shepherd, 1998), the failure of central planning caused by lack of
community involvement (Tosun & Jenkins, 1996), as well as mismatch between central planning and
local possibilities (Burns & Sancho, 2003). GPI has been described in some ironic but telling terms,
such as ‘‘paper exercises’’ (King, McVey, & Simmons, 2000, p. 413), ‘‘sitting on government shelves
to collect dust’’ (Burns, 2004, p. 29), ‘‘perfunctory or bureaucratic exercise’’ (Gunn, 2002, p. 28) and
‘‘theoretical exercise’’ (Baidal, 2004, p. 322).
The phenomenon of GPI, or plans being aborted and inadequately implemented, is not rare in
China’s tourism planning exercises. It was revealed at two forums—2001 China Tourism Planning
269
Summit Workshop and 2001 Conference on Tourism Planning and Management in Developing
Countries—that effective implementation of tourism planning had been rather weak in China.
‘‘zhishang huahua, qiangshang guagua’’ (drawn on the paper then hung on the wall), a well-known
planning jargon, is just a Chinese edition of ‘‘paper exercise’’. Wei (2004) criticizes that China’s
tourism planning, especially at the master planning level, has come to the end in its present form for
lack of innovations. Due to China’s continuous growth of the tourism economy in the 1990s (Zhang,
1995; Zhang & Lew, 2003), the number of plans has also increased dramatically in the country. Wei’s
criticism suggests that China has experienced and will see high rate of plan abortion or poor
implementation, which may seriously affect both the public and the private sectors involved if the
countermeasures are not secured. Therefore, the major purpose of the research is to identify the causes
of GPI in a specific Chinese setting so as to provide insights about what countermeasures should be
sought.
The existing literature of tourism planning offers little in-depth study of GPI, focusing much
‘‘on plan preparation and initial implementation’’; ‘‘there is little or no consideration of what happens
subsequently’’ (Pearce, 2000, p. 191). Some scholars do have touched or observed the phenomenon of
GPI in the studies of community involvement (Ioannides, 1995; Tosun & Jenkins, 1996),
miscalculations regarding the control of land usage (Cooper et al., 1993; Shepherd, 1998), mismatch
between central planning and local possibilities (Burns & Sancho, 2003), shortage of funding resource
for plan implementation (Inskeep, 1991), uncontrollable factors in the changing environment (Inskeep,
1991; Shepherd, 1998; WTO, 1994). Their studies on GPI, however, are somehow indirect,
fragmented, or lacking in empirical evidence. So the most obvious significance of this presented
research is its attempt to supplement to the inadequacy of the existing tourism planning literature on
GPI.
METHOD
The research is primarily based on the investigators’ recent involvement with a planning
exercise for tourism development in the Guniujiang National Nature Reserve (hereafter GNNR).
Established in 1988, GNNR is located across the borders of Qimen County and Shitai County in the
southwest of China’s Anhui Province (see Figure 1). The study is conducted first of all by reviewing
the 3-year implementation of 2001–2020 Guniujiang Guanyintang Tourism Development Master Plan
(hereafter GGTDMP, cf. Shenzhen Shenlanke Company Ltd., 2001), which has been steered by a
Figure 1
Location map of Guanyintang in Guniujiang National Nature Reserve (Based on Han & Li, 1990)
private investor to develop a national park in the reserve. Now the planned area (approximately one
sixth of the acreage of 18,535 hm2) has become a newly developed tourist attraction adjacent to the
famous national mountain resort—Huangshan—in Anhui Province, bearing the name Guniujiang
270
National Geological Park (hereafter GNGP). The major reason for selecting the case is GGTDMP
reflects the tourism planning undertaken in one of China’s inland provinces, Anhui. Compared with
the more prosperous coastal regions, the inland of China has been increasingly marginalized and
lagged behind in social, cultural and economic development since the 1980s when the Chinese central
government adopted the policy to give development priority to the coastal regions. In order to catch up
with the more developed coastal regions, the inland provinces are trying to exploit their abundant
natural resources for development. Tourism is deemed an important field for such exploitation.
Recently in Anhui Province, various tourism projects have been initiated for boosting the local
economy. GGTDMP is just one of them. In the inland regions, development plans are subject to
higher rate of abortion due to the comparatively less developed social, cultural and economic
conditions, therefore may offer typically exemplifying cases for such a research.
The specific techniques for collecting and analyzing the data begin with a conceptualization
of GPI, which aims to establish a theoretical framework for the research. While planning, in its
broadest definition, is organizing the future to achieve certain objectives (Inskeep, 1991),
implementation literally denotes carrying out a plan to realize those objectives. So GPI can be
regarded as a disparity or discontinuity between the two. To conceptualize GPI, an examination of the
basic tourism planning process (see Figure 2) is carried out, the results of which reveal two major
Figure 2
Basic tourism planning process [Based on Cooper et al (1993), Inskeep (1991), McIntosh, Goeldner &
Ritchie (1995) and WTO (1994).]
phases—plan preparation and plan implementation. The whole process contains eight stages of which
six are in the phase of plan preparation. They are study preparation, determination of objectives,
surveys, analysis and synthesis, plan formulation and recommendations. Their ultimate purpose is to
form ‘‘recommendations’’ that will guide activities in the phase of plan implementation, so as to
achieve the goals of planning. The phase of plan implementation contains the last two stages. The first
is to carry out the ‘‘recommendations’’ which are often made up of various action programs or
projects indicated by specified schedules (WTO, 1994). The second is, by monitoring and
reformulation, to assess the effects of implementation periodically and adjust the initially prepared
‘‘recommendations’’ according to the collected feedback regarding the plan’s implementation. The
above examination of the basic tourism planning process reveals that GPI is a break of continuity, in
tourism planning process, between ‘‘recommendations’’ (stage 6) and ‘‘implementation’’ (stage 7).
GPI creates a disparity between the original intentions of planning and the actual implementation
results. There exist two types of GPI (disparity): not implemented (the ‘‘recommendations’’ as a
whole or in part fail to be carried out); deviated implementation (the plan’s implementation fails to
observe the ‘‘recommendations’’). This conceptualization of GPI leads to two major research
questions that facilitate the study of the causes of GPI existing in the process of implementing
GGTDMP. (1) To what extent have the elements of the ‘‘recommendations’’ of GGTDMP been
implemented, in terms of carrying out the planned activities by planned schedules from 2001 to 2004?
(2) What barriers to implementation has the park encountered during the course? These techniques are
employed to seek the answers: documentary study, on-site observation and in-depth interview. They
are carried out via a four-step approach designed with reference to Pearce’s (2000) plan review
methodology (see Figure 3).
271
Figure 3
Steps of Research
The first step is to sort out key implementation elements of GGTDMP which, in this research,
is achieved by documentary study to find out the representative elements that should have been put
into practice by 2004 according to the recommendations of the plan. The result serves as a
‘‘handbook’’ to guide further investigation. The second step is to assess effects of implementation by
making a comparison between the selected elements in the ‘‘handbook’’ and the actual
implementation results according to the data collected through on-site observation in the park and
some relevant business performance records. The situations are highlighted where the implementation
of the key elements has brought forth deviated outcomes (deviated implementation) and; where these
elements have failed to be implemented at all (not implemented). The third step is to explore, through
in-depth interview, the difficulties the park practitioners have met in carrying out the plan by 2004.
Ten interviewees are selected out of the total 49 staff members of the park to represent the key
managerial workers who are familiar with the content of the plan and have involved directly with the
implementation. In the last step, the interview results about the difficulties experienced by the park
practitioners in implementing the plan are examined in the perspective of the specific social and
cultural contexts of Anhui Province for helping the researchers analyze the causes of the GPI.
FINDINGS
3.1. Step 1 (finalizing key implementation elements of plan)
A review of the recommendations of GGTDMP helps finalize 33 elements as sampling

indicators for detecting the GPI that may hinder implementing GGTDMP (see Table 1). The review
process is developed with reference to some published methods (Gunn, 2002; WTO, 1994) consisting
of six categories: tourist attractions (12), infrastructures (4), service facilities (6), promotion and
marketing (4), human resource management (2) and environment management (5).
Table 1
Representative implementation elements finalized in GGTDMP.
CATEGORY ELEMENTS SELECTED NO.

Tourist Attractions (TA) Statue of Ox TA01
Qimen Black Tea Teahouse TA02
Water Platform of Guniu Lake TA03
Square of Ox Culture TA04
Show House for the Local Traditional Folk Opera TA05
Spa Centre for Rehabilitation TA06
Guniujiang Forest Fresh Air Enjoyment Club TA07
Recreation Area in Bamboo Wood TA08
Green Tour Routs TA09
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Dam of Guniu Lake TA10
Relics of Buddhist Culture Heritage TA11
Summer Pavilion on Guniu Lake TA12
Infrastructures (I) Parking Lots I01
Plant Project for Greening the Major Pathways in the Park I02
Wooden Plank Path Built along Cliffs I03
Park Battery Car Service for Visitors’ Transport and I04
Sightseeing
Service Facilities (SF) Park Gate SF01
Wharf of Small Boat SF02
Tourist Center of Guniu Lake SF03
Shops SF04
Ticket Office SF05
Tourism Interpretation System SF06
Promotion & Marketing (PM) Anticipated Arrivals PM01
Commercials for Tourism Promotion & Marketing PM02
Customer Relationship Management PM03
Internet Homepage (e-commerce) PM04
Human Resource Management Organization Structure HRM01
(HRM) Anticipated HR Demand HRM02
Environment Management (EM) To establish eco-interpretation system EM01
To establish byelaws for protecting the eco-system EM02
To pull down the Hanbi Hotel that affects the scenery of the EM03
lake
To improve environment around the Shanqing Temple EM04
Relics
To remove toilet and hog pens in the bamboo woods, which EM05
were built by the relocated peasants and are now affecting
the scenery
3.2. Step 2 (assessing plan implementation to detect GPI)
The examination regarding the 3-year implementation of GGTDMP helps detect 57.58% (19
out of 33) elements by which the GPI exists to hinder the implementation process:
z Not implemented: 9 out of 19 elements (TA04, TA07, TA10, TA12, I04, SF02, SF04,
PM02, PM03 and EM02) and;
z Deviated implementation: 10 out of 19 elements (TA02, TA03, TA05, TA08, PM01,
PM04, HRM01, HRM02 and EM03).
The manifestations of the GPI are presented in Table 2.
Table 2
Manifestation of GPI
NO. TYPE OF GPI DEVIATION SPECIFICATIONS

TA02 Deviated implementation Part of the planned functions of the teahouse (tea art performance) is
not installed.
TA03 Deviated implementation The size of the platform is too large and inappropriate, which affects
the lake scenery.
TA04 Not implemented /
TA05 Deviated implementation The stage is set up but the show of Mulian (a local opera) is not
available to tourists.
TA08 Deviated implementation Only two swings and one climbing pole are set up, out of the
facilities planned.
I04 Not implemented /
SF02 Not implemented /
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SF04 Not implemented /
PM01 Deviated implementation Tourism arrivals failed to meet the anticipated figure specified in the
plan
PM02 Not implemented /
PM03 Not implemented /
PM04 Deviated implementation The present homepage has not functioned in the form of e-commerce
HRM01 Deviated implementation The administrative structure being actualized to run the park is
completely different from what has been planned
HRM02 Deviated implementation Number of the working staff is much smaller than anticipated by the
plan
EM02 Not implemented /
EM03 Deviated implementation The hotel is pulled town at a high fiscal cost, but the ground base still
exists, which, according to the plan, should be removed for the lake.
3.3. Step 3 (identifying barriers to plan implementation)
Guided by the assessment results in Step 2, in-depth interviews are conducted to the general
manger, the department managers and the staff workers of the park for collecting the primary data
regarding the difficulties they have met in implementing GGTDMP (see Table 3). The questions are:
1. What is your opinion about postponing and/or advancing the implementation of the
elements?
2. What kind of difficulties have you come across when carrying out the elements?
3. How have you adapted and/or will you adapt the elements to feasibly put them into
practice?
Table 3
Reports of practitioners’ difficulties in implementing GGTDMP
NO. DIRECT QUOTATIONS FROM THE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS

TA02 Quotation #1: There is lack of market demand for this performance.
Quotation #2: Most tourists come here only for a cup of tea. The majority of them are young
people, not fond of tea. Generally Chinese people do not care for black tea, so we have not
installed the facilities.
Quotation #3: The business (tourist arrivals) is not stable.
TA03 Quotation #4: The usable land in this park is too scarce due to the rough and steep terrain. We need
to build a platform by the lake for tourists.
Quotation #5: The planned size is too small. We actually use this platform as a performance stage
that is supposed to stand in the nearby square. Tourists like this platform because the surrounding
is more beautiful than other spots in the park.
TA04 Quotation #6: We have not built the square because the hillside is too steep. There is a possibility
of landslide. As you can see we have planted bamboos to prevent possible landside in the rainy
season. We will not consider it until the bamboos have grown up.
TA05 Quotation #7: The performance is too bad, poorly organized, and not interesting at all. They (the
farmers) do not wear costume, and even not use makeup during performance.
Quotation #8: We tried it a few times but had to give up. There are only a few local aged farmers
who can perform in this opera. It is difficult for tourists to understand the performance because of
the dialect used. We need specialists’ help to make the performance popular.
TA07 Quotation #9: We have good environment but well trained, qualified staff workers.
TA08 Quotation #10: We have to cut down the bamboo trees in order to make place for it, but my park
needs the bamboo trees to decorate the lake surroundings. So, I want to move this function area to
another place.
TA10 Quotation #11: We need expert consultation about how the dam can be built in harmony with the
landscape. However, there are no specific measures, in the plan, for achieving this.
TA12 Quotation #12: The construction is too difficult because the lake water is very deep (over 30
meters). We have thought about building one floating pavilion, but immediately find it impossible.
In June and July when it keeps raining for more than a day, floods will form and destroy it.
I04 Quotation #13: We only have one truck at the moment. Our boss (the general manager) plans to
buy a bus to carry tourists in and out of the park. But we have limited budget, thus finding the
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battery cars we currently use unsuitable because the road is too steep.
SF02 Quotation #14: The lake is too small (average width: 7 meters).
SF04 Quotation #15: There is insufficient land in the park for building shops. One solution of this is to
cut down the woods. But we must apply for approval from the Ministry of Forest in order to do so,
which is very time consuming.
PM01 (No answers)
PM02 Quotation #16: I am not satisfied with the promotional commercials recommended (in the plan) so
I invite my friends from Beijing to help design new ones.
Quotation #17: The commercials are too wordy to impress the potential the clients.
PM03 Quotation #18: We will establish it in the coming years when our major targeted market
development is finished.
PM04 Quotation #19: Now we are using more traditional promotion channels such as travel agencies in
Huangshan City. They prove to be effective. To install e-commerce into our homepage, we need
technicians. This means more investment is needed.
HRM01 Quotation #20: We have not established the planned administrative structure for some economic
concerns. At the early stage of the park development, we do not need so many departments.
HRM02 Quotation #21: For me, the most serous problem is lack of qualified staff workers. I do not know
how to make them stay either.
Quotation #22: Many skilled staff workers have left us. Most of our employees are young (average
age: 20). They cannot stand the slow life pace and the loneliness in the tranquility of a natural
environment like this. The low salary is also a reason for some to leave. Now we are thinking of
providing some recreational facilities for the staff workers to enjoy, such as Karaoke, bar,
playground, etc., in order to make the life here interesting.
EM02 Quotation 23: We will think about this later
EM03 Quotation #24: It is easy to dig the ground, but for the time being, we have to keep it until the
square nearby have been built.
From the above interviews and our on-site observations, the barriers to the plan’s
implementation are drawn in Table 4. These barriers have a direct bearing on the practitioners’
behaviors regarding ‘‘what’’, ‘‘when’’ and ‘‘how’’ in the plan implementation process. That is to say,
the park practitioners prove to be very ‘‘selective’’ according to the level of difficulty in implementing
a certain item recommended. When in trouble, they tend to modify or discard the item(s) in the
implementation list.
Table 4
Barriers to the implementation of GGTDMP
NO. BARRIERS
TA02 Lack of market demand; incompatible with the local traditional tea culture; unstable business
(demand)
TA03 Insufficient land for use on the rough and steep terrain; planned size too small; tourist need
TA04 Steep hillside vulnerable to landslide
TA05 Poor performance; lack of help from specialists
TA07 Lack of well trained staff workers
TA08 Dilemma over the choice of location for the function area
TA10 Lack of detailed measures for action in the plan
TA12 Lake water too deep for construction
I04 Limited budgets; slope too steep for providing sightseeing battery cars
SF02 Lake too small for construction
SF04 Insufficient land supply; time consuming procedure for gaining the approval from the Ministry
of Forest
PM01 (no answers)
PM02 Tourism promotional commercials too wordy and unattractive
PM03 Targeted market development unfinished
PM04 Lack of technicians and funds
HRM01 Economic concerns; some departments planned but neither practical nor unnecessary
HRM02 Lack of qualified staff workers; loss of skilled workers
EM02 (no direct answers)
EM03 Nearby square not been built yet
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3.4. Step 4 (detecting causes of GPI)
The barriers reported by the implementation people are carefully interpreted in this step. Since
tourism mirrors the economic, political and cultural features of a nation where it operates (Joppe,
1996), the reported barriers must be examined according to the specific situations within which the
planning and implementation actually operate. Otherwise detecting the causes of the GPI will be out
of the question. So, the differences of development among regions of China, the exercise of private
investments, the regulations of China National Tourism Administration (hereafter CNTA) regarding
tourism planning, as well as the background and performance of the planners are all considered. The
result firstly reveals some serious flaws of master planning and the misunderstanding of those who
implement the plan. In TA10, ‘‘lack of detailed measures for action in the plan’’ is a reported cause.
One possibility of the cause is that the planners might have missed writing the relevant details in the
plan. This, however, is not the case, when CNTA’s rule is applied for examination (cf. ‘‘General Rule
of Tourism Planning’’ by CNTA, 2003). The rule specifies that the task of master planning is to set
policy and recommendation, in a tourism area, for achieving the purpose of building the main image
and setting the scope of the development land. In addition, zoning and making arrangements for
infrastructures and facilities are part of the main purpose. Therefore, detailing out the policies and
recommendations regarding the construction is, by no means, the end task of master planning. Rather,
it is an indispensable step in the process of planning itself. GGTDMP, a master level of planning as it
is, bearing the content of TA10: ‘‘Raise the water level of Guniu Lake and beautify the dam of the
lake’’ (cf. Shenzhen Shenlanke Company Ltd., 2001, p. 48) is considered sufficient. However, it is not
sufficient for the content to avoid being complained about by the park practitioners who are to
implement the plan.
There may be two reasons for the complaints. On one hand, master planning has inevitable
flaws for being ‘‘one-shot, big-bang’’, similar to those identified by Burns (2004) and Gunn (2002).
The flaws will result in too broad-brush and conceptualized planning instead of a feasible ‘‘plan of
action’’. On the other hand, it may be the fault of the park practitioners who assume a master plan to
be enough for developing a tourism project in GNNR. Consequently, they neglect the need of a
detailed planning for the park. It is common for a single project to include various levels of planning,
such as the exercises conducted elsewhere (WTO, 1994) which, however, is not true of the case in
China. Tourism planners in China are mostly university academics capable of conducting master
planning on theoretical basis, yet far from being capable of managing detailed (site) planning
practically. Tourism planning requires the wisdom of multi-disciplinary expertise. University
academics are often specialized in one or two specific field(s). They must form multi-disciplinary
teams in order to accomplish tourism-planning tasks. In China, however, collaboration and
cooperation among university academics are hard to materialize because they are most often
competitors bidding for planning projects.
Secondly, the result indicates insufficient background survey and analysis by the planners in
the early stage of planning are to blame for the failure in implementing most elements listed in
GGTDMP. The elements include TA02 suggesting a lack of demand for the tea service provided
which is incompatible with the local traditional tea culture; TA03, TA04, TA12, SF02 and SF04,
which all indicate various constraints for constructing projects in the park; TA05, TA07 and I04,
which respectively, indicate the difficulties for putting on the traditional local opera show—Mulian,
establishing a forest fresh air enjoyment club, and providing tourists with the sightseeing battery cars.
The applicability of all the elements mentioned above has not been well studied before they were
listed for implementation. So the measures recommended for implementation are far from being
practical. Besides, the drawbacks of master planning should also be accused, because its ‘‘one-shot,
big-bang’’ nature does not have clear-cut requirements regarding how specific the background must
be surveyed and analyzed.
Thirdly, the result indicates that the planners’ anticipation about the future performance of the
planned elements is rather inaccurate. It is acknowledged by experts such as Gunn (2002) and Pearce
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(2000) that a plan should never be absolute about the future of what has been planned. Meeting the
planned targets is subject to various unpredictable factors, which is particularly true of medium to
long-term plans. Such plans normally range from 10 to 20 years, where the nature and impact of all
relevant factors cannot be predicted at the outset with complete accuracy. A plan can only forecast a
foreseeable future at the most. It is thus obvious that the inaccurate anticipation by the planners about
the future performance of the planned elements has caused the GPI in PM01—anticipated annual
tourist arrivals, HRM01—organization structure, and HRM02—anticipated human resource demand.
It has turned out that the actual tourist arrival figure is much smaller than the anticipated (see Table 5),
and some administrative departments cannot be established for the lack of qualified employees—so
far there have been only 49 staff workers, much fewer than the total 90 recommended in GGTDMP
for completing the workforce of the park. Also worth mentioning is that the outbreak of Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003 decreased the tourist arrivals of the year dramatically.
Circumstance like this is absolutely difficult to predict at the time when the plan was made and
endorsed in 2001.
Table 5
Actual and anticipated tourist arrivals of GNGP between 2002 and 2004 (Based on Shenzhen
Shenlanke Company Ltd., 2001 & the survey result)
2002 2003 2004

Actual arrivals *a * 15,060
Anticipated arrivals 20,000 25,200 31,600
a
There are no official records for 2002 and 2003.
Fourthly, the result indicates that the planners’ lack of practical experience is also to blame. In
the case of PM02, the practitioners completely reject the planners’ design of the park promotional
commercials. In an interview, the park general manger reveals his dissatisfaction: ‘‘I am not satisfied
with the design, so I invite my friends from Beijing to help design new ones’’ (direct quotation from
the research interview). This is simply because, according to the sales manager, the commercials
designed by the planners express the meaning but appear to be too wordy and unattractive. This
phenomenon is probably caused by the planners’ lack of practical experience in park promotion and
marketing. In China, tourism development projects, in most cases, are planned by university
academics who are not professional planners. Therefore they may not have adequate practical business
knowledge relevant to the projects they are invited to plan for.
Fifthly, the result suggests that the divergence of views between the planners and the park
practitioners are a big obstacle to implementation. A closer look at TA08 by which a ‘‘Recreation
Area in Bamboo Wood’’ is planned, the cause appears to be the divergence of views, between the
planners and the park practitioners, over how it should be implemented. The planners recommend
creating a recreation area around the Guniu Lake, which requires cutting some bamboo wood. But the
park general manager does not like the idea. His argument is that the park needs the wood to enhance
the lake scenery. He would like to move the recreation area to another place in the park. No detailed
planning has been specified regarding this matter, so the park general manager just acts, partially as a
planner and, in the meantime, an interpreter to do the actual job of implementation, with the assistance
of his business friends and clients. Similar divergence of views regarding how to implement the
planned elements can also be found in TA03, PM02, PM03 and EM03.
Sixthly, the result uncovers the pitfalls of private investment. By introducing EM02, the
planners suggest establishing byelaws to protect the eco-system of GNGP. However, in the park
practitioners’ view this is not an urgent matter, obvious in the attitude repeatedly shown during the
interviews: ‘‘we will consider that later in due time’’ (direct quotation from the interview). Such an
attitude toward protecting the eco-system is probably encouraged by the private investment in the park.
In recent years there have been an increasing number of private entrepreneurs, coming especially from
the wealthier neighboring Zhejiang Province, to invest in the tourism projects of Anhui. On one hand,
such investment satisfies the hunger for development capital long held by the poorer Anhui Province
and contributes to the local economic development including tourism. On the other hand, the private
277
investors in most cases will put the local economic development and environment protection behind
their own profit. This is also true of the private investment in GNGP. In an interview, the general
manager explicitly expresses that he is only a businessman whose main job is to make money. In his
view, what is most important for planning is to initiate a project and generate quick profits.
Lastly, the result shows that the GPI exists due to the imbalance of development among
regions of China. Regarding HRM02, the GPI exists in the reality that GNGP cannot keep its qualified
staff workers. The park general manager and human resource manager have been complaining about
the difficulty of maintaining a qualified workforce to run the park. The direct cause of the GPI
regarding HRM02 is the withdrawal of qualified staff workers from the workforce of the park. The
park human resource manager blames this for that most of the park employees are too young to stand
the tranquil life. This, however, reveals only a tiny part of a big picture. The investigation finds the
current imbalance of development between regions of China actually encourages the park employees
to leave for the wealthier places of China’s more developed coastal regions to work. Anhui, where
GNGP is located, has been lagged behind in social, cultural and economic development, being a
marginalized inland province. As matter of fact, it has long experienced a depopulation of its
workforce since the 1980s when the Chinese central government adopted the policy that gives
development priority to the coastal regions.
CONCLUSION
This case study reveals a gap exists between the planners’ intention and the actual
implementation results. More than half of the sampling elements have not been effectively
implemented. The park practitioners have met various barriers, such as physical construction limits,
lack of funds, unstable market demand, lack and loss of managerial staff and technicians, and
insufficient implementation instructions. By analyzing those barriers, 7 major causes of the GPI are
elicited, based on which the following recommendations are specifically raised for the park to reduce
the impact of the GPI. First of all, the park practitioners, especially the general manager, should
acquire some basic knowledge of planning to prevent misunderstandings to it. The false concept that a
master plan is enough must be corrected. The difference between master planning and detailed
planning should be appreciated. This can largely help prevent the impacts caused by choosing the
wrong or inappropriate type of planning. Secondly, the park practitioners need to act immediately to
compensate for the losses caused by the flaws of master planning. The initial implementation of
GGTDMP must be reviewed comprehensively to find out elements that should be altered, updated, or
even canceled. It is essential for the park to have a site planning, by professionals, to provide more
detailed instructions for plan implementation in the next phase. Thirdly, the park practitioners should
write, by themselves or through the assistance of some relevant professionals, a valid term of
reference (hereafter TOR). By doing so, they can make sure their real wants will be clearly articulated
and thus choose the most competent planners to meet such wants. A well-prepared TOR can help
prevent unqualified planners from taking the planning project(s) at the outset. Fourthly, the park
managers need to establish an interactive relationship with both the present and future planners of
GGTDMP. In this case, for instance, the ‘‘planner-practitioner’’ tie broke once the plan was ratified in
2001. As a result, plan monitoring and reformulation, crucial for feasible and effective implementation
of the plan, failed to materialize in the past 3 years (similar failures have also been reported by the
studies of Gunn, 2002; Inskeep, 1991; WTO, 1994; Yuksel, Bramwell, & Yuksel, 1999).
Consequently, the park practitioners themselves have to confront the difficulties in implementing the
plan. Such a difficult situation can be improved by applying customer relationship management to
establish a dynamic ‘‘planner-practitioner’’ tie. By doing so, it is necessary to organize training
programs on implementation issues, set up a monitoring committee and, appoint when necessary,
experts from the planning team to supervise the implementation. Finally, it is the park managers who
should balance between the short-term and long-term benefits during the development process. The
park is located in a national nature reserve where the eco-system is rather fragile and highly sensitive
to human activities. Any short-term economic gains achieved at high environmental costs will prove
to be detrimental to the overall well-being of the park itself.
278
The above recommendations put forward, it is now time for us to fulfill the ultimate
task—drawing insights about the countermeasure against GPI. We are well aware that risk of a logic
fallacy (‘‘unit of analysis’’) would occur if we were too ambitious to seek countermeasures, in general,
for China to cope with GPI, on the basis of such a single case study. But we believe that the causes of
the GPI revealed through our research can somehow offer insightful policy implications for that
purpose. The first implication we can see through this study is master planning approach, prevailing in
China at the moment, is out-of-date. Although China’s strongly centralized economy still encourages
this kind of top–down planning approach (especially for the government initiated planning projects),
Inskeep (1991) has proven, for more than a decade, such an approach would only produce unfeasible
plans over the long term. A possible countermeasure is, as also recommended by WTO (1994), to
integrate master planning at nation, region and destination scales with detailed site planning for
priority development areas and projects. This will help ensure concrete ‘‘plans of action’’ for
practitioners to follow in the process of implementation. The second implication is the professionalism
of planning and management needs to be significantly improved. Our case study shows the inadequate
implementation of quite a number of elements is caused, at least partially, by the inadequate
qualification and experience of the planner. A possible countermeasure can be setting up a
nation-wide qualification control system to guarantee the quality of planning. This system will require
a planner be certified before she/he can provide planning service. The third implication is mechanism
that can facilitate the bilateral planner-practitioner tie needs to be established. After a planning project
is finished, the tourism planner must still keep close contact with the clients to ensure that the
implementation follows up well. This will create a win–win situation in which the planner can learn
from the practice and gain valuable experience of planning, and the client can get incremental
consultation that will guarantee appropriate plan implementation. Last but not least, a multi-scenario
planning method should be adopted for overcoming unforeseeable obstacles that may rise in the
ever-changing situation of plan implementation. The method requires the planner conduct a thorough
study of the social, cultural, economic and environmental obstacles that may hinder the
implementation of the plan, so that different development scenarios can be presented for the
practitioners to predict, more accurately, when and how those obstacles can be eliminated in a
‘‘foreseeable future’’.
To sum up, in this research we have focused on a long existing yet largely neglected planning
problem: gap between planning and implementation. Our critical eye on a specific case of tourism
planning in China does not intend to deny the merits of planning as an approach to tourism
development. Rather, we aim to help enhance quality of tourism planning by offering insightful
implications about what workable countermeasures should be sought against GPI, particularly
regarding the planning exercise in China. Our theoretical framework developed through this research
should also be useful for plan reviewing and monitoring, regarding which relevant methods are
lacking and yet to be found out. In terms of further studies on GPI, we believe efforts other than
simply reporting and criticizing the phenomenon should be made. In particular, mid and long-term
examination of plan implementation under the very context of China is needed. Such examination will
help learn lessons from the failure of past planning exercises, and make planning a real powerful tool
that ‘‘has the ability to realize the advantages of tourism and reduce the disadvantages’’ (McIntosh et
al., 1995, p.337). Despite the public criticism on plan abortions, planning as an approach to tourism
development will continue to show its crucial role in visualizing the future for guiding principles to
form, which will help avert the pitfalls in the tourism development process.
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THE IMPACT OF TOUR LEADERS' SERVICE PERFORMANCE: AN ISSUE OF TIPPING
Chui-Peng Chiu
and
Jui-Chi Chang
ABSTRACT
Gratuities have become an expected part of employees’ incomes in the service industries (Star,
1998; Wilknes, 1993). Customers tip because of the level of appreciation they have received. It has
been practiced for years in Western countries. However, the practice of tipping is not universal - it is
still not customary in Taiwan. It becomes clear that this subject impairs the level of enjoyment of
many travelers when on the tour. In addition, the issue of tipping has an impact on the performance of
the tour leader during the tour. This study aims to investigate how tour leaders perceive the issue of
tipping. It also examines the impact of tipping in relation to tour leaders’ job performing. It is
expected that the findings of this pilot test can help the travel industry to enhance the quality of
customer service.
Key Words: Tour leader; Tipping; Service performance
INTRODUCTION
Although tipping is common in the United States, tipping is scarcely practiced in Australia,
China, and Taiwan, while in Singapore, tipping is officially outlawed (Dewald, 2001). Tipping is not
customary for the general public in Taiwan and has only been a recent phenomenon on outbound
package tours - evolving from western society (Chang, 2004). According to the Travel Quality
Assurance Association R.O.C. (2005), there are 807 cases of disputes between tour leaders and
travelers. Among them, many complaints are related to the issue of tipping – being forced to tip. To
better solve this problem, a seminar was held by the association of tour leaders R.O.C., TQAA, and
representatives of tour leaders to discuss the appropriate amount of tips (Taiwan Visitors Association,
2001). The suggested tip is between USD $8-10 per day, per person, and the tour leader is not
permitted to force customers to tip. Nowadays, most customers know they have to tip the tour leader,
drivers and the local guides unless tips have been included in the cost of the tour. Other customers
want to decide for themselves whether or not to tip. Travelers might not tip due to their cultural
background or other reasons (Lynn, 1994; Lynn, 1997). In addition, the codes of conduct and travel
agencies’ policies regarding tour leaders’ welfare may have an influence on tour leaders’ perceptions
of collecting tips during the tour. Chang (2004) indicated that some travel agencies in Taiwan did not
allow their tour leaders to solicit tips and some let their tour leaders make their own decisions about
tipping as long as they could get the job done and customers did not complain. Also, there were
arguments regarding whether children should tip, and if so, how much should they be expected to tip.
The question has come up whether the amount of customers’ tips should include the first or the last
day of a tour. It seemed that it had not been possible to resolve this issue unanimously (Chang, 2004).
LITERATURE REVIEW
Tipping
The Oxford English Dictionary (Allen, 1991) defined the word “tipping” as ‘a small present
of money given to a person especially for a service given’ (Lynn & McCall, 2000). “To tip” means “to
282
give a gratuity to a service provider or employee” (Lynn & McCall, 2000). Tipping is voluntary.
Although the decision about whether or not to leave a tip is largely determined by social norms and
customs, these norms provide a fair amount of latitude regarding how much should be tipped. This
voluntary aspect of tipping raises a question about how to tip. This question has been addressed either
explicitly or implicitly in much of the academic writing on tipping. Scholars have suggested that
tipping is motivated by (1) a desire for good service during future encounters with the server (Lynn &
Grassman, 1990); (2) a desire for social approval (Crespi, 1947; Holloway, 1985; Lynn & Grassman,
1990); (3) a desire to compensate servers equitably for their work (Snyder, 1976; Holloway, 1985;
Lynn & Grassman, 1990); (4) a desire for status and power (Scott, 1916; Ledger, 1974; May, 1978;
Shamir, 1984). Empirical tests of these of hypothesized motives are scarce and most of those tests that
do exist are inconclusive (Lynn & Grassman, 1990). Only the idea that consumers tip in order to
reward good services has received strong support, Consistent with this hypothesized motive for
tipping, research had found that consumers leave larger tips the more favorably they evaluate the
service (Lynn & Grassman, 1990) and that consumers reward better service with larger tips only when
they attribute the quality of the service to the server’s efforts (Seligman, Jean, Douglas & Mark, 1985).
Many scholars believe that tipping is coherent with selfish consumers only if they think that
tipping today will improve the service they get in the future. (Lynn & Grassman, 1990; Kahneman,
Knetsch & Thaler, 1986).They considered that tipping by repeated customers is not motivated by
future service considerations. Isen and Levin (1972) found that the amount of tips that the customer
leaves is directly related to the customer’s enjoyment of the restaurant’s food and its atmosphere.
Based on the social custom and psychological theory, it revealed that the better service quality
customer received, the more they tipped. (Lynn & Grassman, 1990). Furthermore, several researchers
indicated that consumers tipped friendly servers more than less friendly servers (Shamir, 1984; Lynn
& Grassman, 1990). Based on the principle of social etiquette, Post (1997) advised consumers to tip
more for better service. Psychologists considered that people are socialized and tend to maintain a
reasonable balance between the benefits they receive from a relationship associate and the benefits
they deliver to that associate (Walster, Berscheid & Walster, 1973).
Kahneman et al. (1986) conducted telephone interviews with people who frequently visit
restaurants and found that the frequent patrons did not tip more. On the contrary, another study (Lynn
& McCall, 2000) found that frequent patrons tipped more. Nevertheless, tips of frequent patrons are
not more sensitive to service quality than tips of non-frequent patrons (Bodvarsson & Gibson, 1994;
Lynn & Grassman, 1990). On the other hand, Lynn (2003) proposed several ways for restaurant
waiters to increase their tips: to introduce themselves to customers; to give customers large smiles; to
touch customers’ shoulders; to entertain customers; and to call customers by names.
Customers can decide whether or not to tip. Tourists might not tip due to their cultural
background or other reasons (Lynn, 1994; Lynn, 1997). In addition, the codes of conduct and travel
agencies’ policies regarding tour leaders’ welfare might have an influence on tour leaders’ perceptions
of tipping during the tour. Chang (2004) indicated that some travel agencies in Taiwan did not allow
their tour leaders to solicit tips and some let their tour leaders make their own decisions about tipping
as long as they could get the job done and customers did not complain.
Then, there were arguments regarding whether children should tip the full amount or only half
and whether the amount of customers’ tips should include the first or the last day of a tour if the tour
departs in the evening and arrives home in the morning. It seems that these inconsistencies can not be
solved unanimously (Chang, 2004). Nowadays, most customers know they have to tip the tour leaders,
drivers and the local guides unless tips have been included in the cost of the tour. However, others
believe that a gratuity should be offered spontaneously and individually based on the level of
appreciation they received (Brown & Rolle, 1991). Furthermore, the amount of tip is concerned by
many servers. Numerous studies have examined the relationships between tip size and other variables
in the hospitality industry. These variables include bill size (Lynn & Grassman , 1990; Lynn & Mynier,
1993), friendly servers (Garrity & Degelman, 1990), server attractiveness (May, 1978; Hornik, 1984),
283
service quality (Crusco & Wetzel, 1984; Lynn & Latane, 1984; Lynn & Grassman, 1990), customer
sex (Crusco & Wetzel, 1984; Lynn & Latane, 1984), the frequency of patronage (Lynn & Mynier,
1993; Bodvarsson & Gibson, 1994).
Tour Leader Performance
Both researchers and practitioners have identified the qualifications that the tour leader should
possess. Mossberg (1995) chose an ambitious multi-attribute model which has eight variables
including reliability, ability to hand handle complaints, willingness to take part at any time, ease of
availability, ability to inform about manners and customs, ability to handle difficult situations,
knowledgeable about sights, and pleasantness and helpfulness. More realistically, the person
conducting a tour needs a combination of these skills as they face many challenges – particularly as
the tour products become more sophisticated and service-oriented and as the number of tourists
increase. Quiroga (1990) considered the person should be intelligent and cultured, friendly and kind,
and personable. To be successful at this job is not an easy thing to achieve. In Hughes' (l99l) cultural
tour satisfaction study, he identified that the tour guide (tour leader) should be able to (l) provide
interesting commentaries, (2) interact with the tour members, and (3) ensure the itinerary was running
smoothly. Webster (1993) noted that 'keeping the participants happy' and ‘making sure that all
services are provided as contracted' are the main responsibilities of the 'escort'. Webster also suggested
ten dos and ten don'ts for escorting a tour.
One of the challenges to the tour leader is to offer group participants a more personalized
level of service. Unfortunately, Pond (1993) discovered that "condescending", substandard behavior
toward groups is rampant throughout the industry. He suggested a few tips to help tour guides (tour
leaders) in building rapport and maintaining cohesiveness with tour members during the tour. He
considered that leadership and social skills are significant in the guiding experience. Holloway (1981)
suggested that most tourists seek or expect a unique experience of some kind while on their trip and
recommended that tour guides may use their dramatic skill to enhance participants’ emotional feeling
on the trip and make the itinerary vivid and vigorous.
The tour guide and tour leader have been recognized as important people in the development
of the group tour but have a1so been considered a subject of controversy (Quiroga, l990). To act as a
professional and demonstrate leadership, Stevens (1990) warned that a tour leader should never
become personally involved with a tour member as this may result in losing control of the tour.
Undoubtedly, the tour 1eader is under considerable pressure during the service encounter. It requires
patience and care to accomplish the task. Mancini (l996) offered strategies for managing a tour group,
which suggested that the 'tour manager' must be fair; praise a tour group's behavior; exceed the client's
expectations; be firm when facing disruptive behavior; encourage client 'adulthood'; exercise
leadership; be flexible. Apart from professional skills, selection of an appropriate tour leader is also
crucial. Lopez (l980) considered that leadership styles of tour leaders during a tour are related to
customer satisfaction. Lopez considered that in the initial period of the tour, the group members are
more satisfied with the tour quality under authoritarian leadership. By contrast, in the latter part of the
tour, the group members are more satisfied under democratic 1eadership.
So what affects the tour leader's performance? Salary and benefits enhance tour1eaders'
performance, particularly tipping, and commissions from optional tours and shopping. A tour leader
makes about US$2 per person per day in gratuities from tourists in European countries (Mancini,
1996) and US$4-6 in a long haul inclusive package tour in Taiwan -- both gratuities are recommended
by the tour operators. An optional tour is a tour that is not included in the tour price and which a
participant can purchase during the tour from the tour leader. The tour leader usually gets l0 to 20
percent of what the participant pays for the optional tour (Mancini, l996). Shopping is a common
activity for Asian tours. A good range of shopping facilities is an important attraction for Taiwanese
tourists (Mok & Lam, 1997). A tour leader steers a group into a souvenir store often receiving
commissions (many tour companies limit the practice to contracted stores, others ask the tour leader
to give half of the commission back to the company but it can vary under different circumstances).
284
The degree of tourist interest in buying or participating in optional tours and the appreciation for all
the hard work the tour leader does, significantly influences the morale, and the tips, of the tour leader.
Travel Agency in Taiwan
The travel agencies were officially classified into three categories in Taiwan: the General
Travel Agency (General T/A), A-Type Travel Agency (A-Type T/A), and B-Type Travel Agency (B-
Type T/A). For B-Type T/As, the scale of business is limited. They only sell domestic-related tours
and domestic flight tickets. Only General T/As and A-Type T/As can act as a tour operator and
promote their outbound tour products for the general public. A-Type T/As are defined as direct sell
tour operators and should not act as a wholesaler (Taiwan Tourism Bureau, 1999). In a sense, the
General T/As are considered as the tour wholesaler in Taiwan and will be only used for this study.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
There were three stages data collection. The first stage interview with management of travel
agencies, the second stage interview with their tour leaders, the third stage would be internet
discussion with consumers. During the first stage, in-depth interviews with 4 convenient samples
selected from General travel agencies will be conducted in 1 month period. The study investigates
travel agencies’ tipping policies as well as their perceptions in related to tipping. The data collected
from managerial staffs will provide an insight into the issues of tour leaders’ service performances in
relation to tipping. Based on literature reviews and the current cases of tipping disputes, the interview
questions are formed. The interview questions are presented as Table 1.
Table 1
Semi-structured interview questions with management in travel agencies
Q1 What is your company’s tipping policy?

z When and how do your tour leaders collect their tips?
z How much should children tip?
z Should the first day and last day be included?
z What do you think about your customers’ views in terms of tipping?
Q2 According to your experience, are customers satisfied with your company’s tipping
policy?
Q3 Does your company include tips in the costs of a tour?
Q4 According to your experience, do you think your tour leaders are satisfied with the
tips they have received?
Q5 How does the company select the tour leader?
In the second stage, semi-structured interviews with 4 tour leaders (from each interviewed
General travel agency) will be carried out to discover their views and attitudes towards company’s
tipping policy as well as their practical experiences in relation to customers’ perceptions for tipping.
The interview questions are presented as Table 2.
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Table 2
Semi-structured interview questions with tour leaders
Q1 What is your opinion about tipping?

z When do you think it is the proper time for tip collection?
z How much tip should children be charged?
z What do you think about customers’ views in terms of tipping?
z Would you mention the tip during a tour?
Q2 According to your experience, are you satisfied with your company’s tipping policy?
Q3 Although tipping is voluntary, do you think it is appropriate to include it in the tour costs?
Q4 According to your experience, are you satisfied with tips you have received?
Q5 Do you think there is a relationship between job performance and the amount of
tips received?
Q6 Do you think the following factors will affect the tips that you received?
z The fees of the outbound package tour.
z Customers’ occupation
z Service performance.
z Tour leaders’ attractiveness
z Other
In the third stage, internet discussion will be conducted. Question will be posted on
http://tw.knowledge.yahoo.com/.The web site provides many different subjects for discussion. The
respondents can answers questions freely without pressure. The purpose of internet discussion is to
investigate travelers’ views and perceptions toward tour leaders’ attitudes and experience with tipping.
The questions are presented as Table 3.
Table 3
Internet discussion questions with travelers
Q1 Demographic information.
z Sex
z Age
z Educational background
z Occupation
z Times for joining the outbound package tour?
Q2 What is your opinion about tipping?
z When do you think it is the most appropriate time for tip collection?
z How much should children tip?
z What are your views in terms of tipping?
Q3 According to your past experience, are you satisfied with travel agency’s tipping policy?
Q4 Although tipping is voluntary, do you think it is appropriate to include it in the tour costs?
Q5 According to your experience, do you think your tour leader is satisfied with tips they have
received?
Q6 Do you think there is a relationship between tour leader’s job performance and the amount
of tips they received?
Q7 Do you think the following factors will affect tips you give to the tour leader?
z The fees of the outbound package tour.
z Service performance.
z Tour leaders’ attractiveness
z Other
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PILOT STUDY
In this study, a pilot study was conducted in March 8, 2006 which included interviews with
managerial staffs, tour leaders, and Internet discussion. Four travel agencies included 8 interviewees
(4 managerial staff and 4 tour leaders) were chosen from a convenient and purposive selection. Each
interview took about 30 minutes, and the travel agency’s office was where the interview place was
taken. A phone call was made before the interview to ensure that they know the conversations will be
tape-recorded their comments would remain confidential. Base on ethical considerations, all
interviewees were offered to sign a letter of consent. Furthermore, a total of 28 Internet users joined
the discussion.
Interview with Travel Agencies’ Managerial Staffs
Regarding tipping policies, none of the travel agencies make a specific rule regarding how the
tour leader should collect their tip. All the interviewed travel agencies considered that the tour leader
can decide when will be the best time to collect the tip, and also indicated that children should tip as
an adult. They also indicated that the first day and last day should be included. Finally, 3 out of the 4
interviewed managers considered that customers know they have to tip tour leader, but one
interviewed manager indicated that the concept of tipping is not popular in Taiwan, and many
travelers have no idea how to tip the tour leader. However, through careful explanation and suggestion
during the pre-tour induction, customers will understand and accept the tipping policy
Although most of the interviewed managers indicated that customers are satisfy with their
tipping policy. One respondent indicated that customers’ complaints are related to the unclear tipping
policy. When this occurred, he suggested that the tour leader should return the tip to the customer.
Furthermore, most of interviewed travel agencies do not include tips in the price of a tour. In regard to
how the travel agencies select the tour leader. They considered “friendly” and “passionate” are two
important attributes for the tour leader to possess. In addition, they should have good language skills.
One respondent indicated that there is no relationship between tour leader’s job performance and the
tip size they received. But another respondent revealed that if they work hard they will get full amount
of tip.
Interview with Tour Leaders
The interviewed tour leaders considered that the most proper time to collect the tips is in the
last day of the journey. However, it also depends on the situation. One tour leader always collected
tips when she thought the atmosphere was good in the journey (in the car or hotel). All the tour
leaders indicated that children should tip as an adult because they have to pay more attentions to the
children/infants. Also, the first day and last day should be included.
Regarding to how they think about customers’ views in terms of tipping, one interviewed tour
leaders revealed that many customers do not know they have to tip the tour leader. And one
interviewed female tour leader indicated that she is shy to mention her tip to the customers.
Three out of four interviewed tour leaders indicated that they were satisfied with their
company’s tipping policy. However, one indicated that she wasn’t satisfied with the company’s
tipping policy since she considered the company didn’t ensure their benefit - when tipping disputes
occurred, they have to face the problem by themselves. In addition, two interviewed tour leaders
indicated that it is not appropriate to include the tip in the tour costs. On the contrary, the other two
indicated that they were getting more customers who prefer the tip to be included in the price of the
tour - they thought it will be easy for them not to worry about the tour leader’s tips.
In regard to whether they are satisfied with the tip they have received. Two indicated that they
were satisfied the other two were not. Three out of four interviewed tour leaders indicated they
receive more tips when they provided better service. However, the other one said that ‘I will work
287
hard and will not care about how much customers tip me in the end’. However, all the respondents
indicated that they expected to receive more tips when they had provided good performances. They
also considered that tips are one of very important parts of their incomes.
Regarding to what factors will affect the tip size, they considered that service performance is
a very important factor – for example, greeting customers with smile; remembering their names; solve
their problems, and interpreting local culture and customs. In addition, three respondents indicated
that the physical attractiveness of a tour leader will affect the tip size. But one did not consider it as
important.
Internet Discussion with Internet Users
The majority of respondents indicated that the last day was the most appropriate time for tips
collection - they considered that if they give the tips to the tour leader on the first day, the tour leader
may not work hard. Some of respondents indicated that children should only tip half amount or should
not tip at all. However, some believed that children should tip as an adult. One respondent indicated
that tour leaders are very helpful when she has no time for her children.
Regarding to whether the tip of the first day and last day should be included, most the
respondents considered that it should not be included because the tour leader did not provide any
service when on the airplane. However, some suggested the most appropriate way is only to tip for
one day. The majority of respondents indicated that tipping is a voluntary expression and the tour
leader should not take for granted. Three respondents indicated that they will only tip the tour leader
who has provided good service. Half of the respondents considered that tipping is a kind of
international etiquette and tour participants should tip the tour leader.
In terms of whether they were satisfied with the tipping policies, some respondents indicated
that they are not satisfied with travel agencies’ policies because the tipping policy is not clear. Two
respondents indicated that they didn’t know they had to tip the tour leader when on the outbound
package tour.
All the respondents indicated that there is a significant relationship between tour leader’s
service performance and the amount of tips they have received. The majority of respondents indicated
that they would like to tip more if the tour leader gave good service performance. However, some
respondents indicated that they do not know how much they should tip to the tour leader. A few
respondents felt that it is appropriate for travel agencies include tips in the cost of the tour since it
would eliminate pressure form tour number/the tour leader and would avoid spoiling the atmosphere
when on the tour. Furthermore, the respondents also revealed that tour leaders’ physical attractiveness
is very important and will influence the tip size.
DISCUSSION
This study has not been completed yet – only the pilot study had been completed. The results
of the pilot interview show the following indication: 1) it is unanimously agree that the tip should be
collected on the last day of the tour; 2) more communication is needed since many travellers still have
no idea how much they should tip; 3) the travel agencies/tour leaders and customers have showed
different opinions regarding whether the tip of the first day and last day should be included and the
issue of whether the children should tip remains narrowly agree; 4) tips included in the price of tour
seems to be acceptable by many consumers; 5) there is a significant relationship between the physical
appearance of a tour leader and the tip size; 6) furthermore, there is a positive relationship between
service performance and tip size.
The pilot study encounters several limitations. The age of respondents from Internet
discussion tends to be younger who may not be able to demonstrate the whole picture of perceptions
toward tipping. In addition, due to the lack of communication with the respondents from Internet,
288
their answers may be limited due to the time spent on the discussion and also may not be fully reflect
the meaning of the questions
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THE MEANING OF PLACE ATTACHMENT FOR CULTURAL TOURISM DESTINATION:
AN EXPLORATORY STUDY IN MEI-NONG TOWN, TAIWAN
Hui-Jung Chen
and
Chih-Liang Chao
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to establish the relationship between tourists by their Experience
Use History (EUH), and an affective and cognitive bonding based on Hakka cultural tourism
destination, Mei-nong Town. In this study, four classifications (beginners, visitors, locals, veterans) of
EUH were formed, a 34-item scale was rated dimensions of place attachment. Mei-nong Town tourist
(n=551) were surveyed for EUH and place attachment. Place attachment of the tourist was also
associated with the duration and frequency of visitation. The intensify of users’ place attachment vary
among different types of users. Research and management implications were discussed.
Key Words: Place Attachment ,Cultural Tourism, Experience Use History (EUH)
INTRODUCTION
Among the tourism researches, cultural tourism destinations have scenic beauty and exotic
atmosphere attractions. The cultural tourists were more likely to participate in passive recreation
activities such as sightseeing, relaxing and shopping, but someone tends to agree visitors want more
cultural and heritage experiences (Chandler and Costello 2002). More recent studies have tended to
focus more directly on experience and its potential to discriminate among recreation visitors. Ittelson,
France, O’ Hanlon (1976) suggests different modes of experiencing the environments for people-place
interaction. Accordingly, tourist’s experience has been considered as influencing factors and their
relationships tourists’ affective perception and behavior to place. In environmental psychology,
people have affective and familiarity their favorites place, and continue involves with attachment to
place (Hammitt and Cole 1998). Based on the place literature, people in environment and behavior,
and most people experience feelings of place attachment. Thus, different tourism resources such as
willingness, national parks, or historic sites, tourists were likely to be difference influenced by
attachment. Attachment to a destination needs to be expanded to include not just an aggregate of
attributes but its consideration as an entity that tourists experience (Lee 2001). Its results show that
past experience were significant in explaining the attachment to tourism sites.
Cultural destinations resources of place attachment researches have a few exploratory and
discussion in the studies of past. The purpose of this study was to place attachment of tourists to
cultural tourism in Mei-nong town that was based on measurements of place attachment and travel
experiences types.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The meaning of place attachment
Interest in affective and emotional bonds with place has been researches the relationship
between people and experience of place in environmental psychology. Low and Altman（1992）
defined place attachment as a kind of bond with physical place or landscape (Williams, Patterson,
Roggenbuck and Watson 1992). This developmental process is commonly referred to as place
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bonding. The place bonding behavior origin that recreation resource users and wilderness place have
affective and emotional bond, through that occurs over repeated exposures to certain places and
associated transactional place-people (Hammitt and Stewart 1996).
Relationship to the resource, or place attachment, represents a concept of valuing a recreation

setting that encompasses both functional and emotional/symbolic meanings and attachments
(Schreyer, Jacob and White 1981). Functional meanings have to this place support specific activities
or experiences that describe as place dependence. Dependence is based on an individual’s or group’s
assessment of the quality of a place and the relative quality of alternative places (Hammitt, Backlund
and Bixler 2004). Thus, its people evaluate process after experiences perceptions of place, as well as
overall satisfaction. Place identity is a ‘combination of attitudes, values, thoughts, beliefs, meanings,
and behavior tendencies reaching beyond emotional attachment and belonging to a particular place
(Proshansky, Fabian and Kaminoff 1983). The emotional/symbolic meanings has to do with the
importance a person attaches to the place because of what the setting symbolizes or stands for
(Williams and Roggenbuck 1989).
Place attachment deals with physical component of place, involves cultural variations, and
even includes different time dimensions (Low and Altman 1992). It may be affective attachments to
ideas, people, psychological states, past experiences and culture. Past studies of place attachment
between use two dimensions of place identity and dependence. Moore and Graefe (1994) aimed at
rail-trail users attachment of recreation setting in travel activities, this study was measured using place
dependence and place identity. Williams and Vaske (2003) evidence for the two-dimensional structure
and suggested that each attachment dimension can be reliable measured to students in natural areas.
Kaltenborn (1997) examines the nature of place attachment among a sample of recreation
homeowners, this results show that natural and cultural environment, family and social activities,
history and traditions are all important in the develop of affective bonds with the place. Attachment
has been measured across the few studies that have looked at its relationship to experiences with
toward cultural places. People attach meaning to places such as homes, communities, and parks, it
may be that a national parks area or symbolic American culture of Disneyland (Lee 2000). Recent
studied tended tourist’s attachments to resource and tourism near communities.
Williams and Roggenbuck (1989) suggests the place attachment were designed into the not
only two dimensions, it may be to have negative feelings toward the place or other dimensions
distinguishable from measurements. In fact, the measurements of place attachment have five-
dimensions: place familiarity, place belongingness, and place identity, place dependence, place
rootedness. Hammitt and Stewart (1996) have proposed a taxonomy of dimensions of emotional
bonding with recreation place, in which many of the dimensions of emotional bonding with place are
classified (Fig. 1). When the strength and character of the place bond is very strong, visitors become
deeply attached to their favorite place. It is proposed that both the intensity and the character of place-
bonding relationships ascend the taxonomy moving from familiarity to rootendness.
Place attachment process follows both degree of bonding intensity and degree of bonding
character. A sense of knowing and recognition of place with associate experiences, memories and
lasting image defined as ‘Place Familiarity’. First hierarchical, Familiarity process come to mind
when a person is selecting tourism or recreation sites. Next hierarchical, place belongingness entails a
spiritual connection toward social and communal environment shared by individual, or in the case of
leisure, other reservationists (Proshansky et al., 1983). Feelings of place belongingness involve bond
with the environment and /or other group and member through place interactions. Place rootedness
refers to the bonding situation wherein people becomes so bonded to a specific place that they long
for few or no other place to recreate. Tuan (1980) speaks about place rootedness very strong and
focused bond that means being completely at home. Hummon (1992) characterized this type of
rootedness to place as ‘everyday rootedness’. To acquire rootedness in a sense of extended time and
genealogical depthe, it may be necessaryh only to recreate in aparticaular place traditionally used and
spoken about by one’s grandfather and father.
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Place Rootedness
Place Dependence
Place Identity
Place Belongingness
Place Familiarity
Figure 1
A taxonomy of dimensions of emotional bonding with recreation place. (From
Hammitt and Stewart 1996)
Hammitt, Backlund and Bixler (2004) were use 26-item scale rated to form five dimensions
of place bonding, its results show place strong bond to particular place may be associated with low
use of alternative places. This paper was to report the relationship EUH and place bonding, EUH may
lead to place attachment factors that more experience-based dimensions.
Experience Use History
Experience in recreation have measured through frequency of participation, years of

participation, years of participation, or a variety of other ways has been a focus of early and
continuing research. Early theoretical work emphasized the potential importance of experience in
recreation and broadened its scope as well. EUH have many dimensions, including past experience
with a specific study sit and past experience with other similar sites. Schreyer, Lime and Williams
(1984) developed an ‘experience use history’ index based on total river trips, total rivers and number
of river trips on the study river. There have six types of user, its categories suggesting grow
increasingly complex with higher levels of experience.
Ittelson et al. (1976) suggest place attachment appear to have counterparts in five ‘mode of
experience’ classification, where the setting function as self, setting for action, and emotional territory.
EUH and Place Attachment confirmed based on an exposure-time related in Hammitt et al. (2004).
EUH classification despite a multitude of measurement approaches used to indicate amount of
experience or familiarity the some behavior or setting including specialization, past experience. Place
bonding is thought to be time related; its developmental process should be directly related to
experience user history recreation involvement.
METHODS
Empirical test in field
Study area. Since the primary purpose of this study was to test the construct of place
attachment of tourists for cultural tourism destinations. Mei-nong town in Kaohsiung County from
Taiwan for Hakka significant historic sites is spirit from foods, clothes, living, habits, and famous for
planting tobacco would be richness and completely Hakka-cultural resources. The field test was
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conducted in January 1 and ending on February 9, 2006, and involved a on-site survey of visitors in
Mei-nong.
Questionnaire Research issues addressed in the questionnaire included: experience use

history (EUH), place attachment and socio-demographic variables, ex, age, gender.
Experience use history (EUH) was measured using four questions, assessing frequency and
duration last year of using both Mei-nong town and other Hakka-cultural destination. Specific
questions asked visitors how many times last year, they visited the study site, as well as the average of
staying time each visiting. EUH classification for the study based on previous research (Hammitt and
McDonald, 1983; Schreyer, et al., 1984; Hammitt et al., 2004)
Place Attachment Scale. The 34-item scale revised from Hammitt et al., (2004) was rated on a
5-point agreements basis, where 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. The items were randomly
ordered within the battery of bonding measures. Visitors were instructed to, “Please rate your
agreement level with the following statements about the Mei-nong town.” Demographic items such as
gender, marital and age, educational attainment level, employment status, area of residence, and
income which may serve the profile information.
RESULTS
A total of 629 were received from on-site survey. After eliminating 78 respondents due to
incomplete questionnaires, a total 551 usable questionnaires were included in the statistical analyses.
EUH classifications of visitors and demographics were adopted by SPSS (release 10). Structural
equation modeling (SEM) analysis was performed place attachment scale by the LISREL 8.72 for the
need of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).
Profile of Subjects
A broad range of age groups was represented in the sample. There were an almost equal
proportion of male and female respondents (51% for male and 49% for female). Almost half (46.1%)
of the sample was aged 20 to 29. Level of education was high with 46.3% of respondents having at
least college degree. Almost one-third (28.9 %) of the sample was student. Of the seven income
categories, the smallest percentage (6.7 %) made between NT$10,001 and NT$20,000. Almost one-
third (30 %) of the sample had month incomes of between NT$20,001 and NT$40,000 which was the
middle income category.
Over half of the sample (53.9%) was one to three times visitors to the Mei-nong, while about
26.3 % sample was first-time visitors. Almost half of the visitors (41.2%) were accompanied by one
to three people. For the ethno group, a large majority of visitors (85.8%) were not Hakka group.
Majority of visitors (71.0%) lived in the south area of Taiwan.
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Table 1
Frequency
Past experience on Mei-nong town Demographic
Frequency Gender
0 26.3% Women 49%
1~3 53.9% Men 51%
4~10 14% Age
10 up 5.8% 20 below 12.8%
Average staying time per trip 20~29 46.1%
2~3 hours 20.1% 30~39 24.0%
Half of day 26.9% 40~49 10.1%
One day 22.5% 50~59 5.3%
Two days 4.2% 60~69 1.6%
During this trip 70 up 0.2%
Staying time Educational Attainment
2~3 hours 37.2% Elementary school 0.9%
Half of day 32.8% Junior high school 2.4%
One day 23% Senior high school 15.6%
Two days 6.9% Junior college 21.6%
Transportation College 46.3%
Drive 78.2% Graduate school up 13.2%
Travel agency bus 3.3% Employment Status
bus 2% Students 28.9%
Motorcycle 16.2% Public servant 20 %
others 0.4% Agriculture people and fisherman 0.9%
Party Size Worker 7.6%
One person 1.8% Service trade 15.1%
2 33.4% Commerce 9.1%
3~5 41.2% Housewife 8.3%
6~9 12.9% Others 10.3%
10 up 10.7% Area of Residence
Money Spend North area 15.1%
0~500 49.7% Middle area 11.6%
501~1000 31.2% South area 71.0%
1001~1500 8.2% Eastern area 1.1%
1501~2000 5.6% Off-shore island 1.3%
2001~2500 2.9% Income
2500 up 2.4% No income 25.6%
Tourism experience on other Hakka destination 10000 below 10.7%
Frequency 10001~20000 6.7%
0 31.9% 20001~30000 14.3%
1~3 55.2% 30001~40000 14.7%
4~10 7.4% 40001~50000 11.3%
10 up 4.2% 50001~60000 8.2%
Average staying time per trip 60001 up 8.5%
2~3 hours 30.9% Hakka people
half of day 36.5% Yes 14.2%
One day 26.9% No 85.8%
Two days 5.7%
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Place attachment
To examine the theoretical construct of place attachment, a first-order CFA model with 5
latent variables was designed to test. This method tests the hypothesis on five-dimensions of place
attachment factors, including place familiarity (PF), place belongingness (PB), place identity (PI),
place dependence (PD) and place rootedness (PR).
In model specification, there are 34 observed variables, such as y1-y6 load onto PF; y7-y13
load onto PB; y14-y20 load onto PI; y21-y27 load onto PD; y28-y34 load onto PR. The model when
first tested yielded unacceptable support: Chi-Square=1892.37, df=485, (x2/d.f.)=3.90, Goodness of
Fit Index(GFI)= 0.83, Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index(AGFI)= 0.80, Standardized Root Mean Square
Residual (SRMR)= 0.056, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA)= 0.073, Non-
Normed Fit Index (NNFI)= 0.97, Comparative Fit Index(CFI)= 0.97, Parsimonious Normed Fit
Index(PNFI)= 0.88,and Hoelter's critical n (CN)= 182.42. Post hoc modifications were performed in
an attempt to develop a better fitting and more parsimonious model. On the basis of the Modification
Indices (MIs) and expected change statistics, evidence of modification associated with y17, y8, y19,
y5, y22 and y7 were shown. those variables were dropped from the scale and two error correlations
from variable 10 and 11, variable 33 and variable 34 have been suggested to add to the model,
decreasing the Chi-Square= 859.61, df=338, (x2/d.f.)=2.54, increasing the GFI to 0.9, decreasing the
RMSEA (0.053), and CN greater than 200 (263.51). The results indicated CFA that the data fit the
conceptualized five dimension model of place attachment (Hu and Bentler, 1998) (Table 2).
Beyond examination of the squared multiple correlation for each in dictator, the composite
reliability (CR) index reflects the internal consistency of the indicators measuring a given factor. In
other word, CR value was examination a kind of indexes for items composite to fit. CR value for an
acceptable level of reliability for instruments is .60 or .70(Hatcher, 1994). Computation for each
measurement on the PF, PB, PI, PD and PR constructs is .89, .88, .83, .87, and .92. The CR for place
bonding is as high as the reliability and above acceptable level (see Table 3).
Table 2
Model-fit evaluation compares
Overall measures of indices
x2/d.f. Absolute Relative Adjusted
Initial 3.90 GFI= 0.83; AGFI= 0.80 NNFI= 0.97 PNFI= 0.88
model SRMR= 0.056; RMSEA= 0.073 CFI= 0.97 CN= 182.42
Final 2.54 GFI= 0.90 ; AGFI= 0.88 NNFI= 0.98 PNFI= 0.87
model SRMR= 0.048; RMSEA= 0.053 CFI= 0.98 CN= 263.51
Table 3
Item Means, factor loadings for confirmatory factor model of the place bonding scale
Factored dimension Item Factor Convergent

Mean Loading Validity
Place Familiarity .89
I could draw a rough map of Mei-nong Town. 2.60 .64
I have Mei-nong Town many time and I am quite failiar .88
2.64
with it.
I know Mei-nong Town like the back of my hand. 2.43 .86
I know history for Mei-nong Town. 2.51 .73
I have going here more times and I hasn’t lost my way. 2.79 .80
Place Belongingness .88
Mei-nong Town makes me feel like no other place can. 2.56 .66
When I am at Mei-nong Town, I feel part of it. 2.49 .79
I feel like I belong at Mei-nong Town. 2.39 .83
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My majority life is associated with Mei-nong Town. 2.22 .80
I will pay attention about news related with Mei-nong .78
2.38
Town.
Place Identity .83
Mei-nong Town is very special to me. 3.14 .60
I am very attached to Mei-nong Town. 2.75 .80
Mei-nong Town means atreat deal to me. 2.73 .76
Visiting Mei-nong Town says a great deal about who I .67
2.68
am.
Visiting Mei-nong Town let me find my lifestyle. 2.93 .68
Place Dependence .87
Mei-nong Town is the best place for cultural tourism. 3.64 .53
No other place can compare to Mei-nong Town for Hakka .78
3.16
cultural tourism.
I wouldn’t substitute any other area for the Hakka cultural .87
2.92
tourism I do at Mei-nong Town.
I get more satisfaction out of Hakka cultural tourism Mei- .83
nong Town than from Hakka cultural tourism any other 3.03
sites.
Hakka cultural tourism I do at Mei-nong Town I would .62
3.37
enjoy just as much at a similar sites.
No other place can give me similar Hakka cultural 2.89 .69
tourism Experiences.
Place Rootedness .92
I don’t want to visit other Hakka cultural destination after 2.41 .74
visiting Mei-nong Town,
Mei-nong Town is the symbol of Hakka cultural tourism. 2.69 .77
Visiting Mei-nong Town reminds me my family roots. 2.70 .71
Mei-nong Town is the only place I desire to Hakka 2.56 .85
cultural tourism
I rarely if ever Hakka cultural tourism any place other 2.54 .87
than Mei-nong Town.
If I could not cultural tourism Mei-nong Town I would 2.28 .83
stop Hakka cultural tourism.
I consider only Mei-nong Town when I go Hakka cultural 2.04 .68
tourism.
Note: Means based on 5-point agreement rating scale, where 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.
Experience Use History
Spending time for last year were from the frequency of visiting last year multipler by average
staying time per trip. A ratio for EUH was computed for each visitor of Mei-nong town by summing
their staying time during this time with duration on the study site last year and dividing by the sum of
the most experienced individual for each variable. Thus, the most experienced individual(s) had a
quotient of 1.0 and all other users a ratio values less than 1.0. the frequency of ratios were then
divided into ‘low’ and ‘high’ groups, based on the median value of the ratios. The same procedure
was done for the staying time on other Hakka cultural tourism destination. Table 4. were the typology
of four classes of tourists in Mei-nong town based on EUH variables.
(1)Beginners: Tourists with low EUH on Mei-nong Town and low experiences on other Hakka
cultural tourism sites.
(2)Visitors: Tourists with low EUH on Mei-nong Town but high EUH on other similar sites.
(3)Locals: Tourists with high EUH on Mei-nong Town but low EUH on other cultural tourism sites.
(4)Veterans: Tourists with high EUH on both Mei-nong Town and other cultural tourism sites.
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Table 4
Classification of Mei-nong Town cultural tourism tourists based on EUH.
Past Experiences on other Hakka tourism destination

Low High
Low Beginner Visitors
Past Experiences on (N=147) (N=122)
Mei-nong Town
High Locals Veterans
(N=130) (N=152)
Testing Hypothesize Relationships
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test for mean differences and patterns of mean
value among the four EUH and classifications and the variables of place attachment. The pattern of
EUH means hypothesized was an partial match for the variables of five-dimensions for place
attachment (Table 5). Generally, the means scores have shown the consistent pattern based on tourist
experience. Beginner and Visitors had the lowest levels; however, the Locals and Veterans had the
highest levels.
Place familiarity was partially supported in that Veterans (M=2.97) and Locals (M=2.90) had
highest levels of place bonding and Beginner (M=2.24) and Visitors (M=2.23) had the lowest levels.
Familiarity is the most cognitive knowledge based of the five dimensions and cause based on
experience, and this may explain why Veterans (e.g., high experience) scored highest on Familiarity.
For example, the more times one is exposed to a special place the greater the opportunity for
acquiring knowledge about it and developing a sense of place (in terms of place knowing) for it
(Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989).
Place dependence was supported in the Locals (M=3.33) and Veterans (M=3.29) had the
highest levels of place attachment, but Beginner (M=3.00) and Visitors (M=3.04) had the lowest
levels. Dependence is based on an individual’s or group’s assessment of the quality of a place and the
relative quality of alternative places, this result show Locals and Veterans has more perceived strength
of association specific place. Although the average degree of rootedness for the study areas was quite
low for all classes of visitors, the finding that Locals were most rooted to the Mei-nong area held true
to prediction.
Table 5
Mean differences between EUH classes of tourists, and place attachment dimensions
Place Attachment Variables

Mean Scores1
EUH Familiarity Belongingness Identity Dependence Rootedness
Beginner (=1) 2.24a 2.22 a 2.66 a 3.00 a 2.39 a
Visitors (=2) 2.23 a 2.21 a
2.64 a
3.04 a 2.35
Locals (=3) 2.90b 2.58 b
3.05 b
3.33 b 2.62 b
Veterans (=4) 2.97 b 2.61 b 3.02 b 3.29 b 2.49 b
F (P-value) 45.08 14.23 17.32 10.38 3.71
(P<0.001) (P<0.001) (P<0.001) (P<0.001) (P=0.012)
1. Means for Familiarity to Rootedness based on 5-point scale; 1=stroungly disagree, 5=strongly agree.
2. There were significant differences between a and b during post hoc test.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Recreation place bonding and the associated concepts of place attachment and applied to other
tourism sites has some different results. Our findings among prove people have attachment of
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generally place. Tourism resource management can aimed at low place attachment people may be as
attachment to activity, for example: special event in local sites. Time and past experience involved to
influence level of place attachment. EUH has the potential to serve as surrogate and perhaps
developmental indicator of the dimensions. EUH is one of affect factors on place attachment, we must
be considered about other factors, for example: distance and preference. The dependence scale and
rootedness scale, and it consisted of similarly items as used by past recreation researchers (Hammitt et
al. 2004), that suggesting develop make clear differentiate between dependence and rootedness from
conceptualization and theoretical. The major theoretical implicating of these finding that this study
demonstrates how about descriptive segmentation studies and begin to examine dynamic explanations
for tourism phenomena. In sum, there is some evidence that the place attachment by which
participants assess the meaning of participation changes with increasing amount of participation.
Management implications of developmental approach to place attachment, like EUH, would enhance
understanding of how leisure participation behavior and meaning in tourism resource preserve.
In conclusion, the major points can be describable from Mei-nong Town:
1. Hakka-cultural tourism place bonding can discriminate five-dimensions that confirm structure of
place bonding and the associated concepts of place attachment.
2. EUH, this study can mark off four classifications, including Beginners, Visitors, Locals, and
Veterans. EUH and place bonding are related closely. Locals and Veterans cause past experience
and other similarly experience, for this reason show level of place attachment better for Beginner
and Visitors.
3. EUH, as demonstrated in past research, is related to various developmental concepts of recreation

behavior, including place attachment. Although not proven as a causal variable of place attachment,
EUH could be considered a covariant of recreation place attachment and analyzed for its
contribution in the EUH-attachment relationship.
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THE SENSORY EVALUATION OF GINSENG BASE SAUCE & VARIOUS GINSENG SAUCE
USING GINSENG
Yeong-Hye Lee
Foodservice & Culinary Management
The Collage of Tourism Science Kyonggi University
Kyung-Soo Han
Kyung-Mi Seo
Hotel & Food Science
Kyungnam Information & Technology
Sang-Pil Hong
Div. Food Material Processing Technology
and
Hyun-A Lee
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to fix from the ginseng base sauce, and evaluate various
ginseng sauces such as salad dressing, chicken sauce, and steak sauce with ginseng base sauce. For
the purpose of the study, three times sensory evaluation were accomplished. The samples were
composed of three groups. The Korean chefs who works at first grade hotels in Seoul, the foreign
chefs who works at first grade hotels in Seoul, and the experts who attended at APTA conference. For
the sensory evaluation, three kinds of ginseng base samples were suggested, and sample 1 was the
highest scored. Using sample 1, various ginseng sauces were made. The score of ginseng salad
dressing was 5.32, ginseng chicken sauce was 5.13, and ginseng steak sauce was 5.67. The intention
of purchasing various ginseng sauce was as followed: ginseng salad dressing was 3.71, ginseng
chicken sauce was 3.61, and ginseng steak sauce was 3.82. in order for a new product to succeed in
the market, offer them the importance of new product, it needs to know “how to approach the
market.” If a new product tried to succeed the market, "how to approach the market" Therefore,
understanding consumers' psychological behavior is needed as further study.
Key Words: ginseng base sauce, various ginseng sauce, sensory evaluation, purchasing intention
I. INTRODUCTION
Ginseng, a medicinal herb, has long been used in maintaining physical vitality throughout
the Korea and China. Furthermore, Ginseng has health benefit and would be considered as natural
health food. However, Ginseng farmhouses have been decreasing about 63.9% compared with 1990
and export scale tends to decrease about 13.8% compared with 1990’s because of being weak
foundation of production, inflowing of much cheaper ginseng from other countries, and disusing
reselling. In this manner, the causes for decreasing domestic needs of ginseng are weak foundation of
production and inflowing of much cheaper ginseng from other countries. There are many ginseng
products such as extract produce, concentrated produce, powdered product, tea, capsuled product,
drinks, and so on. But those are only for elderly people. To promote the consumption of all age of
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ginseng customers, the development of ginseng products is the most important. The purpose of the
study was the sensory evaluation to evaluate various ginseng sauces.
Ⅱ. METHODOLOGY
1. The Sample of study
To achieve the result, we selected three groups. The first group was Korean chefs who work
at first grade hotels in Seoul. The second group was the foreign chefs who work at first grade hotels in
Seoul. The third group was the experts who attended at APTA conference. First and second sensory
evaluation was from ginseng base sauce and third sensory evaluation was from various ginseng sauces.
2. The composition of questionnaires
To verify this study, we took exploratory and Empirical Study. We took exploratory study to
choose sensory evaluation tools for a ginseng base sauce. The results were considered not in details
but overall preference such as common sensory evaluation parts. So the questionnaires were based on
13 traits. The sensory evaluation of foreigner was condensed to 10 traits due to limited time and
unfamiliarity of ginseng. Respondents recorded their responses using a 7 point likert-typed scale and
the third respondents recorded their responses using a Just About Right(JAR)
The questionnaires were made as follows. The questionnaire of Korean chefs was consisted of
13 traits. The specified attributes were as followed : An overall acceptance, color, brightness,
transparency, viscosity, flavor, sweetness, saltiness, bitterness, sourness, ginseng flavor, and
combination between ginseng flavor and taste. The Korean chefs were regarded that they are familiar
with ginseng. Therefore, they evaluated 13 traits. But the foreign chefs were thought to not experts
have information about ginseng, so the attributes were decreased at minimum level. The exports who
attended at APTA conference were asked 4 traits such as a overall acceptance, color, taste, flavor.
And the third respondents recorded their responses using a Just About Right(JAR).
Table 1
The composition of questionnaire
sample attribute scale the others

Overall acceptance, Color,
1st Brightness,Transparency, Thickness,

The Korean
sensory Viscosity, Flavor, Sweetness, Saltiness, 7 likert
chefs
test Bitterness, Sourness, Ginseng
Flavor, Combination
Overall acceptance, Color,

For foreigner didn't have the
2nd Brightness,Transparency, Thickness,
The Foreign information about ginseng, so the
sensory Viscosity, Flavor, Sweetness, Saltiness, 7 likert
chefs attributes were decreased as
test Bitterness, Sourness, Ginseng
minimum level
Flavor, Combination
For foreigner didn't have the

Experts JAR
3rd Overall acceptance, Color, Flavor, information about ginseng, so the
on APTA (Just Right
sensory Taste attributes were decreased as
conference About)
minimum level
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3. Research method
The purpose of this study was to fix from the ginseng base sauce, and evaluate various
ginseng sauces such as salad dressing, chicken sauce, and steak sauce using ginseng base sauce by
three sensory evaluations. First and second sensory evaluations were accomplished at first grade
hotels in Seoul. Third sensory evaluation was at Korea International Exhibition Center(KINTEX) The
researcher explained the purpose of the survey and the attendants were filled the questionnaire by
themselves. The period of the first evaluation was 20th of September at Hilton Hotel, The second was
10th of November at W Hotel, and the third was 10th of July at KINTEX. The statistical analysis was
completed using SPSS win 10.0. To analyze between mean of traits and difference of each trait, we
used Analysis of Variances(ANAVA) and t-test.
Ⅲ. FINDINGS
1. First sensory evaluation
We took three samples to evaluate preference. One was ginseng base sauce, another was
ginseng base sauce with spice such as basil, oregano, the other was ginseng base sauce with red
ginseng. The mean of Sample 1 was Overall acceptance: 4.06, Color: 4.00, Brightness: 4.88,
Transparency:4.18,Thickness:3.88,Viscosity:3.82,Flavor:4.41,Sweeteness:3.59,Saltiness:3.8,Bitternes
s:4.12,Sourness:3.88, Ginseng Flavor: 3.76, Combination:3.82. Sample2 was Overall acceptance:3.94,
Color:4.18, Brightness: 4.29 ,Transparency 4.06, Thickness: 3.65, Viscosity:4.18, Flavor:3.71,
Sweeteness:3.59, Saltiness: 4.47, Bitterness:3.82, Sourness: 3.53, Ginseng Flavor: 3.88,
Combination:3.94. Sample 3 was Overall acceptance:3.57, Color:3.07, Brightness: 3.29 ,Transparency
4.14, Thickness: 3.64, Viscosity:3.50, Flavor3.57, Sweeteness:3.50, Saltiness:3.86, Bitterness:3.29,
Sourness: 3.64, Ginseng Flavor: 2.86, Combination:3.31
Table 2
The result of 1st sensory evaluation
Attributes Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Mean±SD

Overall acceptance 4.06±1.09 3.94±1.64 3.57±1.95 3.87±1.55
Color 4.00±1.90 4.18±1.51 3.07±1.86 3.79±1.79
Brightness 4.88±1.87 4.29±1.21 3.29±1.59 4.21±1.68
Transparency 4.18±1.88 4.06±1.98 4.14±1.70 4.13±1.83
Thickness 3.88±1.58 3.65±1.41 3.64±1.69 3.73±1.53
Viscosity 3.82±1.55 4.18±1.67 3.50±1.56 3.85±1.58
Flavor 4.41±1.54 3.71±1.65 3.57±1.65 3.92±1.62
Sweetness 3.59±1.42 3.59±1.42 3.50±1.02 3.31±1.26
Saltiness 3.82±2.07 4.47±.94 3.86±1.61 4.06±1.60
Bitterness 4.12±1.17 3.82±1.67 3.29±1.90 3.77±1.59
Sourness 3.88±1.58 3.53±1.66 3.64±1.55 3.69±1.57
Ginseng Flavor 3.76±1.56 3.88±1.50 2.86±1.41 3.54±1.53
Combination 3.82±1.07 3.94±1.25 3.31±1.60 3.72±1.30
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According to above data, all three categories of chefs did not notice any difference with any
addition to ginseng base sauce. Therefore, it is most cost affective to not add any additives to Ginseng
base sauce.
2. Second Sensory Evaluation
Foreigner didn't have much information about ginseng, so the attributes were decreased as
minimum level. From the result of first sensory evaluation , the mean of sample 1 was the highest.
According to each 3 sample, Sample 1 was Overall acceptance:4.84,
Color:4.85,Thickness:5.30,Flavor:4.77,Sweeteness:4.31, Saltiness: 4.85, Bitterness:4.59,
Sourness:4.38,Combination:5.14, Sample 2 was Overall acceptance:4.31,
Color:4.59,Thickness:4.92,Flavor:4.00,Sweeteness:4.31, Saltiness:4.85, Bitterness:4.31,
Sourness:4.31, Combination:4.62, and Sample 3 was Overall acceptance:4.46, Color:4.46,
Thickness:4,77, Flavor:4.00, Sweeteness:4.08, Saltiness:4.23, Bitterness:4.31, Sourness:3.85,
Combination:4.23
Table 3
The results of 2nd sensory evaluation
Attribute Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Mean±SD

Overall acceptance4.84 ± 1.774.31 ± 1.804.46 ± 1.514.54 ± 1.66
Color 4.85 ± 1.07 4.59 ± .88 4.46 ± .97 4.62 ± .96
Thickness 5.30 ± 1.254.92 ± 1.044.77 ± 1.175.00 ± 1.15
Flavor 4.77 ± 1.424.00 ± 1.154.00 ± 1.154.31 ± 1.32
Taste 4.62 ± 1.573.85 ± 1.284.31 ± 1.604.26 ± 1.48
Sweetness 4.31 ± 1.324.08 ± 1.384.08 ± 1.554.15 ± 1.39
Saltiness 4.85 ± 1.074.54 ± 1.394.23 ± 1.244.54 ± 1.23
Bitterness 4.59 ± 1.204.31 ± 1.32 4.15 ± .99 4.33 ± 1.15
Sourness 4.38 ± .96 4.31 ± .75 3.85 ± 1.21 4.18 ± .99
Combination 5.15 ± .99 4.62 ± 1.564.23 ± 1.014.67 ± 1.24
3 Ginseng base sauce by nationality
To understand the statistical difference depend on sample by nationality, t-test was applied.
According to nationality, in case of sample 1, Korean was 4.01, Foreigner was 4.76. in case of sample
2, Korean was 3.98, foreigner was 4.35. in case of sample 3, Korean was 3.48, foreigner was 4.24.
After comparing mean of each sample’s preference, the highest preference was sample 1.
Table 4
t-test of ginseng base sauce by nationality
Nationality
F p
Korean Foreigner
Sample 1 4.01 4.76 29.82 .032*
Sample 2 3.98 4.35 12.53 .0015*
Sample 3 3.48 4.24 37.59 .0024*
* = p < 0.5
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According to the result foreign chefs favored ginseng sauce products more than Korean chefs.
The first one is that the Korean chefs can notice more defects of ginseng such as his favor color, taste,
etc. The second one is due to the fact that many Korean people including Korean chefs are not
familiar with ginseng as sauce products.
3. THIRD SENSORY EVALUATION
3-1 Demographic characteristics
There were total of fifty-two questionnaires. It was divided into gender part. The gender was
composed of 26 males and 26 females. The nationality was composed of 34 East Asian, 7 Western
People(including Canada, North America, Australia) and 11 Koreans.
3-2 The preference of ginseng base sauce
From first and second test, we selected the sample 1 that ranked the highest score from the
Korean chefs and foreign chefs. To know the preference of the sample 1, we used JAR scale.
Generally, If the cumulated percentage was over forty, it could meet statistical minimum level.
Seeing the classified attributes from foreign experts at APTA conference, Overall acceptance was
48.1%, Taste was 46.2%, Color was 69.2% and Flavor was 59.6%
Table 6
Sample 1 results of 3rd sensory evaluation
attribute subscription frequency percentage cumulated percentage

Not so good 9 17.3 17.3
Just about right 25 48.1 65.4
Overall
better 17 32.7 98.1
acceptance
much too better 1 1.9 100.0
Total 52 100.0
Not so food 3 5.8 5.8
Taste Better 23 44.2 96.2
Much too better 2 3.8 100.0
Total 52 100.0
Not so good 6 11.5 11.5
Color
Better 10 19.2 100.0
Total 52 100.0
Not so good 4 7.7 7.7
Flavor Better 15 28.8 96.2
Much too better 2 3.8 100.0
Total 52 100.0
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3-3 The ANOVA test on various ginseng sauces by nationality
From the ANOVA test, each sauce was tested as overall acceptance, taste combination, the
combination of appearance, the combination of flavor. Seeing the result of salad dressing, the mean of
overall acceptance was 5.32. East Asian was 5.29, Western people were 4.86, Korean was 5.73. The
statistical difference was not existed. The mean of taste combination with salad was 5.40. East Asian
was 5.24, Western people were 5.43, Korean was 5.91. The statistical difference was not existed. The
mean of the combination of appearance with salad was 5.37. East Asian was 5.32, Western people
were 4.86, Korean was 5.86. The statistical difference was not existed. The mean of the combination
of flavor with salad was 5.21. East Asian was 5.09, Western people were 5.14, Korean was 5.64. The
statistical difference was not existed.
In case of the mean of chicken sauce, overall acceptance was 5.13. East Asian was 5.15,
Western people were 5.14, Korean was 5.09. The statistical difference was not existed. The mean of
taste combination with chicken was 5.15. East Asian was 5.03, Western people were 5.57, Korean
was 5.27. The mean of the combination of appearance with chicken was 5.38. East Asian was 5.47,
Western people were 4.86, Korean was 5.45. The statistical difference was not existed. The mean of
the combination of flavor with chicken was 5.40. East Asian was 5.24, Western people were 6.00,
Korean was 5.55. The statistical difference was not existed.
In the mean of steak sauce, overall acceptance was 5.67. East Asian was 5.55, Western people
were 6.14, Korean was 5.73. The statistical difference was not existed. The mean of taste combination
with steak was 5.69. East Asian was 5.52, Western people were 6.29, Korean was 5.82. The statistical
difference was not existed. The mean of the combination of appearance with steak was 5.75. East
Asian was 5.70, Western people were 6.14, Korean was 5.64. The statistical difference was not
existed. The mean of the combination of flavor with steak was 5.39. East Asian was 5.21, Western
people were 5.57, Korean was 5.82. The statistical difference was not existed.
Table 8
The ANOVA test on various ginseng sauce by nationality
East
Western people Korean Mean±SD F p
Asian§
Overall acceptance 5.29±1.62 4.86±1.21 5.73±1.34 5.32±1.51 .718 .493
Salad Taste combination with salad 5.24±1.95 5.43±1.27 5.91±1.04 5.40±1.71 .631 .536
dressing the combination of appearance with salad 5.32±1.53 4.86±1.06 5.82±1.16 5.37±1.41 1.031.364
the combination of flavor with salad 5.09±1.76 5.14±1.21 5.64±1.43 5.21±1.62 .470 .628
Overall acceptance 5.15±1.18 5.14±1.21 5.09±1.04 5.13±1.13 .010 .990
Chicken Taste combination with chicken 5.03±1.80 5.57±1.27 5.27±1.10 5.15±1.60 .362 .698
sauce the combination of appearance with chicken5.47±1.16 4.86±1.06 5.45±.82 5.38±1.08 .951 .393
the combination of flavor with chicken 5.24±1.65 6.00±1.41 5.55±1.21 5.40±1.53 .770 .468
Overall acceptance 5.55±1.25 6.14±1.06 5.73±.90 5.67±1.16 .777 .465
Steak Taste combination with steak 5.52±1.22 6.29±.75 5.82±.98 5.69±1.14 1.438.247
sauce the combination of appearance with steak 5.70±1.40 6.14±.90 5.64±1.20 5.75±1.29 .383 .684
the combination of flavor with steak 5.21±1.31 5.57±1.81 5.82±.98 5.39±1.32 .931 .401
* = p < 0.05
§ East Asian meant malaysian, Taiwanese, philippino, Japanese
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3-4 The viewpoint & purchasing intention on various ginseng sauces
To analyze the behavior & purchasing intention on various ginseng sauces, we asked five
questions as followed. First, Mean of Western people and Korean was higher about question for
“ good for health” Western people and Korean tend to consider health food. Second, Mean of
western people was higher about question for “Having positive opinion about ginseng sauce” Western
people are more familiar with use of sauce type products than Asian. Third, Mean of Korean was
higher about question for “I considered to buy ginseng salad dressing” Compare to mean, East Asian
and western people didn’t have any statistical difference but Western people and Korean had
statistical difference. Forth, Mean of Korean was higher “I considered to buy ginseng chicken
dressing” Fifth, Mean of Western people and Korean was higher about question for” I considered to
buy ginseng chicken dressing”
Table 9
The viewpoint & purchasing intention on various ginseng sauce
East
Western people Korean Mean±SD F p
Asian§
Good for health 4.24±.969 4.43±.787 4.45±.522 4.31±.860 .314 .732
Having positive opinion about ginseng sauce 4.15±.939 4.43±.787 4.09±1.044 4.18±.932 .306 .738
I considered to buy ginseng salad dressing 3.55±1.003a 3.57±1.397a 4.27±.786b 3.71±1.0452.162.046*
I considered to buy ginseng chicken sauce 3.58±1.173 3.29±1.254 3.91±.831 3.61±1.115 .699 .502
a b
I considered to buy ginseng steak sauce 3.50±1.270 4.57±.535 4.27±.786a 3.82±1.1733.850 .028*
* = p < 0.05
§ East Asian meant malaysian, Taiwanese, philippino, Japanese
Ⅳ. CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSIONS
To summarize, the results of this research was as below. From the first sensory evaluation of
the Korean chefs sample 1 was selected. The second sensory evaluation of the foreign chefs also
showed the highest mean of sample 1. The third sensory evaluation of the exports who attended at
APTA conference evaluated various ginseng sauce using ginseng base sauce sample 1.The mean of
ginseng salad dressing was 5.32, ginseng chicken sauce was 5.13, and ginseng steak sauce was 5.67.
According to this result, the ginseng steak sauce had the highest mean.
The viewpoint and purchasing intention on various ginseng sauces by taking Just about
Right(JAR)scale showed that the mean of ginseng salad dressing was 3.71, ginseng chicken sauce was
3.61, and ginseng steak sauce was 3.82. In purchasing intention on ginseng salad dressing, the mean
was 3.71. According to this result, Korean was 4.27 which was the highest mean, Western people
were 3.57, and East Asian was 3.55 which was lower than mean of each country.
The difference of various ginseng sauces by nationality showed that between Asian and
western people, ginseng salad dressing had no statistical difference. However Korean did. In chicken
sauce, there were statistical differences among countries. In ginseng steak sauce, East Asian and
Korean had no statistical difference but Western people did.
Upon this result, the satisfaction of various ginseng sauce such as ginseng salad dressing,
ginseng chicken sauce, and ginseng steak sauce was relatively high. Brand-new products should be
considered high quality as well as methods of approaching to the new market. Without understanding
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consumer behavior, new products are in capable of reaching market successfully. Therefore farther
research might be considered on the basis of this research in confident reasonable price, packaging of
sauce product and the preference of sauce products.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This study was supported by Research fund (E 056001-05142) of Korea Food Research
Institute. National Science & Technology Council.
309
THE STUDY OF DISCUSSING THE ECOLOGICAL CAPACITY OF NATIONAL PARK BY
APPLYING ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
Yungkun Chen
Dept. of Business Administration / Dept. of Resource Engineering
ChungChou Institute of Technology / National Cheng Kung University
Chia-you Chen
Department of Resource Engineering
National Cheng Kung University
and
Tsuifang Hsieh
Department of Hotel Management
Taiwan Hospitality & Tourism College
ABSTRACT
The man-time of the tourists in the national park in Taiwan always reaches several millions.
Large amount of tourists lead the national park causing potential crisis of environmental damage or
decadence of nursing, and display the opposing relation between ecological nursing and leisure rest.
For this reason, this research uses the Ecological Footprint (EF) proposed by Wackernagel and Rees
in 1996 to estimate the EF of tourist and EC of tourist of Yangmingshan National Park in Taiwan.
This research shows the following results: The total EF of the recreational area is 33957.8217gha, the
EC is 6400.37gha and the EPR is 530.56%, the recreational area development is against its
sustainable development.
Key Words: Ecological footprint; National park; Ecological capacity
INTRODUCTION
In the beginning of the 21st century the tourism industry has become the trend of global
economic development. According to World Tourism Organization statistics, global tourism is
growing by 4% each year while the number of nature-oriented travels is increasing at a pace of 10%-
30% per year (The Ecotourism International Society, 2000). With the rapid development of the
tourism industry, however, came also issues pertinent to environmental impact of tourist activities.
Under the idea of sustainable development of tourism resources and lessening of recreation-incurred
impacts, how to ensure that our tourism is developed under the principle of sustainable operation and
is beneficial to ecological conservation with biological diversity and climate shifting taken into
account has become a crucial issue.
In recent years the two-day weekend policy and the demand for higher living quality have
resulted in full blossom of tourism in Taiwan, growing at a pace of 5-7% a year. Too many people
have crowded the small island of Taiwan, however. As the demand for recreation increases,
competition among resort areas intensifies with each highlighting its scenic features to attract the
attention of tourists. The impact of tourist activities is worsening as a result. The man-time of the
tourists in the national park in Taiwan always reaches several millions. With the “Challenge 2008:
Tourist Multiplies Plan” pushed by the Executive Yuan, it makes the national park sustaining more
pressure of development. Large amount of tourists lead the national park causing potential crisis of
environmental damage or decadence of nursing, and display the opposing relation between ecological
nursing and leisure rest. How to maintain balanced development of the national parks between
ecological preservation and recreation is challenging the wisdom of national park administrators and
researchers.
310
As the wave toward sustainable development sweeps on, the international community
continues to develop tools or indicators for related assessment, in hopes that these tools or indicators
can realistically and reasonably reflect the ecological environment, effectively analyze waste of
natural resources and explore relations of various environmental impacts. Among others, Ecological
Footprint (EF) proposed by Wackernagel and Rees in 1990 is most widely used. Showing the extent
of environmental burden via land areas, EF is a quantitative indicator of sustainability that focuses on
ecological concepts. It receives expansive attention from international ecoeconomic community
because of its concise comprehensiveness. Ecological Footprint had being selected by IMD as one of
its detailed indicators for gauging the competition edge of environmental infrastructures (IMD, 2002).
In the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) published annually by Yale Center for Environmental
Law and Policy in conjunction with CIESIN, World Economic Forum and Research Centre of the
European Commission, EF has been adopted as the basis for evaluating waste and consumption
pressure. Accordingly we can see that EF has become an international standard for assessing natural
resource consumption.
Based on the research motives mentioned above, this study applies the concept of Ecological
Footprint presented by Wackernagel and Rees in 1996 to exploration of environmental load and land
resource requirement with adjustment of EF as a tool for computing local land resource demands. It
estimates the Ecological Footprint and Ecological Capacity of Yangmingshan National Park as
references for the responsible agency to maintain a balance between ecological preservation and
THEORY AND COMPUTATION OF ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
In the last few years environmental experts have proposed concepts of ecological capacity
(EC). Catton (1987), for instance, defines human carrying capacity as “the volume of use and
intensity of use to which man’s exploitation of natural resources does not hinder future utilization of
environmental resources.” In the eyes of land developers, human carrying capacity can be seen as “the
maximum population and the extent of development an environmental system can sustain on
condition that it is not severely impaired” (Schenider, Godschalk and Axler,1978). According to the
words of the scholars, EC analysis helps us stay on top of the extent to which human beings use
resources and determine whether human life style is inline with the requirement of sustainable
development.
EF analysis, which was developed by William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel, measures the
land and resources a society consumes in order to sustain itself. The EF of a region is the area of
productive land required to provide all the energy and material resources consumed and to absorb all
of the wastes discharged by the population of the region using current technology, wherever on earth
that land is located. (Wachernagel & Rees 1996)
Computation of EF analysis is mainly divided into two parts. The first part involves EF
analysis mentioned above, which converts consumer behaviors of the population of a certain region
into land area composition. The second part concerns ecological benchmark, the calculation of which
consists of land areas of the existing ecological productivity of a certain region. There are
disagreements concerning classification and computation of existing ecological productivity land
areas. Yet research findings of Wackernagel and Rees (1996), as well as that of the ensuing study of
Wackernagel et al. (1997, 1998) on 52 UN member states, indicate the six ecological productivities of
EF analysis, including cultivatable land, pasture land, forest, marine, fossil energy land and
architectural land, are more appropriate for regional comparison. Without delving into ecological
productivity land classification, this study engages in computation of Yangmingshan National Park
according to the six less-controversial ecological productivity land categories.
Therefore, the EF of any given population (certain individual, a city or a nation) is the total
biological production area (including the land and the marine area) required for producing all the
311
resources consumed by these people and absorbing all the wastes generated by them. Computation of
EF is as follows:
Pi A × EPi
ACa = ∑ × yFi × eFi = ∑ i × yFi × eFi = ∑ Ai × yFi × eFi
EPi EPi
in which,
Aca: refers to Ecological Capacity;
Pi: refers to resource consumption/production that affects category i ecological production land;
EPt: refers to unit production of category i ecological production land;
Ai: refers to the area of category i ecological production land;
yFi : refers to the average production factor of category i ecological production land;
eFi: refers to the equivalent factor of category i ecological production land.
Comparing the EF of a region/nation generated by its resource/energy consumption and waste

disposal with the EC of the region/nation, we will have an ecological deficit (EF is greater than EC) or
ecological remainder (EF is less than EC). An ecological deficit indicates the human load is greater
than its EC, referring to an overloaded state, while an ecological remainder shows the EC of the
region is adequate for supporting its human load, indicating the consumption is relatively sustainable.
In the course of this study, the concept of ecological possession ratio (EPR) is proposed, which serves
as the parameter for gauging the relationship between EF and EC: EPR= (EF/EC)
Through the calculation of EPR, we can determine whether a regional environment is in a

loadworthy or overloaded state.
According to analysis above, for reasonable computation for different natural landscapes, land
use conditions and tourist activity features, this study proposes to verify the production coefficient and
adjustment coefficient that are appropriate for the characteristics of recreational areas according to the
nature and makeup of the land resources of recreational areas.
YANGMINGSHAN NATIONAL PARK ECOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

ANALYSIS
Ecological Footprint Productivity Land Analysis
Increase in tourist activities causes the number and expenditure of tourists to rise and results
in increase in energy consumption and resource possession. According to the EF theory, it will lead to
rise in EF level and escalation in resources consumed by the population of the region, as well as the
total area of biological production land required for accommodating all the wastes generated.
According to the 6 productivity land categories of EF, this study analyzes the 6 EF
productivity land categories of Yangmingshan National Park as follows:
Fossil Energy Land
Fossil energy land refers to the forest land area required for absorbing greenhouse gas CO2
emitted from burning of fossil energy. According to global average CO2 absorption by forest lands,
the greenhouse gas emitted from fuels, of which the energy absorbed per hectare of forest land is
55GJ, is adopted for calculation. In the total EF of recreational area population, the fossil energy land
mainly comprises transportation energy consumption; tourists’ food and board; tourist activity within
the recreational area; fuels, coals and electricity consumed in different manners; and total fossil
energy EF of permanent residents of the recreational area.
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1. Recreational Area Population Count
Yangmingshan National Park is mainly for short-term recreation, and tourists mostly stay for
only 1 day while past EF analysis was conducted on annual basis. For effective utilization of past EF
research data and horizontal comparison with EF levels of other nations/regions, this study adopts the
annual number of tourists of the recreational area for EF computation as shown in Table 3-1.
Table 3-1
Total Population of Tourists and Permanent Residents
Year Annual Tourists Average Span of Stay (day) Number of Permanent Residents
2004 4,854,436 1 19,379
Source: 1. Annual Number of Tourists in 2004 comes from National Park Website.
2. Annual of Permanent Residents in 2004 comes from Taipei City Shilin District Office Website,
which includes Taipei City boroughs within the premises of Yangmingshan National Park.
2. Transportation Energy Consumption
Including energy consumed by various vehicles used to transport tourists in and out of and
within the recreational area. Tourism is a short-term activity. The actual transportation distance
between the originating point and the destination, transportation convenience, topographic complexity
of the transportation route, and the vehicle employed significantly affect transportation energy
consumption. Analysis reveals that the actual transportation distance between the originating point
and the destination is the primary factor of transportation energy consumption. This study therefore
bases its calculation of transportation energy consumption on the actual transportation distance
between the originating point and the recreational area.
According to statistics of originating points of recreational area tourists and prediction of

recreational area feasibility study report, tourist originating points of the recreational area and the
transportation distance in 2004 are shown in Table 3-2. Based on 2 liters of energy consumption per
100 km per person, the average gasoline consumption per person for transportation to and from the
recreational area in 2004 is approximately 2 liters.
Table 3-2
Tourists Distribution Statistics
Average
Middle
North Northwest Southwest South East mileage per
Taiwa other
Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan Round trip
n
per person
Round trip 300 600
40 km 280 km 560 km 720 km 500 km
distance km km
Tourist 106.9 km
proportion 85% 4% 2% 4% 3% 0.3% 1.7%
in 2004
Source: Tourist proportion and round trip distance data are estimated figures based on Liao Siang-
Heng (2003), Assessment of Economic Value of Yangmingshan National Park’s Tourism
Resources, master thesis of China Culture University Department Economics.
3. Energy consumption of food/accommodation and tourist activities within the recreational area
Energy consumption of food/accommodation, entertainments and recreational facilities within

the recreational area is divided into 3 categories: coal, petroleum and electricity. Energy consumption
313
standards of different recreational facilities developed within the recreational area are different.
Energy consumptions of Yangmingshan National Park in 2004 are shown in Table 3-3.
Table 3-3
Energy Consumption of Food/Accommodation and Tourist Activities within the Recreational Area
Year Coal Petroleum Electricity

2004 78951kg 39476kg 236853kw．h
4. Other Fossil Energy Consumption
For energy consumption increase as a result of added sewage treatment and electricity
facilities we mainly take into account increase in coal, petroleum and electricity consumption.
Architectural Land
Including various recreational and supplementary facilities such as tourism service facility,
public road, trail, parking lot, power supply facility, water supply/discharge facility, and garbage and
sewage disposal facility. Table 3-4 shows conditions of various architectural lands.
Table 3-4
Recreational Area Architectural Land Change Computation Table Unit: m2
Garbage
Water
Tourism and
Public Park Power Supply/ Architectural
Year Service Trail Sewage Total
Road Lot Supply Discharge Lands
Facility Disposal
Facility
Facility
2004 52,915 313,191 8,268 3,059 3,307 1,654 165 82,680 465,239
Cultivatable Land, Pasture Land, Marine Area and Forest
Tourists’ biological resource consumption within the recreational area includes 7 categories:
food, economic produce, fruit, vegetable, wood, animal produce and marine produce. These 7
consumption categories can be divided into 6 land categories. Computation is based on a standard that
is not lower than the food and daily necessity consumption standard of the tourists’ originating points.
Due to incomplete statistical data, the EF values of 4 land categories of Yangmingshan National Park
in 2004 are borrowed from the EF values of Taiwan in 1999. Land areas are shown in Table 3-5.
Table 3-5
Ares of 6 Land Categories
Cultivatable Pasture Architectural Marine Fossil Energy

Year Forest
Land Land Lands Area Land
2004 45hm2 573hm2 6725hm2 45hm2 66hm2 181hm2
Yangmingshan National Park Ecological Footprint Computation
Total Ecological Footprint Computation
EF values of Yangmingshan National Park are shown in Table 3-6.
314
Table 3-6
EF Values of Yangmingshan National Park
Equivalence Year 2004

Land Category factor Average area per person Equivalence area
Cultivatable Land 2.8 0.1008 0.2823
Pasture Land 0.5 0.6276 0.3138
Forest 1.1 0.0206 0.0226
Fossil Energy Land 1.1 0.7409 0.8150
Architectural Land 2.8 0.0983 0.2752
Marine Area 0.2 0.2172 0.0434
Average Tourist EF per person 1.7523
Total Tourist EF 1.7523*19,379=33957.8217
Ecological Capacity Computation
Forest land comprises the majority of the recreational area, and other productive lands only
account for minor portions. In calculating architectural land EC, if we employ the agricultural
production coefficient as usual, the resulting value will be greater than the actual condition. This study,
therefore, adjusts the architectural land production coefficient employed for architectural land EC
computation. According to the proportion of architectural land sources of Yangmingshan National
Park (pasture 30%, forest 70%), the architectural land production coefficient (0.69) of Yangmingshan
National Park is arrived at to make the computation more reasonable. The EC values for the 6 land
categories are calculated as shown in Table 3-7.
Table 3-7
The EC Values for Yangmingshan National Park
Year 2004
Land Category Yield factor
Average area per person Yield adjusted area
Cultivatable Land 1.66 45.00 74.70
Pasture Land 0.19 573.00 108.87
Forest 0.91 6725.00 6119.75
Fossil Energy Land 0.00 0.00 0.00
Architectural Land 0.69 45.00 31.05
Marine Area 1.00 66.00 66.00
Ecological Capacity 6400.37
Biodiversity Conservation Area (－12%)
Total EC 5632.33gha
Ecological Possession Ratio Change Analysis
The results of EF and EC computation show the EC of Yangmingshan National Park is less
than its total EF indicating it is in a state of ecological deficit. That the EPR is as high as 530.56%
denotes the pressure of recreational activities on the natural ecological system is beyond the EC of the
recreational area. The ecological system is endangered as shown in Table 3-8. The EPR is so high
because 1. Annual increase in number of tourists results in significant upsurge in pollutant generation
and energy consumption; 2. Recreational area expansion turns part of the forest land, pasture and
cultivatable land into building sites; development of recreational facilities causes tourism production
land to shrink. In sum, rapid increase in number of tourists is the main reason that leads to escalated
EPR.
315
Table 3-8
EPR Computation (Unit：gha)
Average EF per Average EC per

Year Total EF EC EPR
person (EF/P) person (EC/P)
2004 33957.8217 1.7523 6400.37 0.3303 530.56%
Ecological Footprint Analysis-Based Recreational Area Sustainable Development Assessment
To help determine whether the ecological environment of Yangmingshan National Park is in a

state of sustainable development, this study based on “National Ecological Footprint” by Wackemagel
(1996) compares Yangmingshan National Park with 52 countries in terms of EF, EC and EPR levels
as follows:
Average Ecological Possession Ratio Comparison
Out of the 52 countries above, 10 typical countries (Peru; New Zealand; Iceland; Brazil;
Indonesia; Canada; Australia; Finland; Malaysia; Colombia) of more advanced ecological resources
and tourisms are selected for calculation of EPR. The average EPR is 41.54% while that of
Yangmingshan National Park is 530.56%, or 13 times higher than the 10 typical countries. Thereby
we learn the expansion of Yangmingshan National Park is against sustainable development of its
ecological environment.
Ecological Possession Golden Section Search Technique (GSST)
To ensure proper development and utilization of the ecological environment of a recreational

area this study employs the 0.618 Method (GSST) to classify the 52 countries in terms of ecological
utilization appropriateness. There are 5 levels of appropriateness. In accordance with ecological
possession of major countries around the world, the 5 levels and typical countries are shown in Table
3-9.
Table 3-9
Ecological Possession Appropriateness Levels
Ecological Possession
EPR Typical Country
Appropriateness Leaves
Especially Appropriate <0.382 New Zealand; Peru; Iceland
More Appropriate 0.382-0.618 Brazil; Australia; Colombia; Indonesia; Canada
Appropriate 0.618-0.726 Finland; Malaysia; Argentina
Lower Appropriate 0.726-1 Chile; Sweden; Norway; Ireland; Venezuela
inappropriate >1 Hong Kong; Singapore; Israel; Belgium
Nations with EPR levels of “Especially Appropriate” and “more Appropriate” have better
ecological environment. The domestic ecological quality of some of the developed countries such as
USA, UK, Germany and France is quite good. Yet as a result of modern life style their average energy
consumption per person is higher than global average, and their average EF person has also been too
high. Countries with the lowest ecological utilization appropriateness such as Hong Kong, Singapore,
Israel and Belgium mainly lack productive land resources. The average EPR of nations with very high
ecological possession per person is far greater than 1 and is even approaching infinity. Compared with
EPR levels of typical countries of Table 3-9, the EPR (530.56%) of Yangmingshan National Park is
too high and is in the range of ecological utilization inappropriateness. That means the expansion of
Yangmingshan National Park is against sustainable development of its ecological environment.
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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Recreational Area Ecological Footprint Case Study Conclusion
Through utilization of EF analysis in evaluation of sustainable development of recreational

areas, we reach the following conclusions:
1. EF analysis of the impact of Yangmingshan National Park’s tourism development shows the
following results: The total EF of the recreational area is 33957.8217gha, the EC is 6400.37gha and
the EPR is 530.56%. Through comparison with typical nations of better ecological environment and
tourism development, and through average EPR comparison and GSST, result of this study shows
the EF of Yangmingshan National Park is greater than its EC while its EPR has deviated from the
scope of sustainable development, indicating the impact of increase in recreational activities on the
ecology of the recreational area is significant. The governing agency of the recreational area needs
to fully understand the adverse impact of recreational expansion on sustainable development and
take necessary measures to stop or alleviate deterioration of the ecological environment.
2. Development of the recreational area is for sustainable operation. The recreational activity should
be in harmony with the natural environment. The pace of development and the number of tourists
should be controlled and environmental awareness needs to be intensified. Otherwise, excessive
number of tourists will create a pressure that being too much for the environment will destroy the
environment, on which the ecological tourism is based, and make sustainable development of the
ecological tourism impossible.
Recommendations
1. Evaluation of the pressure of tourism development on the natural environment of the region
through EF method from ecological perspective often overlooks economic, social, technical and
other fundamental environmental issues that may affect sustainable development. The computation
outcome is often too optimistic, and the actual EF value is often greater than the calculated value.
2. Due to the fact that EF computation is based on the unit of year, it often neglects the environmental
problem triggered by uneven tourist distribution in terms of time and space. Influenced by the
climate, weekend/holiday and celebration, the number of tourists fluctuates with the season.
Frequency of recreational activities and over concentration of tourists may result in special changes
to the ecological resource of the recreational area (such as concentrated emission of pollutants,
which may cause permanent damage to animals and plants of the recreational area). Yet EF
computation fails to demonstrate this possible impact.
3. Though the EF theory is not perfect, EF analysis has opened up new possibilities for gauging
sustainable development of recreational resources. Its analytic results serve as important references
for decision-makers of recreational area administrations in recreational resource development and
daily management and maintenance.
REFERENCES
Bicknell, K.B., Ball, R.J., Cullen, R., & Bigsby, H.R. (1998). New methodology for the ecological
footprint with an application to the New Zealand economy. Ecological Economics, 27, 149-160
Catton, W.R. (1987). The World Most Polymorphic Species: Carrying Capacity Transgressed to Wats,
Biosciencs, 37, 413-419.
IMD (2002). World competitiveness yearbook 2002.Lausanne, Switzerland: Institute for Management
Development.
317
Liao, S.H.(2003). Assessment of Economic Value of Yangmingshan National Park’s Tourism
Resource. Master thesis of Chinese Cultural University, Department of Economics.
Schenider, D.M., Godschalk D.R., & Axler, N., (1978). The Carrying Capacity Concepts as a
Planning Tool, APA Report, 338.
Stefan Gossling (2002). Ecological footprint analysis as a tool to assess tourism sustainability.
Ecological Economics, 43, 199-211
TIES (2000). Ecotourism Statistical Fact Sheet. The Ecotourism International Society.
Wackernagel et al. (1997). Ecological footprints of nations: how much nature to they use?-how much
nature do they have?, The Earth Council, San Jose, Costa Rica, March,1997.
Wackernagel, M., & Rees, W. (1996). “Our ecological footprint - reducing human impact on the
earth. ”, Gabriola Island. B.C., Canada: New Society Publishers.
318
THE STUDY ON IMPLEMENTING HR SCORECARD TO ENHANCE THE ORGANIZATIONAL
PERFORMANCE FOR THE TOURISM INDUSTRY
Shu-Hsiao Tsen
Wan-Yu Tseng
and
Jia-Ying Lin
ABSTRACT
To integrate HR scorecard with strategic business planning is a good way to meet with the
business blueprint and to enhance the possibility for excellent, and to achieve the competitive edge as
well as to fulfill the business goal.
A direct link between HR scorecard and corporate financial results is not readily apparent in
traditional accounting practices. Immediately, we’re only beginning to understand the potential of this
tool, but it’s the measurement process that’s important. Once we can measure intangible assets more
accurately, the management and HR professionals would begin to examine the company’s value based
on the HR scorecard.
Key Words: Balance Scorecard, HR scorecard, organizational performance, Tourism Industry.
INTRODUCTION
In the recent years, Taiwan’s international tourism hotel has continued to increase. It has
increased from 50 hotels to 59 hotels in 8 years（1997-2005）; Moreover, the rate of housing has
increased from 63.74% to 72.10%. In 2001, Taiwan’s tourist has grown 13.77%, the services provided
by airlines are improved, and the sizes of the restaurant are increasing. It is apparent that the future of
the tourism industry is a sound one and has great potential. Currently, tourism industry should focus
on how to improve the overall performance in tourism related industries and make the most efficient
use out of the limited resources in organization.
From past studies, measuring organization’s performances are mostly used in the
manufacturing industry. The main reason is that in traditional manufacturing industry, there is a clear-
cut output to measure. Additionally, the number of products and quality of the products can all be
used to measure performance. This is also the reason why most studies used Kaplan and Norton’s
Balance scorecard to measure organization’s performance. Tourism industry’s servicing target is
customers; this makes it different from traditional manufacturing industry. The main goal in service
industry is customer satisfaction. The output of service industry cannot be defined and measured, so
using traditional performance measures to evaluate the performance of service industry would be
inappropriate.
319
LITERATURE REVIEW
I. BALANCE SCORECARD
Daly (1996) asserted that the organizational investment should consider non-financial as well
as financial performance indicators were more accurate in their earnings estimates. The balance
scorecard is a sound model that integrates financial and non-financial strategic measures. A set of
measures gives top managers a fast but comprehensive view of the business. In the other side, the
Balance Scorecard proposed by Norton and Kaplan in1992, and retains traditional financial measure.
In the information age, these financial measures are inadequate. However, for guiding and evaluating
the journey that information age companies must make to create future value through investment in
customer, supplier, employees, processes, technology, and innovation.These four perspectives provide
the framework for the Balanced Scorecard (see Figure 1).
Financial perspective How do we look to

Goals Measures shareholders?
How do customers
see us? What must
we excel at?
Customer perspective Internal business
perspective
Goals Measures Vision
and Goals Measures
Strategy
Innovation and
learning perspective
Goals Measures
Can we continue to improve
and create value?
Figure 1
The Balance Scorecard Framework
Source: modify Kaplan & Norton(1996)
Kaplan and Norton ~ expanded this definition as follows:
The balanced scorecard allows managers to look at the business from four important
perspectives. It provides the answer to four basic questions:
Table 1
Four basic questions & Perspective
Question Perspective
How do customers see us? Customer perspective
What must we excel at? Internal perspective
Can we continue to improve and create value? Innovation and learning perspective
How do we look to shareholders? Financial perspective
While giving senior managers information from four different perspectives, the balanced
scorecard minimizes information overload by limiting the number of measures used. Calls for
broader-based sets of performance indicators which may be more meaningful to operating managers,
320
rather than financial criteria expressed at group or divisional level are by no means new, as Ezzame1
observes: "The call for non-financial quantifiable measures is not new; it has underlined much of the
literature which has sought to expose the limitations of short-term financial measures of performance
in divisionalized organizations." Kaplan and Norton's ideas express dissatisfaction with the
'engineering' focus of performance measurement, as practiced in the west for decades since the
Dupont pyramid was devised. This embodies a negative feedback mechanism, driven by financial
targets and precise task definition, designed to influence the behavior of managers and their
subordinates in order to achieve favorable financial results.
The widespread attention to strategic issues in management and accounting has sparked the
realization that the “old” performance measures overlook the importance of the firm's relationship
with its environment, in particular with its customers. Hence, the need is apparent for a set of
performance criteria more overtly oriented towards the firm's end-markets. Indeed, the essence of the
balanced scorecard is the acceptance that some performance criteria are in conflict, and the task of
management is to resolve these conflicts to achieve a balance of objectives.A major task facing a
company or division introducing a balanced scorecard is how to devise a set of measures explicitly
linked to its strategy. Underlying this need is the essential condition that the strategy is widely
understood and accepted within the organization, especially among those responsible for devising the
scorecard itself.
II. HR SCORECARD
The Balance scorecard designs always start with the same simple question, what is your
strategy? This experience has given us far reaching insight into the ways that executive teams thinks
about strategy and their organizations.
The fourth of dimension of Balance scorecard involve all functions of business. For instance,
the "financial" and "accountant" function related to the financial perspective, the " marketing"
function related to the customer perspective, the "value chain" function related to the internal
perspective, and the "human capital" function related to the Innovation and learning perspective. The
executive team's understanding of strategies for developing human capital, only the professional
manager of Human Resource Department can handle.
The greatest concern here is that, in the New Economy, human capital is the foundation of
value creation. (Various studies show that up to 85 percent of a corporation’s value is based on
intangible assets.) The asset that is most important is the least understood, least prone to measure. The
Balanced Scorecard, as articulated by Kaplan and Norton (1996), is a conceptual measurement model
for assessing an organization’s performance. This model complements financial measures of past
performance with measures of drivers of future performance. Unlike other accounting models, the
Balanced Scorecard incorporates valuation of organizations’ intangible and intellectual assets such as:
y High-quality products and services

y Motivated and skilled employees
y Responsive internal processes
y Innovation & productivity
The HR Scorecard approach used slightly modifies the initial Balanced Scorecard model,
which at the time was most commonly used at the corporate level. The approach, however, remains
focused on long-term strategies and clear connections to business outcomes.
321
The HR Balanced Scorecard includes four perspectives:
A. Strategic Perspective
Measures our success in achieving the five strategic thrusts. Since the basis for the HR Balanced
Scorecard is achieving business goals, the aligned HR Strategic objectives are the drivers for the
entire model.
B. Operations Perspective
Measures HR’s success in operational excellence. The focus here is primarily in three areas: staffing,
technology, and HR processes and transactions.
C. Customer Perspective
Includes measures of how HR is viewed by our key customer segments. Survey results are used to
track customer perceptions of service as well as assessing overall employee engagement, competitive
capability, and links to productivity.
D. Financial Perspective
Addresses how HR adds measurable financial value to the organization, including measures of ROI in
training, technology, staffing, risk management, and cost of service delivery.
The people requirements defined the HR Strategy that then translated into specific HR
initiatives that should directly support the attainment of HR Strategy. Having this alignment allowed
us to develop a strategy map which illustrated the cause and effect linkage between HR Strategy and
business objectives. Using the strategy map as the guide, we were then able to evaluate the strategic
objectives in terms of measures and outcomes (see Figure2). We could then further refine these into
lagging measures (which tell how well a company has already done) and leading measures (which are
indicators of future performance).
322
Contribute to
Corporate
Financial Shareholder
Maximize Minimize
Human Capital HR Cost
Customer Corporate/Business Units Employees
Business Partner Organizational

Skills,
(Strategic Health & Low Cost
Competencies &
Support) Competitive Provider
Leadership
Capability
Operations
Align HR Develop & Optimize

Provide Ensure a Service
Planning Enhance
Proactive Strategy Delivery
with World
Workforc Focused Through
Business Class
e Workforc Streamline
Strategy Programs
Solutions e d Processes
Strategic
Capability Enable a
Talent (Build Performance Organization Leadership
Strategic Based al Integration
Competencies Culture/
Figure 2
GTE HR Linking Model
Source: Reprinted with permission of GTE Corporation
Once we had defined the link from our financial objectives, we now focused on the critical
human capital requirements defined by the business. Previously our HR Performance measurement
had focused solely on improvement of administrative and transactional efficiency such as the error
rate in employee benefit processing and the number of training hours delivered per month. Now the
focus was expanding to include new processes for the HR organization to develop best in class service
delivery and increased employee value while ensuring a focus on cost and value.
Traditionally, HR had a difficult time communicating to the business and maintaining their
focus on the investments and initiatives designed to build employee capability. Strategic skill
development, leadership development, and employee development programs were all discussed with
business leaders and generally accepted as valuable. When financial pressure was applied, however,
these types of programs were the first to go. Now with measures, which link leadership development
with competitive capability, people can see the relationship between investing in these programs and
achievement of long-term goals.
323
The HR Balanced Scorecard has made it possible to understand more easily for HR managers
on how they align it to business objectives. They are able to explain not only what they are tracking
but also how they are performing on essential strategies for the business. Business environment and
the objectives and strategies will continue to evolve, and HR managers will continue to be flexible
and creative in supporting the changes. The value of the HR Scorecard as a tool is that it can get us to
the new goals and measures and through the process ensure continued learning and change
management.
III. COMPARE THE BALANCE SCORECARD WITH THE HR SCORECARD
Balance Scorecard and HR Scorecard are methods on measuring organizational performance,

which have been developed from finance measuring methods that differ from conventional ways.
Moreover, they are designed for according with the organization function. HR Scorecard is based on
the foundation of Balance Scorecard. The main goal is to build organization’s strategic management
capabilities from the new viewpoint of human resource strategy analysis. Both methods consist of
four dimensions, but their evaluation methods are different. Below is a comparison chart of the two
methods:
Table 2
Comparison for Balance Scorecard and HR Scorecard
Dimension Balance Scorecard HR Scorecard

Tangible asset characterized by Readily We’re living in a time when a
visible, rigorously quantified, and can new economic paradigm－
be easily duplicated. characterized by speed,
Primary source innovation, short cycle times,
of production quality, and customer
satisfaction－is highlighting
the importance of intangible
assets.
y Measures based on doubles
HR Role Strategy driver
y Operationally focused
Index Lagging measures Leading measures & Lagging
MEASURES DESIGNING
I. MEASUREMENT ON BALANCE SCORECARD
Table 3
Aspects on four Dimensions for Balance Scorecard
Dimensions Aspects
y Return-on-investment/economic value-added
y Profitability
y Revenue growth/mix
Financial Perspective
y Cost reduction productivity
y Employee average profit
y Selling profit ratio
y Market share
y Customer acquisition
Customer Perspective y Customer retention
y Customer profitability
y Customer satisfaction
324
y Average transaction cost
y Average lead time
y Stocks
Internal-Business-Process y New product introduction
Perspective y Operating process cycle times
y Yields (ratio of good items produced to good items
entering the process)
y The customer requires response time
y Knowledge management
y Individual goal achievement
Learning and Growth y Employee satisfaction
Perspective y Employee retention
y Employee productivity
y Employee value added
II. MEASUREMENT ON HR SCORECARD
Table 4
Lagging Measures, Leading Measures for HR Scorecard
Dimensions Objectives Lagging Measures Leading Measures

1. Maximize shareholder y Total shareholder return y Human capital value added
value y Revenue per employee
Financial 2. Maximize human y HR ROT (Index) y Total labor cost percentage
Perspective capital performance y Total HR const/employee y Competitive capability
3. Minimize human index
resources costs y Budget variance
1. Business partner y Rating on corporate service y Employee engagement
(strategic support) agreements index
2. World-class standards y Ranking of HR practice y Comparative analysis
development/audit results-Hi-Tech, RBOC’s,
(Vs. benchmark) IT peer groups
Customer 3. Responsive quality y Employee satisfaction y Hewitt-average time to
Perspective service survey results resolve
y Benefit center satisfaction y Fidelity percentage
percentage resolved first call
y HR cost factor indices y Cost of service vs.
benchmark
1. Align HR planning y Percentage of HR strategic y Time spent with executives

with business plans implemented
priorities y Percentage of HR y Percentage Service
2. Provide quality customized coverage/client
consultative advice recommendations
implemented
Internal- y Percentage Productivity y Percentage Participation in
Business-Process 3. Ensure a strategy- improvement goals goal setting process linked
Perspective focused workforce established to strategy
y Percentage Compensation
schemes aligned to strategy
y Benchmarking ranking y Program development
4. Develop and enhance y Percentage Programs cycle time
world-class executed y Key initiative tracking vs.
milestones
325
y Cost per delivery channel- y HR technology ROI and
5. Optimize HR services HR interaction, payback period
through alternative automation, outsourcing y Percentage Training
delivery channels y Cycle time to fill delivered-CBT
y Cost per transaction
1. Capability (build y LD participation y Critical skill attainment
strategic
competencies) y Voluntary separation y Percentage New hires
2. Talent (select, rate/separation cost retention, 6 months/1 year
assimilate, and train) ratio
y Targeted workforce churn
rate
y Rating on viewpoints y Internal promotion rate
Learning and
3. Performance-based survey
Growth
culture/climate y Organizational health index
Perspective
y Reporting percentage y Data availability
4. Organizational accurate first request
integration y Turnaround time for ad hoc
(information for request
decision making) y LDP bench strength y High potential retention
y Diversity y Offer acceptance rate
y Executive coaching y Executive retention
5. Leadership
THE METHODOLOGY FOR THE PAPER
The methodology on the paper is following a quantity research method, and adopts the
questionnaire to collect the sample information and database. Try to understand the real connecting on
how to integrating human resource strategy and strategic recruiting requirements for tourism industry.
The selected scope of tourism industry includes hotel, airline and travel industry, which are more
related requirements of performance criteria The anticipative contribution of this research is to
generalize a best solution on how to organize the suitable type of personality and leadership styles to
those tourism industry and to recruit a fitting strategy on how to employ right manager to carry out the
business blueprint as well as earning a business excellence.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR HR SCORECARD

I. HUMAN CAPITAL, HR MECHANISM AND BUSINESS EXCELLENCE
Developing a Human capital and strategic recruiting requirements to fulfill business

excellence has been recognized as a fundamental part of the business planning process. There are two
underpinning concepts on this paper: first, that achieving business excellence is more than a
collections of some best practices; second, that want to acquiring the business excellence need to
focus on how to recruit qualify Human capital to in charge of the implementation on business
operation. As we all know that business want to run a long-term development and goes with sustained
improvement effort suitable for characteristic conditions of organizations. And put more emphasis on
the strategic recruiting qualify human capital instead of the quick solution to get a short-term financial
gaining.
The managers need to have insights and capabilities to perform the organizational mission
and blueprint to execute the commitment of business excellence. Commitment of business excellence
here means relevance to the recruiting strategy on how to employ right manager to carry out the
business blueprint. There are two main reasons for most of organizations that failed to attain the
business blueprint: first, the managers may really want to devote their commitment to their company
but didn’t have enough competency or suitable personality to take the responsibility from strategic
326
assignment. And in the same time, this scenario also means that the organization and its people have
no shared sense of mission or vision. With clear and relevant mission and vision shared, manager
could easily identify the routes that organization needs to take, and be able to utilize the operational
leverage to accomplish the business excellence.
II. HUMAN CAPITAL AND HR SCORECARD
HR scorecard would offer a set of criteria to underpin the unique human capital and to
examine the truly facts associated with organizational conditions. The paper would indicate the
specific criterion for HR scorecard and provide a diagnosis skeleton to know how to fit with those
requirements that critical to business performance for tourism industry.
Hope the findings of the research would contribute some inspirations for the best practice as
well as the solution for future management of tourism industry. HR scorecard would present how
change affects a business’ human capital and try to find a leading way to accomplish the operational
performance. In the other hand, the study would apply the diagnosis skeleton to utilize the HR
scorecard and also to facilitate business excellence. By means of examining those contents of HR
scorecard, the manager could realize the meaningful information and clues on how to acquiring the
exclusive human capital and competency to meet with the business blueprint. Maximizing human
capital would mean that employees are delivering the qualified performing for the organization, and
commit the dedication to their organizations.
III. HR MECHANISM AND HR SCORECARD
Generally speaking, HR mechanism is seldom regarded as a value-adding process, like other

administrative and staff departments, it is often seen as an expense center, is kind of overhead or a
necessary evil. Production and sales managers under pressure to eliminate non-essential tasks tend to
regard the HR mechanism related issues as secondary items. The line functions would be impotent if
they were not supported by HR mechanism since every line objective has its human, financial and
data components. In nowadays business environment, every operation must demonstrate its ability
that could create value adding. The HR mechanism can prove its worth by initiate the value chain
process for pursuing the organizational performance. The HR mechanism could do some benefits on
developing a new vision of HR's purpose, strengthen relationships with internal customers, and build
u a suitable quantitative productive -measurement system for organizational performance. The HR
scorecard would result in the combination of these initiatives for organizational performance.
As we all know that maintain the strength of the HR mechanism could build a supportive
environment for the workforce. It would also promote a healthy organizational climate that facilitates
effective organizational innovation and change. To empower the human capital do play a more active
role on the implementation of innovation and change; and also fertile employees’ competency which
are destined for pursuing success in the more competitive world. The contents of the HR scorecard
would indicate the insights for the human capital and to demonstrate the effects on fulfill the blueprint
in a viewpoint of strategy.
The all information presented on HR scorecard can reinforce the planning process to
collaborate with other managerial mechanism. Briefly speaking, human capital plays a vital role in
sketching the infrastructures and systems, facilitating the innovation and change, assessing the
operational effectiveness, and originating the suitable progress. This modest HR scorecard requires
organizations to have an open mind to embrace new examining criteria of HR scorecard and to
achieve and sustain a competitive advantage.
327
IV. BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND HR SCORECARD
Since organizations began to realize that want to position in the leading way in the different
business trend and competitive environment, the organizations need to afford different types of HR
programs and to replicating HR strength at every business-unit levels.
The HR scorecard also showed how the hotel manage their human capital to employ the best
practice and people to keep the business excellence; and also have some discusses the challenges and
problems on those dealing skills in the scenarios. Finally the HR scorecard would contribute a
concrete measurement to integrate the human capitals to strategy to strategic business planning and
aligned the hotel’s distinguishing rare resources could ensure that underlying powerful competency
and to facilitate the necessary prerequisites of innovation and change for tourism industry. HR
scorecard would examine reasons for company’s success on how to integrate human resource strategy
and strategic recruiting requirements to maintain the competitive edges, and also meet with the
organizational characteristics. And to indicate the measures to implement the development of human
resource strategies that support strategic recruiting requirements to fulfill business excellence.
V. BUILD UP HR MENCHANISM BASED ON THE INDICATORS OF HR SCORECARD
If the focus of corporate strategy is to create sustained competitive advantage, the focus of HR
strategy is equally straightforward. It is to maximize the contribution of HR toward that same goal,
thereby creating value for shareholders. The foundation of a strategic HR is the three dimensions of
the value chain represented by the firm’s HR architecture: the functions, the system, and employee
behaviors. Thinking about HR’s influence on business performance requires a focus on multiple
levels of analysis. We use the term “HR architecture”, a strategic asset, broadly describe the
continuum from the HR professionals within the HR function, to the system of HR-related policies
and practices, through the competencies, motivations, and associated behaviors of the firm’s
employee. As we know, businesses now recognize the importance of intangible assets s in today’s
competition. But the accounting systems in use today evolved from the tangible capital, both financial
and physical, constituted the principal source of profits. With the emphasis on knowledge and
intangible assets in today’s economy, conventional accounting systems actually create dangerous
informational distortions; these systems encourage short-term thinking with respect to the
management of intangibles. As a result, companies under financial pressure tend to invest in physical
capital instead of human capital, even though the latter may well generate more value.
VI. HR SCORECARD AND CORPORATE PERFORMANCE
A direct link between HR scorecard and corporate financial results is not readily apparent in
traditional accounting practices. Right now, we are only beginning to understand the potential of this
tool, but it’s the measurement process that’s important. Once we are able to measure intangible assets
more accurately, the management and HR professionals would begin to examine the company’s value
based on the indicators of HR scorecard.
This kind of pressure can lead to poor decisions: First, maybe cause the misleading on the
layoffs to gain short-term cost cutting. Second, if current accounting methods can’t give HR
mechanism the measurement tools they need, then they will have to develop their own ways of
demonstrating their contribution to firm performance. The HR scorecard would discard the accounting
mentality that says that HR is primarily a cost center in which cost minimization is the principal
objective and measure of success. In the meanwhile, HR scorecard could help managers to catch the
rare opportunity afforded by this transitional period, and made the value intangible assets more clearly
then traditional accounting methods. It’s up to HR to develop a new measurement system that creates
real value for the business and secures HR as a strategic partner.
328
REFERENCES
Brian E., Becker Mark A., & Husselid Dave Ulrich. (2001). The HR scorecard :linking people,
strategy, and performance. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Butler, A., Letza, S. R., & Neale, B. (1997). Link the Balanced Scorecard to strategy. Long Range
Planning, 30(2), 242-253.
Chakravarthy, B.S. (1986). Measuring strategic performance. Strategic Management Journal, 7(5),
437-458.
Daly, D. (1996). Performance measurement and management. Management accounting, 78(3), 65-66.
Ezzamel, M. (1992). Business Unit and Divisional Performance Measurement. London : Academic
Press.
Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1992). The balanced scorecard--measures that drive performance.
Harvard Business Review, 70(1), 71-79.
Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1996). The Balanced Scorecard: Translating strategy into action.
Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press.
Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1996). Using the balanced scorecard as a strategic management
system. Harvard Business Review, 74(1), 75-85.
Walker, G., & MacDonald, J.R. (2001). Designing and implementing an HR scorecard. Human
Resource Management, 40(4), 365-377.
329
TOURISM AND CULTURAL FOOD HERITAGE OF MALAYSIA
Zuraini, M.I
Department of Foodservice Management
Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management
University Teknologi MARA Terengganu
Toh, P.S.
Norfezah M. N.
University Teknologi MARA Pulau Pinang
and
Abd. Azis., A. M.
Dean, Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management
ABSTRACT
Food has become an important element of culture. It portrays symbols of cultural identities.
Malaysia is one of the successful countries in economics, has multi-ethnic and multi-religion. Malays,
Chinese and Indians are the predominant Malaysian populations who have brought about the
uniqueness of a truly Asia identity. The uniqueness of these ethnic foods has been demonstrated in
their choices of basic ingredients and preparation methods with a touch from their descendants.
Integrating these authentic of Malaysian ethnic foods in tourism industries, therefore can contribute to
the general enhancement of cultural heritage. When tourists taste local foods, they literally taste the
elements of the visited area’s local character.
Key Words: Malaysia cultural foods, Malays, Chinese, Indians, tourism
INTRODUCTION
Tourism is considered as one of the world’s most important economic activities and fastest
growing elements of the global trade. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to cultural
heritage. There has been a convergence of concern from several traditions. Heritage tourism is
growing in popularity as people seek to rediscover the past. There are obvious groups of attraction
that heritage tourists seek out such as cultures, landscapes and features, buildings, structures,
archeological and traditional sites, lifestyles, songs, languages, costumes, dances and monuments,
which are treasures of distinctive value. Food of a country is nevertheless an important element of
culture. This paper will discuss on the impact of Malaysian cultural food heritage and its implication
towards tourism industry.
ETHNICITY AND CULTURAL HERITAGE
Cultural traits, national origin, wealth, social status, political power, and segregated
neighborhoods are parts of ethnicity (Bennett, 1975; Keefe and Padilla, 1987). Hraba (1979) however,
defined ethnicity as a psychological phenomenon which can be expressed in any identity display. This
view entailed various definitions of ethnicity based on the concept of “ethnic identity”. As such,
330
ethnic identity represents something much more complex than ethnic or national origin. The latter has,
however, often been used in classifying subjects as Malays, Chinese, Indians, black, white etc.
According to Keesing (1974), culture can be defined as three ideational themes: cognitive –
language based, symbolic – objects, and structuralist – organizations. Collectivism and individualism
are part of the extended culture (Matsumoto and Weissman, 1997). It is because a culture encourages,
fosters and facilitates an autonomous and unique self over other group members.
Based on the above definitions of ethnic and culture, the ethnic identity can be said to reflect
the retention of behaviours and attitudes of the culture of origin. This retention should presumably be
evident across many aspects of behaviour which include food consumption. Ethnic identity has shown
to be positively related to the consumption of traditional foods than the convenience foods (Laroche et
al., 1998).
Mora (1998) defines ethnic food as an expression of food in terms of attitudes, values,
behaviours and beliefs of a culture that is an expression of its cultural traditions or heritage, religion
or national origin. The Food Marketing Institute (1998) defines ethnic food as products of a particular
ethnic or cultural group favours, such as Mexican, Chinese or Kosher foods. Kroll (1994) however,
categorized the prepared ethnic food market into two. The first category comprises those foods that
are so familiar to consumers that they are no longer considered to be special foods, but rather mass
market or mainstream products, such as prepared Italian and Asian-Chinese foods in many European
countries. The second group is made up of foods that relate to various ethnic populations that are
small and sometimes confined to specific regions of a nation with little exposure to non-ethnics.
In general, food can then be used to portray symbols of cultural identity, communication and
status. When tourists choose local foods and beverages, they literally taste the elements of visited
area’s local character. Given a local flavour, such products may literally represent a taste of a locality.
This denotes to the tourists’ experiences in an area or a country. Cultural factors have been shown to
influence food preferences between countries (Kearney et al., 2000). However, in a homogenous
population such as Ireland, culture plays a minimal role in food selection (Kearney et al, 1999).
MALAYSIAN AND ITS CULTURAL HERITAGE
Malaysia is one of the successful countries in economics and in integrating its population that
is multi-ethnic and multi-religion. Malaysian population, which is predominantly made up of Malay,
Chinese, Indian, Eurasian and a diverse group of indigenous people from Sabah and Sarawak such as
Iban, Bidayuh, Kadazan and Murut, has indirectly brought about the uniqueness of a truly Asia
identity or Asia in Malaysia.
The Malays have been the largest population in Peninsular Malaysia. They are the
descendants of the tribal proto-Malays mixed with modern Indian, Thai, Arab and Chinese ancestry.
According to Fisher (1964), the pioneers in the settlement of Malay peninsular, coastal Borneo and
eastern islands were the Malays of Sumatran coast and the indigenous inhabitants of Java and
Celebes. They developed Malayo-Polynesian language and a distinct material culture.
The diversity of the Malay culture was developed further when the Malacca straits had been
known as a as a hotbed of commerce, with trade flourishing in silk, jewels and spices. These ports
have acted as important centres of economic development, social change and cultural diffusion
(Tugby, 1977). Each group was trading and some of its members settled and intermarried with local
women, forming a unique community called Peranakan. Starting with its Sultan (i.e. ruler), the
conversion to Islam began slowly. Later, the Malayan Peninsular was ruled by Portuguese, followed
by the Dutch and English. In the nineteeth century, both Chinese and Indians were imported by the
British to work as labour in tin mining and rubber plantations (Andaya and Andaya, 1982). Most of
the Chinese workers were from the Southern provinces of China. These early Chinese migrants were
guest workers who came with the intention of one day returning to their homeland and families.
331
Indians, mostly Tamils from South India had been recruited as manpower for the burgeoning rubber
industry. Sri Lankan Tamils and Malayalees were employed in supervisory and clerical positions. Of
the North Indians, the Punjabis were employed in the police force while the Gujaratis and Sindhis
were in business, mainly textiles.
When Malaysia gained independence from the British in 1957, as Chinese and Indians
returned to their homelands, many Chinese and Indians chose to stay on. Currently, the Chinese
population in Malaysia is 26% and Indians population is 8% of 22 million Malaysia populations
(Malaysia Department of Statistics, 2005). The Indian population in Malaysia encompasses Hindus,
Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Christians (Hirschman, 1987).
MALAYSIAN CULTURAL FOOD HERITAGE
Nations are expressing themselves through their food (Habeeb, 2001). To better understand
the culture of a nation, one has to understand also the food tradition of the country (Thelma, 1999).
The basic foodstuffs themselves differentiate cultural or ethnic cuisines at times, and more often the
distinctions arise from the preparation methods (Spinder & Schultz, 1996). Malaysia, as one of Asia’s
most “multi-cultural” countries, has always been famous for its variety of food. Malaysian food is a
tantalizing blend of basic Malay, Chinese and Indian Cuisines. Malaysian food has it hybrids derived
from cross-cultural influences such as Mamak (Indian-muslim) and Baba and Nyonya (The Malay-
Chinese).
A recent study on heritage tourism attractions, focused primarily on Baba and Nyonya
cultures in South east Asia, including Malaysia (Rudolph, 1998; Hitchcock, 2000). The studies
indicate the Malaysian heritage has received good support from the relevant authorities. Other than
the interest of the tourists in the cultural of the country, the benefits of conservation and preservation
of historical relics are highlighted. Although the studies are related to general cultural heritage of
Malaysia, the important aspect of food cultural heritage is left to be discovered. Culinary heritage is a
social construction and an important resource for local action. Studies done by Bessiere (1998)
examined the case of the Haut Plateau de l’Aubrac (Central France), where the local development
process is closely linked to the valorization and the recreation of gastronomic knowledge and skill.
Malay Cuisine
The original Malay food consisted mostly of rice and fish (Jaffrey’s, 1989). The two could be
moistened with coconut milk and flavoured with local seasonings. Fresh aromatic herbs and roots
such as lemongrass, ginger, garlic, shallots, kaffir limes and fresh chillies, are used as to add exotic
value to its cuisine. Dries spices such as fennel, cumin and coriander are frequently used in Malay
cooking. Both fresh and dried ingredients are frequently used together, usually ground into a spice
paste. The paste is then sautéed in oil to bring out its flavourful aroma and toasted goodness. Fresh
and dried chillies are used as to add hotness to dishes. Coconut milk is added for a creamy richness.
Tamarind paste is a key element in yielding a sour or tangy taste of many Malay assam dishes,
especially for fish and seafood dishes. Shrimp paste (known as belacan) is normally accompanying
traditional Malay meal. It is known as natural flavour enhancer thus providing authentic flavour and
zest to many of the foods from Southeast Asia. There are various methods and cooking styles can be
applied to a variety of food, from meats, poultry and vegetables to all kinds of seafood and fish.
Malay cooking styles, however, depend on the main basic “flavouring” ingredients. Other examples
of Malay foods are satay with a spicy peanut dipping sauce, nasi lemak, keropok lekor and ikan bakar.
Chinese Cuisine
Chinese food in Malaysia is derived from mainland Chinese cuisine but has been influenced
by local ingredients and dishes from other cultures. Variations in the Chinese cuisine in Malaysia are
a reflection of the different dialect in China, namely Cantonese, Hokkien, Hainan, Teochew and
Hakka styles of cooking. Chinese cuisine is generally milder in taste compared to Malay and Indian
332
fare. The better known and most popular variety of Chinese food is Cantonese food while “Hokkien”
food was found rated on the lower end of the Chinese gastronomic scale.
The main distinctive feature of Chinese cuisine is the harmonious blending of colour, aroma,
flavour, shape and texture, both in single dish and in a course of dishes (Yau et al., 2004). Cantonese
food is an example of cuisine to reflect the harmonious balance in blending different flavours. It
comprises a balanced between yin (cooling) and yang (heating) foods. A cooling food (yin) such as
vegetables, most fruits and clear soup, should be balance with a heating food (yang) like starchy foods
and meat, with not too much of one or the other. While food from Canton is delicate and understated,
Szechuan food from the North and the West of China, has strong and dramatic flavour. Garlic and
chilies play an important part in Szechuan dishes. Other than steamboat of the Hainanese, one of the
most widespread economical meal in Malaysia is Hainan Chicken Rice. Another delicate and at the
same time robust flavours of the Chinese gastronomy is Teochew food. This Teochew food originates
from the area around Swatow in China and is famous for its seafood and congee (rice porridge). Yong
Tau Foo, a Hakka dish is another cuisine that can easily be found in any food centers in Malaysia.
Indian Cuisine
Spices are the heart and soul of Indian cooking, the quantity and proportions vary with each
geographical boundary. The natural taste of the main ingredients is enhanced by the delicacy of
spicing (Passmore, 1980). Indian food decreases in hotness from South to North, with Southern dishes
containing an abundance of hot chillies (Passmore, 1980). Indians in Malaysia come from different
religious sects – Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Muslim and other religions (Hirschman, 1987). The diversity
makes the cuisine of the ethnic Indians in Malaysia differs quite a bit from its roots in its motherland,
India, but remains essentially Indian. Indian cuisine is not spicy hot when served. The majority of
Indian cuisine in Malaysia is Southern Indian in origin. In South Indian cuisine, rice has been a staple
and it is served with seafood, mainly fish and vegetable dishes. In Malaysia, Nasi Kandar is much
enjoyed Indian food with its unique and distinctive taste of Indian-Muslim style curries. An example
of such curries is fish head curry. Other examples of Indian foods are murtabak (unleaven pancake)
and mee goreng mamak (stir-fried yellow noodles).
CULTURAL HERITAGE OF FOODS AND THE TOURISM INDUSTRY
Food represents a powerful eye-catcher and a strong symbol of quality of life and
authenticity. According to Edles (2004), food is a symbol of culture. It denotes ethnic identity (Ash,
2004). The food that people eat becomes the most powerful symbol of who they are (Fox, 2003).
Other than a symbol of cultural identity, food can also be used to portray communication and status.
Eating traditional foods represents one easy way for people to sustain links with the culture of their
ancestors (Laroche et al., 1999). It is one of the cultural traits that human learns first from childhood,
and one that consumers change with the greatest reluctant at older age (Gabaccia, 1998; Cervellon and
Dube, 2005).
Awareness and trial of ethnic cuisine has increased in the past decades as a consequence of
the growing international trade, globalisation, migration and tourism. A study conducted by Verbeke
and Lopez (2005) shows that there is an increasing trend in the popularity of ethnic foods, in
particular among higher educated and younger consumers. Their study also reveals that people eat
ethnic food that belongs to a country they have visited before. The ethnic food can be linked to a
symbolic meaning such as interest in foreign cultures, memories of holidays in a certain country or
nostalgia for a country where they have lived before.
When tourists choose local foods and beverages, they literally taste the elements of visited
area’s local character. Given a local flavour, such products may literally represent a taste of a locality.
This denotes to the tourist’s experiences of an area. It also may facilitate tourism producers to sharpen
the profile of a destination. Thus local cuisine may contribute significantly to the diversity and
333
richness of cultures and identities across different tourism regions. It also can represent a general
enhancement of cultural heritage (Haukeland and Jacobsen, 2001).
Some studies have shown that food and beverages have been one of the crucial elements of
place-related tourism products. Studies done on the 19 French regional tourism brochures have shown
that the cultural dimension of food as an identity marker for the regions is its principal use, and
images of food associated to communicating/sharing or to status/lifestyle statements are rarely used in
French regional brochures. A general desire for authentic experiences might be one of the reasons that
cause current interest in traditional food and cuisine. In a society that values toleration and cross-
cultural contacts, many consumers desire a unique, yet comfortable experience, given their own
cultural preferences. Ethnic tradition continues but in the context of a continuous process of
adaptation. Authenticity is not an objective criterion but is socially constructed and linked to
expectations.
Verbeke and Lopez (2005) found that mass media exposure and travel experience did not
exert a significant impact on Belgians' interest in other cultures in terms of food preferences. Instead,
Belgians' degree of integration or rapprochement with minority cultures in terms of food preferences
was significantly associated with personal interests, especially in relation to cultural matters.
Tourism also may contribute to socioeconomic value. Tourist spends on transportation, food,
lodging and park entry fees (Wells and Brandon, 1992). Thus, it may cause increased demand for
traditional dishes of different cultures and use of local foods. Local foods have been shown to be an
interesting feature for tourism. Eventhough there complications are in understanding consumer
behaviour with regard to food in the context of leisure and tourism, initiatives should be done by
regional tourism development. The initiatives done should utilize locally-produced foodstuffs and
beverages in order to strengthen areas' tourism products, enhance visitors' experiences, and help
maintain and enhance the viability of local food production and processing sectors.
CONCLUSION
In overall, cultural food heritage of Malaysia can go from the simple toast and tea to a cross-
culture of different ethnic cuisine on the same table. With the unique food culture, it will be one of the
attractions to the tourists visiting Malaysia. Malaysia’s diverse cultural heritage is a unifying element
in a country with a melting-pot of Asian ethnicity entity. Malaysia has a new culture taglined as truly
Asia, blended from Chinese, East Indian and Malay traditions. Much as heritage tourism per se has
gained increasing attention, cultural food heritage in Malaysia is an under-represented area. Malaysia,
a modern and cosmopolitan country in Asia, is considered by travelers as a cozy destination. Even
though all the towns and cities are not formed from iron structure and glass, heritage forms are still
taken care and preserved in the towns and cities.
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Attractions in Rural Areas. Sociologia Ruralis, 38(1), 21-34
Cervellon, M.C., Dubé, L. (2005). Cultural influences in the origins of food likings and dislikes, Food
Quality and Preference, 16, 455-60
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Ethnic and Racial Studies, 27(1), 37-68
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Gabaccia, D.R. (1998). We Are What We Eat, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Habeeb, S. (2001). Do nations express themselves in their foods. Contemporary Review. 278(1621),
107-111
Haukeland, J.V., & Jacobsen, J.K.S. (2001). Gastronomy in periphery: Food and cuisine as tourism
attractions on the top of Europe. Paper presented at 10th Nordic Tourism Research Conference, Vasa,
Finland, 18 – 20th October
Hirschman, C. (1987). The Meaning and Measurement of Ethnicity in Malaysia: An Analysis of

Census Classifications. Journal of Asian Studies, 46(3), 555-582
Hitchcock, M. (2000). Ethicity and Enterpreneurship in Java and Bali. Current Issues in Tourism,
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London
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TOURISM ECONOMIC IMPACT: THE PERCEPTION OF PHUKET RESIDENTS
Ilian Assenov
and
Arisara Tantivit
ABSTRACT
The study examines the economic impact of tourism in Phuket through a survey of the
perceptions of local residents. In addition, the paper analyses the effect of the December 2004 tsunami
on Phuket residents and the resulting changes in their economic behaviour in the months after the
tsunami. The major findings can be summarised as follows: not enough opportunities in tourism for
all groups of people, corruption, and overdependence of Phuket on tourism. Specific measures to help
overcome these problems include more support for business start-ups and SMEs, tackling the
problems with corruption, and diversification of the Phuket economy. The latter could be achieved
through the promotion of less volatile and higher-growth segments of tourism, such as long-stay
tourism, health and wellness tourism, convention tourism and gaming and casino tourism. Other
possible measures involve diversification of income from tourism into areas which are
complementary to tourism, such as the development of Phuket as a regional IT hub, promotion of
local handcraft, and preserving traditional sectors of the agriculture and fishery industries.
Key Words: Tourism economic impact, Resident’s perception, Phuket
INTRODUCTION
In recent years tourism has grown rapidly to become a major sources of income for Thailand.
The share of income from international tourists in GDP grew from 3% in 1985 to 5.2% in 2004
(WTTC, 2005) and Thailand was visited by 11.7 million tourists during the same year (Immigration
Bureau, 2005). It is hard to overestimate the dependence of the local economy on tourism, but this is
even more visible in popular tourism destinations in the country such as Phuket. The island was
visited by 4,793,252 tourists in 2004, of which almost three quarters were from overseas (Table 1). As
a result, the tourism industry contributes to over 40 percent of Phuket’s income (Phuket Commercial
Office, 2005).
Tourism has made Phuket the richest province in Thailand, with average personal income
about double the nation average. The average monthly household income of Phuket in 2004 was
26,363 Baht, compared to an average household income in Thailand of 13,736 Baht. Tourism created
28% of all jobs on the island, and resulted in an unemployment rate of only 0.67% in 2004, compared
to a national average of 2.04 % (National Statistical Office, 2005).
337
Table 1
Tourism in Phuket (2001-2004): Number of visitors, length of stay, average spending and total
revenue from tourism.
2001 (%)* 2002 (%)* 2003 (%)* 2004 (%)*

Number of
3,789,660 +9.5 3,990,702 +5.31 4,050,077 +1.49 4,793,252 + 18.35
visitors
Thai 1,077,275 +12.9 1,164,560 +8.10 1,303,291 +11.9 1,295,653 - 0.59
Foreigners 2,712,385 +8.56 2,826,142 +4.19 2,746,786 -2.81 3,497,599 + 27.33
Average
4.96 4.95 4.93 4.86
Stay (Days)
Thai 3.63 3.72 3.82 3.89
Foreigners 5.46 5.43 5.44 5.20
Spending
(baht/ 3,671.42 +0.71 3,641.74 -0.81 3,635.63 -0.17 3,669.17 + 0.92
person/day)
Thai 2,742.40 -0.28 2,704.25 -1.39 2,774.50 +2.60 2,758.09 - 0.59
Foreigners 4,040.41 +1.26 4,028.04 -0.31 4,044.22 +0.40 4,006.68 - 0.93
Revenue 69,669.34 +11.92 72,599.42 +4.21 73,263.70 +0.91 85,670.63 + 16.93
(Mil. Baht)
Thai 10,410.98 +13.80 11,380.69 +9.31 13,427.68 +17.9 13,488.26 + 0.45
Foreigners 59,258.36 +11.60 61,218.73 +3.31 59,836.02 -2.26 72,182.37 + 20.63
* Percentage change over previous year
Source: Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Thailand
The positive effect on the economy is even higher, as the official statistics may not show the
contribution of the grey economy and the benefits incurred by the numerous unregistered job migrants
to the island from the rest of the country. It can also ignore some of the positive impact on related
industries which have indirectly benefited from tourism too. One such industry is the construction
industry: the number of accommodation establishments in the hospitality industry has been growing
rapidly for over two decades now, and reached 549 in 2003 and 579 in 2005 (with 31,302 rooms and
32,076 rooms, respectively).
These numbers demonstrate the importance of tourism for Phuket and its residents, but there
is a negative side of its dominance as an economic activity on the island. This was reminded by the
December 2004 tsunami, which not only took lives and destroyed properties, but brought down tourist
numbers by three quarters for international tourists, and over a quarter for Thai visitors in the first
months of 2005. The rapid decrease in the number of visitors affected not just the tourism and
hospitality industries, but almost every business sector in the province, due to the links – direct or
indirect – of other industries with tourism.
Whereas by the end of 2005 the tourism industry had largely recovered, and tourist numbers
were back to pre-tsunami levels, there are other factors reminding of the possible negative economic
impact of tourism in Phuket. These include the high seasonality of tourism-related income and the
effect of this seasonality on other related businesses. Another result of the high tourist numbers are the
prices of goods and services – often exceeding the nation averages. Possibly the most visible sign are
real estate prices. These have been growing rapidly since tourism became a major industry in Phuket,
and have prompted some fears of a real estate bubble on the island. Not even in the post-tsunami
months did average real estate prices fall (albeit there were some distressed sales in 2005).
While arguably the benefits of tourism – at least measured in economic terms – exceed its
costs, it is sobering to assess what trade-offs local residents are facing in destinations that are highly
dependent on tourism. Doing so is the aim of this paper. In addition, the study examines the economic
effect of the December 2004 tsunami on local residents and the resulting changes in their economic
338
behaviour. The authors decided to evaluate tourism’s economic impact through a direct survey of a
sample of Phuket residents. This has the benefit of being able to assess the subjective attitudes of
residents, which may sometimes differ from what numbers suggest. This subjectiveness of the
answers is also a downside of this approach, but we believe that the numbers presented above and in
official statistics disclose clearly and objectively the importance of tourism to Phuket. The survey
method has also the benefit of being able to distinguish between different groups of the population
and test for differences in the distribution of the economic benefits and costs of tourism among them.
To achieve its aims, this paper is structured as follows. The next section briefly presents the
different channels through which tourism can affect economically the lives of local residents.
Afterwards the methodology of our survey is described. Sections 4 and 5 present and discuss the
results. The last two parts make specific recommendations based on our findings, and conclude the
paper.
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TOURISM
Theory has traditionally divided the impact of tourism on destinations in several groups:
environmental, socio-cultural and economic impact. The environmental benefits of tourism are
usually related to the conservation of important natural areas, increased environmental awareness and
motivation for improvement of environment quality, while its costs may include water, air and noise
pollution; overcrowding; waste disposal problems; environmental hazards; and ecological destruction
(Chon and Sparrowe 2000, Goeldner and Brent 2003). Tourism may have positive socio-cultural
impact, including conservation of cultural heritage, cross-cultural exchange and renewal of cultural
pride (Lawson et al. 1998), but at the same time it may bring socio-cultural costs, including loss of
unique culture and social identity; “westernisation”, overcrowding and loss of amenities for the host
residents; drugs; alcoholism; crime and prostitution (Pearce 1989, Goeldner and Brent 2003).
This paper, however, has concentrated only on the third group of tourism impacts: the
economic ones. The economic benefits of tourism are obvious. Tourism expenditure is a form of
consumption and international tourists’ expenditure can be seen as an invisible export from the host
countries. Tourists spend their money at the destination for a variety of goods and services. They
purchase accommodation, tour packages, food and beverage, pay for travel and entertainment, buy
goods from souvenir shops and retail outlets. GDP growth is stimulated, employment and foreign
exchange revenue generated, government tax revenue increases and infrastructure development is
enhanced.
Tourism money generates income not only for businesses related directly to tourism, but also
to other sectors through direct, indirect or induced contributions. Tourism multipliers reflect to what
degree tourism spending affects other sectors of the economy. A multiplier can measure the amount of
additional output generated in an economy from the increasing of tourist expenditure (output
multiplier), the additional income, wages and salaries, rent, interest, and profits throughout the
economy as a result of an increase in tourist expenditure (income multiplier), and the employment
generated by an additional unit of tourist expenditure (employment multiplier).
On the negative side, however, there are economic costs associated with tourism. Often only
part of the tourism revenue goes to the local economy and the rest leaves the country through tourism
leakages – particularly in the case of less developed economies that rely more on foreign investors in
tourism or need higher share of imports to satisfy tourists’ demand. This negative impact is
particularly visible with all-inclusive packages, where very little proportion of tourists’ spending
remains in the local economy. Other negative tourism economic impacts include the cost of
developing the necessary infrastructure; rising prices of goods, services and real estate; the creation of
economic over-dependence on tourism; possible seasonality of tourism-related income; and
displacement of other industries by tourism.
339
Different approaches can be used to estimate tourism’s economic impact. The input-output
model views the economy in equilibrium, where the gross output of the industry is equal to the gross
input of the industry. The gross output of an industry refers to both inter-industry sales and sales of
final products and services. The gross input of an industry refers to the purchase of goods and
services, labour, investment and profit (Wood and Liang 2002). This approach not only estimates the
direct impact of tourist expenditure but also the indirect and induced impacts of tourist expenditure in
the economy. Its disadvantage is related to the fact that it looks at net changes in the overall economic
activity but does not focus on the negative effects and feedback effects of the economy (Dwyer et al,
2003).
Whereas the input-output multiplier approach is used to estimate the economic impacts of
tourists’ expenditures, and the ways they generate economic activities in supplying industries, the
general equilibrium approach looks with more precision at the economic impacts and influences of
different variables. It assesses the impacts on prices and wages, the response of government to change
in government revenue, the effects of variables such as interest rates and exchange rates. On the
negative side, the model requires more information and needs more assumptions to be made (Trevor,
2001).
Over the past two decades computable general equilibrium (CGE) models have been
developed to combine the above approaches (Dixon & Parmenter, 1996). These models incorporate
the input-output model, but also look at the markets for goods, services and factors, recognize
resource limitations and model consumer spending, and allow for government spending and taxing
(Dwyer et al., 2003).
The availability of various methodologies, and the different measures of some variables in
different countries, has made comparisons across countries unreliable. One problem has been that
unlike other industries, tourism combines many businesses together (e.g. transportation,
accommodation, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment). This has prompted the
development by the United Nations of the tourism satellite account (TSA) system aimed at measuring
the size of economic sectors which are not defined as industries in the national accounts. TSAs has
proved particularly well-suited to measuring tourism impacts. The TSA approach provides credible
data on the impact of tourism and the associated employment; it is a framework for organising
statistical data on tourism and a powerful instrument for designing economic policies related to
tourism development (Goeldner and Brent, 2003). It incorporates the macroeconomic aggregates
describing the size and the economic importance of tourism, such as tourism value added and tourism
gross domestic product (GDP); details of data on visitor consumption, and how it is met by domestics
supply and imports; details of the production accounts of the tourism industries, including data on
employment, linkages with other productive economic activities and capital formation; and a link
between economic data and other non-monetary information on tourism, such as number of trips,
duration of stay, purpose of trip, mode of transportation, etc. (CEC, 2001).
Whereas the above approaches allow for an objective assessment of the economic impact of
tourism, some researchers have chosen to evaluate tourism’s economic impact through direct surveys
of residents. This has the benefit of focusing on the subjective attitudes of residents, which may
sometimes differ from what numbers suggest. Given the irrational character of many human decisions
this approach has its undoubted merits. Most such studies used questionnaires for data collection, and
this research has adopted the same approach.
The economic benefits of tourism, as perceived by residents, are usually related to higher
income and living standards, improved infrastructure and social facilities, and creation of job
opportunities for the community (Xu 1998, Var et al. 1985, Lawson et al. 1998, Teivane 1998,
Tatoglu 1998, Mason and Cheyne 2003, Mbaiwa 2003). Residents also appreciate the increased
availability of goods and services due to tourism (Girard and Gartner, 1993) and the benefits of
foreign exchange retained in the community (Lawson et al., 1998).
340
On the negative side, the main concerns of residents have been associated with the increased
cost of living and higher prices of goods, services and property (Var et al. 1985, Haralambopoulous
and Pizam, 1996), crowding out of other industries such as agriculture and traditional manufacturing
(Mbaiwa, 2003) and dominance of foreign owners or a small group of investors in the tourism
industry (Akis et al. 1996, Mbaiwa, 2003).
Often different groups of the population perceive tourism differently. For example, long-term
residents and women are more likely to have a negative perception of tourism than recent immigrants
and men, respectively (Williams et al. 1995, Snaith and Haley (1999), Mason and Cheyne 2000,
Harrill and Potts 2003). For obvious reasons, people employed in the industry have a more positive
attitude towards it (Kuvan and Perran, 2004). In most studies, the residents agree with the positive
economic impact of tourism, and their negative attitude is a result of its perceived social, cultural and
environmental costs.
To our knowledge, there is no published research on the perception of Phuket residents of the
economic impact of tourism in the island. It is therefore the aim of this paper to study this issue in
details and find the microeconomic impacts of tourism through the eyes of local Phuket residents.
METHODOLOGY
The data was collected through a face-to-face survey method in the period August-
September 2005. Two versions of questionnaires were prepared, in Thai and English, inquiring after
personal characteristics of the respondents, their dependence on the tourism industry, perceptions of
the economic impact of tourism in Phuket, the economic impact of the December 2004 tsunami on
their households, and their related comments, suggestions and recommendations. A pilot study was
carried out with a limited number of respondents, and the questionnaires were improved to reflect its
findings.
The researchers and their assistants approached 400 Thai and foreign residents of Phuket.
The survey distinguished between different ethnic and religious groups, due to our a priory
expectations that some minorities – Sea gypsies and Muslims – may have experienced to a lesser
degree the economic bonanza of tourism. Data was collected from all districts of Phuket. It was
difficult to distinguish between areas with different degree of involvement in tourism, due to the
relatively small size of the island. ANOVA, MANOVA, Chi-square and Independent T-tests were
used for data analysis.
PHUKET RESIDENTS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS TOURISM
Respondents were asked to assess different channels through which they benefit from
tourism. The most important for them were the created job and business opportunities, as well as the
generation of foreign exchange from overseas tourists (Table 2). Over 40 percent were directly or
indirectly employed, or had a family member employed, by the tourism industry, and about a quarter
of the domestic migration to Phuket has been caused by tourism-related jobs. Two thirds of the
respondents who were not employed by the tourism industry acknowledged that tourism nonetheless
created benefits for them (related results are not presented due to space limitations).
When asked about the costs of tourism, residents ranked as most important the high cost of
real estate and goods and services sold, followed by the seasonality of tourism-generated income
(Table 2). There was relatively little support for statements that most benefits of tourism accrue to big
companies, or to foreign companies.
341
Table 2
Respondents’ perception of tourism benefits and costs
Economic impact of tourism Mean* SD

Positive impact 4.11
Tourism creates more jobs to Phuket 4.51 .592
Tourism brings more investment to Phuket 4.41 .627
Tourism provides more business opportunities 4.36 .646
Tourism generates foreign exchange 4.35 .639
Tourism benefits overweight its costs 4.15 .749
Phuket is rich because of tourism 4.08 .836
Tourism brings improved roads and infrastructure 4.07 .838
Tourism generates additional tax revenue 3.99 .824
Tourism brings improved education 3.89 .862
Tourism brings improved health service 3.85 .846
Tourism-related jobs are better paid 3.84 .872
Tourism brings improved security service 3.80 .907
Negative impact 4.06
Price of real estate are high due to tourism 4.41 .741
Prices of goods and service are high due to tourism 4.31 .781
Tourism brings socio-cultural cost 4.04 .882
Low-season income is much lower than during high season 3.98 .790
Big companies get most benefits of tourism 3.84 .972
Most benefits of tourism go to foreign companies 3.77 1.003
Note: Perceptions were ranked on a Likert scale of 1 to 5, where 5 stays for “very strong
impact” and 1 – for “No impact”.
Interestingly, the statement that “Tourism brings socio-cultural cost” (the only statement in
our questionnaire not related to the economic impact of tourism) was ranked only third among the
negative impacts – contrary to our prior expectations that this would be the most important negative
impact. This supports observations that the enthusiasm caused by the rapid tourism growth in recent
years in Phuket may have made residents less responsive to the accompanying social and cultural
costs of the industry.
In order to evaluate the possible differences in the answers of different groups of the
population, we created two new variables. Positive impact is a weighted average of the first twelve
variables in Table 2, and Negative impact is a weighted average of the last five variables in the table.
The Positive impact mean was higher than the Negative impact one (4.11 and 4.06, respectively). We
then tested whether positive and negative attitudes towards tourism depend on personal characteristics
(Table 3).
The study of the causal variables of residents’ perceptions found, predictably, that income
was positively related to the approval for the economic benefits of tourism and negatively related to
the perception of the economic costs of tourism. Older residents, who had evidenced the enrichment
of Phuket by tourism, tended to show stronger belief in the economic benefits of tourism than younger
ones. This observation is contrary to earlier research which has found stronger negative attitudes
342
among older people. The two possible explanations are that we focused on economic factors only, and
that the fast development of tourism is a relatively recent phenomena, and benefits of tourism have
accrued faster than its costs.
We further tested for differences between respondents of different ethnicities and religions.
Muslims, who are underrepresented in the tourism industry relative to other groups, revealed higher
sensitivity to the negative impacts of tourism. Surprisingly, sea gypsies, in spite of their low
involvement with tourism, showed greater enthusiasm about it than other groups. However, in both
cases the differences were not statistically significant (results not shown).
Table 3
Respondents’ perceptions of tourism by personal characteristics
Factors Positive Sig. Negative Sig.

Overall 4.11 - 4.06 -
Male 4.13 4.02
Gender 0.421 0.115
Female 4.09 4.08
< 20 yrs. 4.08 3.86
21-30 yrs. 4.07 4.11
31-40 yrs. 4.13 4.05
Age 0.048** 0.282
41-50 yrs. 4.13 4.03
51-60 yrs. 4.03 4.13
> 60 yrs, 4.22 3.94
Primary school
or lower 4.17 4.08
High school 4.09 4.10
Education 0.596 0.002**
College 4.18 3.91
Bachelor degree 4.07 4.10
Graduate degree 4.10 4.01
Self-employed 4.10 3.94
Hired 4.07 4.11
Agriculture 4.02 4.03
Professional 4.23 4.03
Occupation Student 4.03 0.072* 4.14 0.002**
Civil servant 4.13 4.20
Retired 4.29 4.37
Unemployed 4.10 4.15
Other 4.20 3.95
No 4.06 4.06
Family Respondent
employed in employed 4.19 0.301 4.10 0.835
tourism?
Family member 4.14 4.02
How many None 4.06 4.06
family 1 person 4.16 4.08
members 2 persons 4.17 0.653 4.08 0.576
work in 3 persons 4.08 3.89
tourism? More than 3 4.21 3.94
Note: ** ANOVA test indicated statistically significant difference between groups at P<0.05
Note: * ANOVA test indicated statistically significant difference between groups at P<0.10
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TSUNAMI IMPACTS
The December 2004 tsunami had devastating effects on the economy of Phuket. The number
of tourist arrivals in Phuket slumped by over 60% in the first months of 2005, and tourism-generated
revenue fell by over 70% (Table 4).
Table 4
Tsunami Impact on Phuket: Tourist Arrivals and Revenue; Jan. - March, 2004 -2005
Type of Data Jan. - March 2005 Jan. - March 2004 % change

Total arrivals 455,303 1,182,024 - 61.48
Thai 266,009 373,985 - 28.87
Foreigners 189,294 808,039 -76.57
Total revenue (million baht) 5,260.09 18,172.48 -71.05
Thai 2,158.07 3,236.26 -33.32
Foreigners 3,102.02 14,936.22 -79.23
Source: Tourism Authority of Thailand (2005)
This impact was reflected in the findings of this study. The majority of the respondents were
affected by the December 2004 tsunami, through salary decrease, lost business, lost job and/or loss of
a family member’s life. In the months after the tsunami 30% of the respondents saw their income fall
by at least half, and another 20% saw a decrease by about a quarter. The effect was unequally
distributed among ethnicities and religions (Table 5).
Table 5
Tsunami Effect by Ethnicity or Religion
Tsunami effect
Ethnicity Lost Business Family Salary
Lost job
house suffer life decrease
Thai Thais 4.4% 11.9% 3.1% 16.0% 22.9%
Chinese-Thai 2.6% 25.6% 5.1% 12.8% 33.3%
Sea Gypsies 25.0% 33.3% 8.3% - -
Buddhist 4.6% 15.5% 2.7% 14.3% 24.6%
Muslim 7.1% 4.8% 7.1% 21.4% 9.5%
Total 4.8% 14.3% 4.0% 14.3% 22.0%
Note: Difference between groups is statistically significant (p=0.008)
As a result of the tsunami, over half of the respondents had to change their spending
behaviour, through consumption cuts or borrowing to cover current expenses or sustain their business
(Table 6). Of those affected by the tsunami in our sample, however, only 8 percent received some
form of financial assistance by government or charities. Only half a percent of them had been insured
– confirming the well-publicized facts that most people and small businesses in the tsunami-affected
areas had no insurance to cover their losses.
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Table 6
Post-tsunami Changes in Spending Habits by Ethnicity or Religion
Did you change your spending behavior after the tsunami?

Religion Cut some Cut spending to Borrowed for Assisted others
No
expenditure only basics consumption financially
Thai Thais 18.8% 14.7% 58.6% 5.6% 2.2%
Chinese Thais 20.5% 23.1% 48.7% 2.6% 5.1%
Sea Gypsies - - 33.3% 50.0% 16.7%
Buddhist 18.8% 14.0% 57.8% 6.7% 2.7%
Muslim 16.7% 19.0% 52.4% 7.1% 4.8%
Total 21.3% 15.0% 53.8% 6.3% 3.8%
Note: Difference between groups is statistically significant (p=0.000)
SUGGESTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF PHUKET
Based on our findings, a number of recommendations can be made for improving the access
to the economic benefits of tourism of an even larger portion of the population, reducing some of the
negative impacts of tourism, and reducing the economic dependence of Phuket on tourism. We have
grouped and presented these below.
Government support for left-out groups and minorities
Support for business start ups and SMEs. Many respondents showed desire to start their own
businesses or invest more in existing ones, but pointed as a main hurdle the limited access to
financing. Measures could include soft loans for selected sectors, and provision of know-how and
consultations to would-be entrepreneurs.
Creating opportunities for more involvement of the Muslim and sea gypsy minorities in the
tourism industry. The concern of some minorities about working directly with foreigners could be
addressed by offering them back-office positions or other jobs where direct contact with tourists is
avoided, and developing a more efficient market for traditional handicrafts and for traditional
products of these minorities (notably fishery).
Improved knowledge of foreign cultures and languages. Cultural misunderstandings can be

avoided and communication with tourists improved if local people are offered more opportunities to
learn how to interact, deal, communicate and work with foreign tourists. As a bare minimum, more
English language courses would benefit all.
Reducing Corruption
Another important concern is related to existing corruption at both central government and
local government levels. Many respondents were concerned that corruption and favouritism often
result in the benefits of tourism going to a few selected people. In particular, most comments of
respondents were related to corruption and favouritism in the distribution of the tsunami recovery
funds. Measures include more transparency with public works and infrastructure projects, more
publicly available information and the use of open tenders and stricter enforcement of laws and
regulation. The authors realize, however, that this is a very difficult task and requires concentrated
efforts at all levels over a long period of time.
Diversification of the local economy
Phuket has become over-dependent on one single industry - tourism. This is good in times of
rapid tourism growth, but its perils are all too obvious in periods when the industry is threatened and
suffers by externalities, such health scares (SARS), natural disasters (tsunami, earthquakes), terrorist
345
attacks, etc. In addition to these threats that may have a long-term negative impact on the local
economy, the residents of the island suffer from the seasonality of income, with an industry that has
very clearly pronounced high and low seasons. This diversification of the economy could be done
through two channels: diversification of the tourism industry itself, and diversification into other
industries.
Diversification of the tourism industry
This involves exploiting current trends in world tourism, and putting special emphasis on
types of tourism that are less volatile – seasonally or as a result of specific events, and more promising
in terms of long-term growth. Possible measures include:
Long stay tourism. Long stay tourism will obviously show less seasonality then other tourism
(though many long stay tourists still choose to spend in Phuket only the time of the year coinciding
with the high season - November till March). Furthermore, these tourists are likely to be less affected
by externalities such as health scares or natural disasters, due to the fact that they may have business
interests in Phuket, own real estate, or have relationships that make them less mobile than short-stay
tourists. Long stay tourists also help spread the economic benefits of tourism better than other tourists,
as they are more likely to stray away from the popular tourist areas, do their shopping elsewhere, and
engage in a lifestyle that is different from that of the short-term tourists.
Health and wellness tourism. This is one of the fastest growing branches of tourism around
the world, due to increasing health awareness of tourists. Thailand, and Phuket, are well positioned to
exploit this trend, and are already known as a health and wellness destination. Thai spas and Thai
massage are popular with both current and potential tourists. In addition, in recent years the island has
been experiencing a boom in medical tourism, due to a combination of low costs, well-educated
professionals and modern equipment. The island already boasts several world-class hospitals, some of
which are regular participants in travel fairs, as well as numerous medical and dental clinics that are
mostly focused on international tourists.
Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE). Phuket is already being promoted
as a MICE destination, but it suffers from the lack of a big convention center where larger events
could be hosted. Hotels are only able to host small-to-medium-sized events. The central and
provincial governments have been discussing the idea of building a large convention center, and the
construction of such a center is to start soon in Phuket city. Hurdles to the construction have been the
concerns of Phuket residents related to possible environmental problems and traffic congestions that
may ensue.
Gaming and casino tourism. The possibility of constructing a big gambling complex has been
discussed for several years now, and the main reason why it hasn’t started yet in spite of certain
government support are the concerns of local residents about the social costs of gambling. Decision
has been delayed as authorities have been unwilling to antagonize the local population. A casino
complex could attract an increasing number of tourist gamblers. Notably, Asian tourists could be
expected to be the largest group of visitors at such a complex. Meanwhile, Singapore has started the
construction of a casino complex and any future decision will need to reflect the potential competition
between the two destinations.
Diversification of income
Promoting Phuket as IT hub of Asia. This is already an existing government project, although
relatively little has been done so far. The fact that most IT jobs can be performed remotely, and from
the pleasant ambiance of a tropical island, certainly calls for more action in developing the necessary
infrastructure and promoting the island as an IT hub.
346
One Tambon One Product initiative. The One Tambon (village) One Product (OTOP) project
of the government has envisaged each village specializing into producing, and possibly exporting,
traditional or new products. In Phuket these include Batik clothes and some local foods (such as
cashew nuts, dry curry and etc.). The significance of this project should not be exaggerated, but it
certainly creates job opportunities, and can be both a good substitute and a good complementary
product to tourism.
Traditional Phuket Industries. The economy of Phuket before tourism started its rapid growth
relied heavily on its tin mines, rubber plantations, fishery and shrimp farms. Now there is no more tin
to be extracted, but the other industries should not be neglected. The recent increases in rubber prices
made once again this industry very attractive and a profitable alternative to tourism. These industries
can also be complementary to tourism, and could stimulate one other type of tourism in Phuket: agro-
tourism. With tourists getting tired of congested tourist areas and seeking some alternative to the
beaches, this is an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.
SUMMARY
This paper has studied the perception of local residents of the economic impact of tourism in
Phuket. The major findings can be summarized as follows: unequal distribution of tourism benefits,
not enough opportunities of tourism for all groups of the population, corruption, and overdependence
of Phuket on tourism. Specific measures to help overcome these problems include more active role for
the central and local governments in the tourism industry, more support for business start-ups and
SMEs, and tackling the problems with corruption. Another set of measures relates to overcoming the
overdependence of the Phuket economic on tourism, through two channels. One is the diversification
of the tourism industry into areas that are either less volatile, or with higher growth potential: e.g.
long-stay tourism, health and wellness tourism, and convention tourism. Another is diversification of
income into other sectors, such as the development of Phuket as an IT hub of the region, promotion of
local handcraft and the One Tambon One Product project, and traditional sectors of the agriculture
and fishery industries, such as rubber production, shrimp farming and fishing.
Tourism is an important source of income for Phuket. Together with its economic benefits, it
has incurred different economic costs on the local residents. To make tourism a sustainable source of
income for Phuket residents, these issues should not be ignored, and problems should be faced, in
spite of the euphoria of the rapidly growing tourism revenue. This study has focused only on the
economic aspects of tourism, but one shouldn’t ignore its environmental, social and cultural impacts.
Long term planning and preparing alternative courses of action are vital to the sustainable
development of the island economy.
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349
TOURISTS’ PSYCHOPHSIOLOGICAL BENEFITS FROM RECOLLECTION OF INDIGENOUS
ECOTOURISM EXPERIENCES
Chih-Liang Chao and Man-Ping Wu

ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to explore the existents of tourists’ psychophysiological benefits from
recalling an indigenous ecotourism experiences. This study constructed the lab test to collect
psychological benefits from questionnaire based on the restorative environmental theory and to gather
physiological benefits from three physiological recoding sensors, EMG (electromyogram), EEG
(Electroencephalography). Photographers taken from landscape and activity on site have been
designed as the stimulus to excite the physiological arouse from recollection or imagination of
tourism experiences. Data were compared from 60 students samples who have (n=30) or have not
(n=30) on-site experiences. The results found there were significant differences of physiological
responses elicited from different photographers. However, there were not significant correlation
between psychological self-report data and physiological effects. Research and management
implications are discussed.
Key Words: Indigenous Ecotourism, Perceived Restorative Potential, Psychophsiological Responses.
INTRODUCTION
Ecotourism has raised increasing attention for academic and industry all over worlds in recent
years, not only as an alternative to mass tourism, but also as a means of economic development and
environmental conservation. Ecotourism's rapid growth has attracted the attention of government and
Indigenous communities in Taiwan. A growing number of Taiwan’ indigenous communities are
turning to ecotourism as an alternative to expanded commercial agriculture. Indigenous ecotourism is
one kind of new-type travel that combines the attraction from both ecotourism and indigenous cultural
tourism, its characteristic of tourism resources is "natural environment" and "aboriginal culture". For
visiting these destinations, a tourist may gain psychological and physiological benefits (Driver, 1999)
from taking a leap out of ordinary life (Jafari, 1987) to visit another community, either in space or in
culture (Van den Berghe, 1993:4).
Kaplan and Kaplan (1989) proposed Attention Restoration Theory, ART, thought the natural
environment has characteristics of attention recovery; performed the benefit of attention recovery
under the attentional-recovery environment. And ordinary natural settings have the highest overall
restorative effectiveness, everyday urban settings have the lowest, and sports/ entertainment settings
in between (Herzog, Black, Fountaine, & Knotts, 1997). However, there are few researches to discuss
the relationships between tourism benefits from recollection and tourism experiences. Also, there
were few research to discuss the relationships between psychological outcome (recreation experience),
psychological benefits (attention recovery), and physical benefits in different landscape settings and
even activity settings of the aboriginal community that under the natural environment.
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between visitors’ tourism
experiences and the effect of perceived restorative environmental recovery. Based on
psychophysiology theories to record the right and left brain-sphere alpha brain waves (EEG-a,
EEG-b), the forehead Electromyography(EMG) by biofeedback instruments, and to understand the
influence of different landscape and activity settings of the aboriginal community on those
psychophysiological reactions.
350
TRADITIONAL APPROACH
Psychophysiological Research and Recollection
Psychophysiology explores the relationship between verbal reports of behavior and the
physiological responses associated with that behavior (Cacioppo& Petty, 1983). The approach has
been used to identify the physiological correlates associated with positive and negative moods
(Cacioppo, Martzke, Petty & Tassinary, 1988), to measure the relationship between autonomic arousal,
emotional images and enhanced functioning of the immune system (e.g., Achterburg, 1984), and to
determine the relationship between improved mental health and increases in endogenous opiates
(Hughes, 1984).
Despite the inchoate nature of this work, some of researchers, as Hartig, Mang and Evans
(1991) believe that the existing body of literature can be characterized as a distinct field of inquiry,
environmental psychophysiology, and also adopted the previous definition of Tassinary (1995) to
define this new field as “the study of relationships between organism-place transactions and
physiological events.” With related interests in environmental design and management applications in
the service of health promotions, a small but growing number of environment-behavior researchers
have over recent decades been casting light onto a philosophic base, which built on an appreciation of
the psychological demands of urban life and anticipated current views on bio-psycho-social
mechanisms mediating environmental effects on health.
Most theorists agree that the processing of retrieved information from memory produces
physiological and psychological responses that are positively related to the original behavior (e.g.,
Ahsen, 1984, 1987; Lang, 1979). For example, Lang (1979) suggests emotional images produce a
“prototype of overt behavioral expression” in the form of physical responses (e.g., changes in heart
rate, skin conductance and blood pressure) and psychological responses (e.g., shift in affect).
In outdoor recreation field, Tarrant, Manfredo, and Driver (1994) examined the psychological
and physiological responses associated with the recollections of both active and passive outdoor
recreation experiences. Physiological responses were measured based on changes in heart rate, skin
conductance level, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure, while psychological responses were
based on changes in positive and negative affective states. The researchers found out that, in
comparison to recollection of a distressful exam situation, active outdoor recreation recollections
differed in regard to physiological responses, while passive outdoor recreation recollections differed
in regard to both psychological and physiological response. Heywood (1978), reported evidence that
pleasant passive leisure experiences (such as reading and listening to music) produced significantly
greater reductions in heart rate, skin conductance and respiration, than non-leisure or negative
affective experiences. In other work, Ulrich and his associates (e.g., Ulrich & Simons, 1986; Ulrich,
Dimberg and Driver., 1991) have shown faster and more complete recuperation from stress
(demonstrated by reductions in heart rate, skin conductance, muscle tension and pulse transit time)
with exposure to videotapes of natural scenes than urban environments. Natural scenes were rated by
subjects as significantly more pleasing and positive than the urban settings. These findings led
researchers (Tarrant et al, 1994 and Walker, 1998) to propose a linkage between recollection of
outdoor recreation experiences and beneficial outcomes.
Restorative Environment Theory in Psychophyiological research
“Attention restoration” theorists (e.g. Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989) have emphasized the
negative consequences of directed attention fatigue, especially its effects on human performance.
Directed attention fatigue is thought to stem from depletion of a central inhibitory capacity. This
capacity is depleted in the effort to exclude stimuli that compete for attention with a focal undertaking.
When this capacity is overdrawn, the resultant fatigue may manifest in irritability and other negative
affects, inability to plan, diminished helping behavior, failure to recognize interpersonal cues, and
increased likelihood of error in performance. A cognitive mechanism thought to support recovery
from directed attention fatigue was discerned in William James’s (1892) description of involuntary
351
attention, which refers to attention driven by interest rather than force of will (Kaplan and Kaplan,
1989). It can be engaged by objects and events as well as by exploring and making sense of some
physical or conceptual environment.
As these synopses indicate, attention restoration theory emphasizes cognitive aspects of

restorative experience and does not attempt to account for possible psychophysiological restoration.
However, the study of restorative environments has its roots in several areas concerned with nature
experience. Individuals who are feeling weak or low, environmental affordances for restoration
should have great adaptive value (Ulrich, 1983). In recent years, two influential accounts have been
proposed regarding the particular restorative functions that environments may fulfill. First, attention
restoration theory has emphasized the importance of cognitive functioning such as restoration from
attentional fatigue (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989; Kaplan, 1995). Second, the psychoevolutionary model
(Ulrich et al., 1991) has emphasized the importance of affective functioning such as restoration from
psychophysiological stress associated with threat or challenge. Both accounts draw support from a
growing body of empirical evidence indicating that environments differ in how well they support
cognitive restoration, as measured by improved concentration, and affective restoration, as measured
by improvements in self-reported positive and negative mood states and physiological indicators such
as reduced blood pressure and lower levels of stress hormones (Kaplan, 1995). In addition,
environmental evaluation research has revealed the properties of scenes that contribute to visual
preferences and aesthetic responding (Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989; Ulrich et al., 1991). Therefore, the
psychophysiological methods and constructs may be used to help clarify pertinent conceptual issues in
the study of environmental restoration and also can prove this assumption that the effects will be
extend during tourists reflection stage.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A famous indigenous spots in Cinsbu community in North Mountain of Taiwan were selected
and took photographs from landscape and activity settings as the stimuli of psychophysiological test.
Data were collected from a class sample which was drawn from the 60 college students (75% female,
mean age of total sample=25.2 years) who have been to or have not enjoyed a two-days class filed trip
of indigenous toursim in Cinsbu Tribe. Subjects in this study were voluntary.
The study was conducted in two parts. In part one, subjects completed a self-report
questionnaire to measure general demographic information (e.g. gender, age, past similar travel
experiences), and medical history (e.g. recent health problems, take sick in past one week). Subjects
who had health problems (e.g. drinking, smoking, take sick) or were on medication were not selected
for further study. Subjects with actual experience at Cinsbu community travel were asked to recall
on-site experience. However, subjects without actual experience were asked to imagine on-site
experience at Cinsbu community travel. In part two of the study, two groups of subjects participated
in a laboratory experiment to measure physiological and psychological responses associated with the
recall and imagine of the settings of Cinsbu community travel.
For the physiological test reasons, subjects were asked to refrain from physical exercise and
ingestion of excessive amounts of caffeine, and to avoid use of any alcohol, drugs or medication for at
least 12 hours prior to the laboratory experiment. In recognition of the complex restorative processes,
a multi-method strategy that included self-report measures and physiological measures was applied.
352
Activity Settings
Aboriginal
Physiological
weaving H1 Reactions
Cultivating peach EEG-a, EEG-b
interpretation
EMG
Trap making
interpretation Recollections of
on-site experience
Mountain or H3
overlooking Imagination of
on-site experience
Psychological Benefits
Perceived
Restorativeness
Landscape Settings Scale, PRS
Aboriginal houses
H2 Recreational
Mountains Satisfaction
landscape
Peach orchard
Forest landscape
Figure 1
The structure of research concept
Psychophysiological Data
Subjects were met by the experimenter in the laboratory and asked to seat in a comfortable
chair in a naturally lighted office room. The use of three types of physiological recoding sensors,
including EMG (electromyogram), two channels of EEG (Electroencephalography), was explained to
each subject. The placement for these physiological sensors are shown in Figure 2. All the
physiological variables were recorded by the biofeedback device and transferred to computer software
(Procompt+/Biograph v 2.0 biofeedback system).
Muscle tension was measured by the EMG (Electromyogram) changes in the frontalis muscle
region of the brow to represent the data from the subject’s skeletomuscular responses. An increase in
EMG amplitude indicates the level of muscle tension increase. The EEG was monitored continuously
using the multi-channel EEG system for the right and left-hemispheres. Generally accepted by today’s
scientific and sporting circles is the concept that sports people performing at the very peak of their
abilities can experience an increased level of alpha brainwave activity. Data from the EEG, and EMG
were recorded directly on to a laptop.
353
Self-Report data
During this experimental test, subjects were exposed to landscape and activity photographs
treatments. After viewing each landscape or activity slide, subjects were requested to evaluate 13
items recreation satisfaction (Manfredo, Driver and Brown,1983) and Perceived Restorativeness Scale
(PRS)(Laumann, 2001), a direct rating approach based on definitions of each construct to measure the
four components of a restorative environment proposed by attention restoration theory (ART): being
away, extent, fascination, and compatibility. Moreover, space times have been provided to subjects to
verbal their memories related to their recollection or imagination. Research Concept was displayed in
Figure 1.
RESULTS
Descriptive Statistics
Subjects with actual experience (n=30) at Cinsbu community travel were asked to recall
on-site experience. However, subjects without actual experience (n=30) were asked to imagine on-site
experience at Cinsbu community travel. The structure of physiological response and psychological
reports has been examined by both groups.
Subjects with on-site experiences. For the stimulus as activity picture, Table 1 indicated that
subjects with on-site experience have the highest mean scores during recollection of cultivating peach
interpretation activity in the aboriginal trip for the physiological response from alpha rhythm of right
brainwaves (EEGa=9.69), but highest mean scores from alpha rhythm from left brainwaves during
recollection of trap making interpretation, (EEGb=6.44). There was the lowest forehead muscle
tension from recalling mountain overlooking activity (EMG=10.30) and highest mean scores during
recollection of mountain overlooking for the psychological report (PRS=4.05 and SAT=3.99). For the
stimulus as landscape picture, recollection of peach orchard activity had the highest alpha rhythm
from both brainwaves. There was the lowest forehead muscle tension (EMG=10.19) and the highest
psychological report from recalling mountain landscape (SAT=4.05) or recalling forest landscape
(PRS=4.05).
Subjects without on-site experiences. For the stimulus as activity picture, Table 1 indicated
that subjects without on-site experience have the highest mean scores during imagination of trap
making interpretation activity in the aboriginal trip for the physiological response from alpha rhythm
of right brainwaves (EEGa=8.57), but highest mean scores from alpha rhythm of left brainwaves
during recollection of aboriginal weaving (EEGb=7.15) and cultivating peach interpretation activity
(EEGb=7.14). There was the lowest forehead muscle tension from imagination of cultivating peach
interpretation activity (EMG=8.52) and highest mean scores for the psychological report (PRS=3.84)
and highest recreation satisfaction (SAT=3.91) for the imagination of mountain looking. For the
stimulus as landscape picture, imagination of peach orchard activity had the highest alpha rhythm
from both brainwaves. There was the lowest forehead muscle tension (EMG=8.54) and the highest
psychological report from imagination of mountain landscape (SAT=3.83) or recalling forest
landscape (PRS=3.84).
Compared with both groups, subjects with or without on-site experiences, mountain landscape
or mountain overlooking have served the lowest forehead muscle tense and the highest psychological
response. This pattern also followed by forest landscape and trap making interpretation activity. The
finding is consistent with majority belief of landscape preferences and restorative environment
theorists, nature viewing can be a good environmental effects and offer further support for the
hypothesis of enhanced restoration in natural environments (Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989; Van den Berg,
Koole and Van der Wulp, 2003).
354
Table1
Mean scores and Standard Deviation from psychological and physiological data
Subject with on-site experiences Subject without on-site experiences

Recreation Psychological Psychological
Physiological Response Physiological response
Satisfaction Report Report
EEGa EEGb EMG PRS1 SAT2 EEGa EEGb EMG PRS SAT
Aboriginal 11.22
3.82 3.52 9.07 3.38 3.12
8.19 6.06 8.01 7.15
weaving (0.63) (0.58) (0.79) (0.73)
Cultivating peach 11.89 3.77 3.48 8.52 3.30 3.05
6.37 7.78
Activity
9.69 7.14
interpretation (0.61) (0.56) (0.55) (0.51)
Trap making 11.32 4.13 3.81 9.27 3.55 3.27
8.10 6.44 8.57 6.37
interpretation (0.44) (0.41) (0.62) (0.57)
Mountain 10.30 4.32 3.99 8.69 4.24 3.91
6.73 5.69 8.50 6.67
overlooking (0.40) (0.37) (0.42) (0.39)
Aboriginal 11.55 3.77 3.48 9.29 3.80 3.51
houses 6.27 5.94 7.81 7.12
(0.73) (0.67) (0.53) (0.49)
Peach orchard 12.51 3.84 3.55 10.28 3.61 3.33
Landscape
9.18 6.55 9.19 10.28

(0.59) (0.54) (0.81) (0.74)
Forest landscape 10.39 4.12 3.81 9.06 3.96 3.66
6.08 5.42 8.22 8.28
(0.56) (0.51) (0.49) (0.45)
Mountain 10.19 4.18 3.86 8.54 4.15 3.83
landscape 8.23 6.45 6.78 7.36
(0.50) (0.46) (0.50) (0.46)
Note 1, PRS=Total mean scores from 12-items of perceived restorative environmental scale (Laumann, 2001),
1=strongly disagree and 5=strongly agree.
Note 2. SAT=Tota1 means scores from 13 items recreation satisfaction (Manfredo, Driver and Brown,1983),
1=very disagree and 5=very agree.
Note 3, EEGa represents the alpha rhythm from right hemispheric asymmetry
Note 4, EEGb represents the alpha rhythm from left hemispheric asymmetry
Note 5, EMG represents the intense of forehead muscle
2. Hypothesis Testing
For the measurement issues, a psychophysiological approach can be used to examine the
validity of inferences that can be made from traditional self-report (i.e., social-psychological)
measures of recreation or tourism behavior (Ulrich, Dimberg & Driver, 1991) and to provide evidence
of potential health benefits (Achterburg, 1984; Hughes, 1984; Pennebaker, 1982). In this study, a total
of psychological data and physiological data from 60 valid questionnaires were obtained. By testing
of repeated measure effects with a multivariate F, there are several salient findings from the results of
analyses:
Hypothesis 1: Testing activity effects from psychphysiological responses
A series of two-way 4 (Activity Effects: 4 activity pictures) by 2 (Subjects : with or without

on-site experiences) ANOVAs with repeated measures were tested for the hypothesized activity
effects by subjects interaction according to five psychophysiological responses, including three
physiological indicators and two psychological reports.
In different activity pictures, recreational experience satisfaction(F4,47＝2.047，p＝0.103),

EEGb(F4,54＝0.514，p＝0.726) and EMG(F4,54＝0.871，p＝0.487) of subjects with and without on-site
experience all were not significantly. However, perceived restorative scale reported by subjects with
and without on-site experience was significantly different (F4,55＝ 5.100，p＝0.001，eta-square=0.271)
based on four activity effects. Moreover, alpha activity of right brain (EEGa) from subjects with and
without on-site experience was significantly different (F4,54＝2.744，p＝0.038，eta-square=0.169)
355
based on four activity effects. Therefore, hypothesis 1 was only partial supported.
Hypothesis 2: Testing Landscape effects from psychophysiological responses
A series of 4 (Landscape Effects: 4 landscape pictures) by 2 (Subjects: with or without on-site

experiences) ANOVAs with repeated measures were tested for the hypothesized landscape effects by
subjects interaction according to five psychophysiological responses, including three physiological
indicators and two psychological reports. After testing, recreational experience satisfaction (F4,55＝
2.334，p＝0.067), perceived restorative scale reported by subjects (F4, 55＝0.899，p＝0.471), EEGa
(F4,54＝1.937，p＝0.117), EEGb(F4,54＝2.026，p＝0.104) and EMG(F4,54＝1.343，p＝0.266) elicited
by different landscape pictures, subjects with and without on-site experiences all were not
significantly. Therefore, hypothesis 2 was not supported. That is psychophysiological responses did
not affect by landscape effects and subjects with or without on-site experiences.
Hypothesis 3: the correlation between psychological benefits and physiological responses
Table 2 included the scale items from psychological reports and physiological indicators.
There are significant correlation between psychological report, recreation satisfaction and perceived
restorative scale. However, the predicted order did not hold up for physiological indicators and
psychological reports. The only correlation has been supported by the subjects who have (r=0.44) or
have not (r=0.42) been to Cinsbu community while viewing mountain landscape. Therefore,
hypothesis 3 was only partial supported.
Table 2
The correlation between psychological benefit and physiological responses
Subject with on-site experiences Subject without on-site experiences

Recreation Satisfaction
EEGa EEGb EMG PRS EEGa EEGb EMG PRS
.505＊ -.015 -.204 .027 .886＊＊
Aboriginal weaving -.041 .008 .215
＊
.828＊ -.112 .077 -.120 .782＊＊

Cultivating peach
-.047 .196 -.153
Activity
interpretation ＊
.440＊ -.244 -.007 .124 .628＊＊

Trap making
-.158 -.060 -.043
interpretation ＊
.707＊ -.093 .111 .069 .699＊＊

Mountain overlooking .014 -.206 -.071
＊
Aboriginal houses .031 .254 .076 .770＊ .078 -.121 -.020 .622＊＊
＊
Mountain landscape .440＊ .222 -.280 .675＊ .218 .421＊ .105 .704＊＊
Landscape
Peach orchard .003 .197 .027 .659＊ .194 -.090 .262 .742＊＊
＊
Forest landscape -.080 .067 .156 .665＊ .059 .063 -.234 .616＊＊
＊
Note 1 * represented P<0.05, ** represented p<0.01
356
CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSIOTN
1. Leisure benefits from recalling tourism experiences
Environmental Effects from Mountain and forest landscape or activity pictures can elicit the
lowest physical tense but highest mental effects in both subjects with or without on-site experiences.
These findings provide evidences useful for the development of the Benefits Based Approach to
Tourism Field (Driver et al., 1990). During this research, psychophysiological criteria have been
applied to capture the subjects’ tourism experiences. The results also may provide evidences for
influencing tourism behavior through persuasive appeals. The role of positive moods in influencing
desired behavior and producing favorable attitudes toward a persuasive appeal has been well
documented in the literature on attitude research. There is some evidence to suggest that imagining
leisure activities may influence consumer behavior. For example, MacInnis and Price (1990) have
shown that thinking about a future vacation has a positive effect on reported satisfaction after the
vacation.
Moreover, the interest in nature tourism has been increasing in recent years as partly a result
of the emphasis in sustainable development in communities. This increasing interest has provided
opportunities for tourism businesses and organizations to target new niche markets. One central
concern for nature-based tourism businesses and organizations is visitors reuse intention because it is
one of the sources of future revenues for these businesses and organizations. Thus, it is critical to
understand the factors that influence nature tourists revisit intentions. Nature-based tourism is mainly
experience-driven, and especially offers tourist ecological-based experience. The quality of tourism
services impacts the tourists’ level of satisfaction with the experience (Tian 1998). Improved service
quality will result in customers who are more happy and satisfied are more likely to revisit and more
likely to have positive image toward destination. Although existing literatures have shown the effects
of service quality on revisit intentions, few, if any, have examined the impacts of each service quality
dimensions. Examining the impact of each service quality dimension on tourists’ experiences by
psychophysiological responses might have chances to fill this gap by efficiently measuring tourists’
on-site optimal experiences (Walker, et al., 1998) and also for the off-site benefits from recollection
or imagination (Chao, 2003).
2. Empirical evidences psychophysiological research on restorative environments
Instead of specifying deleterious environmental conditions that might be corrected, restoration

research has provided a basis for efforts to protect and promote psychologically positive values of
natural environments that would otherwise be lost to urbanization and resource-intensitve land
management practices (Hartig and Evans, 1993). Shifting the focus from fear, guilt, and indignation
related to deteriorating environmental quality, many theorists have hypothesized that people who see
greater potential for restorative experiences in natural environments also do more to protect them by
behaving ecologically, as with recycling or reduced driving (Hartig, Kaiser and Bowler, 2001).
Moreover, some of empirical evidences (Eagly and Chaiken, 1993) have shown that physiological
responses were related with the antecedent of human attitude. Therefore, the enhancement for the
physiological intense may protect the path for the attitude accessibility.
For the research methodology, psychophysiological research on environmental restorativeness

is more conveniently conducted in the laboratory than in the field, and thus a reliance on
environmental surrogates is a primary concern. If the restorative qualities of environments can be
adequately represented visually, than high-quality photography and videography may well produce
adequate surrogates. For example, virtual reality in computer game or software can help to built the
restorative qualities of environments and be adequately represented.
LIMITATIONS
There are often limitations when using sensitive physiological measures especially muscle
357
tension, etc. In this study, although subjects were asked to avoid sudden body movements during
physiological recording, for example, gesturing with their arms or legs. This may produce peaks and
troughs in the recordings. Furthermore, the invasiveness of the physiological measures themselves
may have contributed to artificial responses.
Finally, the limited sample size has made it difficult to generalize our results. These subjects
were selected from the student group but the majority of them had no skill or no experiences in terms
of indigenous community.
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In, B. L. Driver, P. J. Brown, and G. L. Peterson (Eds.), The Benefits of Leisure (pp.73-89). State
College, Pennsylvania: Venture Publishing, Inc.
Ulrich, R. S., Simons, R. F., Losito, B. D., Fiorito, E., Miles, M. A., & Zelson, M. (1991). Stress
recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology,
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Van den Berghe, P. L. (1993). The Quest for the Other: Ethnic tourism in San Cristóbal, Mexico.
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Van den Berg, A. E., Koole, S. L. & Van der Wulp, N. Y. (2003). Environmental preference and
restoration: (How) are they related? Journal of Environmental Psychology, 23, 135–146.
Walker, G. J., Hull IV, R. B., Roggenbuck, J. W. (1998). On-site optimal experiences and their
relationship to off-site benefits. Journal of Leisure Research, 39(4), 453-471.
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TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASUALTY AMONG INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS VISITING
PHUKET CITY, THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND
Anek Hirunraks and Kawin Limsakul

Faculty of Service Industry
ABSTRACT
The study of “ Traffic Accident Casualty Among International Tourists Visiting Phuket City”
had purposed to study the causes of traffic accident among international tourists in Phuket City and to
revise the cause of these problems for the reducing the numbers of traffic accident among tourists,
especially the losing of lives and properties. Furthermore, the results of the problems also uplifted the
safety standard of tourism in Phuket and consequently, to ensure the global service quality for visitors.
There were two groups of target population which included in the study. They are workers
from the car rental companies and workers from local car insurance companies. The data was
collected by interviews. Personal direct interviews were made among the key workers of the car rental
and insurance companies. Moreover, other essential data and information was gathered from Tourist
information centers related to traffic accident in Phuket and comparable tourist’s destinations. The
data collection was conducted during June and July 2005.
From the study, the researchers found that the causes of accidents casualty among tourists of
most fatal cases are due to non-familiar nation to driving culture in Phuket and the right-handed
steering wheels are not customary among the westerners.
The suggestions from workers of car rental companies and workers of local car insurance
companies are going through the same ways.
In order to cope with these causes, the preventive measures ought to be of full attention, they
are imposed the tourists (drivers) with local traffic rule and regulations, the local authorities should
improve all of traffic peripherals, e.g. road conditions, street lights and all of the traffic signs and
signals, attention and proper advices on law, order and driving practices should be emphasized by the
car rental companies, provided more Traffic Police checking-points on highways, especially during
the night times and special events for preventive drinking drivers and due the traffic rule information
as hand out brochures within rented cars for primary understanding of tourists who are the driver.
Key Words: Traffic Accident; Phuket Tourism; Tourism Casualty
INTRODUCTION
Implementation of the emergency plan to assist the tourism industries of countries ravaged by
the 26 December tsunami will be the main focus of the World Tourism Organization at the
International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin. Another important objective will be to reaffirm the
positive trend in international tourism following the record year of 2004.
Two high-level meetings on tsunami recovery will be held on 10 March, the day before the
official opening of ITB. The second meeting of the WTO Emergency Task Force will evaluate the
Phuket Action Plan, which was adopted at a special session of the World Tourism Organization
Executive Council held on the Thai island on 1 February 2005. This will be followed by a meeting
with industry leaders to encourage further cooperation from the private sector.
The main goal of the Phuket Action Plan is to speed recovery in all affected destinations, by
restoring traveler confidence in the region. It also aims to help destinations resume normal operations
by maximizing the use of existing tourism infrastructure and by helping small tourism-related
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businesses and employees survive the recovery period. The WTO's partner in the Phuket Action Plan,
Visa International, will present findings from its latest survey of tourism trends in the region, while
leading tourism officials from Sri Lanka, Maldives, Indonesia and Thailand will update delegates on
the latest situation in their countries.
"The Action Plan focuses on the human element in tourism; saving tourism jobs, re-launching
small tourism-related businesses, and recovering the visitor flows that make these economies work,"
said Francesco Frangialli, WTO Secretary-General. "We were amazed by the unprecedented solidarity
shown by the international tourism community in using tourism as an effective means to accelerate
recovery and reconstruction in the aftermath of this tragedy. Now we need to bring tourists back to the
region, by carefully coordinating activities and preventing that outdated travel advisories issued by
some countries do not cause more damage to these destinations."
Any how the solutions of tourism in Phuket that was caused by Tsunami disaster are
worldwide, so there are afforded as reset up the Action Plan very soon. Furthermore, another Action
Plan of Phuket is also important is to study of causes of accident casualty among tourists in Phuket.
Even though this problem is not huge as the Tsunami disaster, but it may cause the severity of tourist
lives and properties. In every year, tourists from all around the world come to visit Phuket in large
numbers. They are willing to come to Phuket for the reasons of beautiful beaches, natural sceneries,
Thai culture, very kind people and most of all the “Safety of life”. Therefore the way to make tourists
feel safety should concern both of transportations and traffic system in Phuket. Tourism is the main
source of income, so not only the numbers of population is higher, but numbers of transportations and
traffics are higher as well. Therefore not longer soon, tourism in Phuket should grow increasingly
again with the better traffic system. It makes standard of tourism in Phuket is higher in quality as well.
PROBLEMS AND OBJECTIVES
Phuket, a large island in the Indian Ocean, is 867 kms. from Bangkok. It is the only island
having provincial status, and was a regional headquarters as well, with a rich and colorful history.
Phuket is well known as the Pearl of the Andaman, it derived much of its former glory and its
enormous wealth from tin production, which in Phuket dates back over 500 years. Today, Phuket is
the major tourist attraction of Thailand. The surrounding waters contain much varied marine life, and
the town is notable for its Sino-Portuguese architecture. It is a very attractive island for sightseeing,
with lovely seashores and forested hillsides.
In each year, Phuket has tourists come to travel all year round. In 2003, Phuket had 1,883,809
tourists visiting, but by year 2004, the number of tourists expanded very increasingly to 2,546,837, it
was 35.20 percent higher. And it is also good for the expenditure as the revenue in 2003 was
39,112.23 million baht and in 2004 was 48,430.56 million baht, so 23.82 percent higher. (TAT, 2004)
In the present, Phuket tourism is growing very fast and tourism is the main revenue of Phuket,
it means many tourists are visiting all around Phuket island. Every year, tourists from everywhere in
the world come to visit Phuket increasingly, not only coming by tour agencies, but coming by
themselves also. Therefore, the traffic jams are plentiful particularly transportations in tourism and
industries.
According to those who transport tourists in Phuket, the main problem for tourists is the
traffic accidents. The researchers will specific the accident problem that is happened by tourists
driving for themselves, unrelated to transportation by local people. For example, tourists who come to
visit Phuket by themselves would like to travel to attractions alone by renting a car or a motorcycle
from a car rental company and driving with a map in hand. So the chances of accident are higher.
Normally Phuket used to be number one in traffic accidents in Thailand as reported by Itv
Channel in 2000. Part of the numbers of the whole record might come from tourists also.
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The way to make tourists feel safety should concern both of transportations and traffic system
in Phuket. Tourism is the main source of income, so not only the numbers of population is higher, but
numbers of transportations and traffics are higher as well. Therefore not longer soon, tourism in
Phuket should grow increasingly again with the better traffic system. It makes standard of tourism in
Phuket is higher in quality as well.
Therefore, the researchers are interested in traffic accident casualty among tourists in Phuket.
Accidents may be caused by car rental company not checking the tourists’ documents carefully such
as the driving license that recognized and ignoring to check the condition of rented cars before taking
them to tourists. And tourists may be not familiar with condition of roads, directions, and the traffic
law. After that to study the responsibility of insurance company, how to respond the accident of
tourists.
There were three conventional objectives of this study, namely, (1) to assess the current
traffic accident casualty among Phuket tourists, (2) to identify the anticipated causes of traffic
accident as perceived by stakeholders, and (3) to come up with alternatives and proper measure as to
prevent future traffic hazard.
METHODOLOGY
The study was designed to obtain all essential data and information from three groups of
information sources. They are workers from car rental companies, workers from local car insurance
companies, and Tourist information centers related to traffic accident in Phuket and comparable
tourist’s destinations.
All relevant employees or workers of car rental companies and car insurance companies
comprise the “Population” of the study; Interviews will be made with selective random sample from
these two groups of population in combination with the purposive sampling scheme. The sample
selection will primarily impose on large size companies ( both car rental and insurance ), since there
are limited number of companies in Phuket town.
There will be well designed interview forms for primary information collection from the
sampling units. Also, the data recording form will be utilized in the collection of secondary data
sources.
Personal direct interviews are to be made among the key workers of the car rental and
insurance companies. The sample size was originally designed to be as much as 100 interviews for
each of the two groups. At the time of field activities, most of the car rental agencies were closed
down due to the disaster caused by the TSUNAMI phenomenon recently, so the sample size is
shrinking down substantially.
Secondary data sources in yielding of statistics of casualty car accidents can be made from the
following two lists. The list 1, is Phuket vicinity, they are Tourist Police Station in Phuket, Bangkok
Phuket Hospital, Vachira Phuket Hospital, Phuket International Hospital, Patong Hospital, Talang
Hospital and Adventist Hospital. And also the list 2, is in comparatively basis, the accident casualty
statistics in other tourism destinations are over saw and comprised from Tourist Police Station in
Pattaya, Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, Tourist Police Station in Chiang Mai and The health centre of
Chiang Mai.
FINDING
When one emphasizes at international tourists among the leading three cities of Thailand
Committing Bangkok, there were presented in the table 1. ( units are in million )
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Table 1
Number of international visitors among major destinations in Thailand
Year
Destination 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Phuket 3.083 3.460 3.790 2.826 2.746 3.496 1.322
Pattaya 2.408 2.530 2.679 2.879 2.790 3.329 3.533
Chiang Mai 1.306 1.360 1.545 1.609 1.478 1.797 1.874
Nationwide 8.580 9.510 10.060 10.791 10.004 11.650 N/A
Source : Tourism Authority of Thailand.
The traffic accident casualty among inhabitants of “Chiang Mai” during the three consecutive
years ( 2002 – 2004 ) are reported in the Table 2. Note that, the Chiang Mai City is the second largest
tourism destination in Northern of the nation next to Bangkok.
Table 2
Incident of Traffic Accident in Chiang Mai Province
Accident Outcomes Gender 2002 2003 2004

Male 291 302 279
Fatal Events Female 57 72 77
Total 348 374 356
Male 17,592 21,706 19,737
Injured Events Female 8,283 9,421 9,018
Total 25,875 31,127 28,755
Male 17,883 22,008 20,016
Total Events Female 8,340 9,493 9,095
Total 26,223 31,501 29,111
Source : Chiang Mai Province Health Office.
The figures reported in the table do not classify as whether those victims were “residents” of
“tourists” and “domestic tourists” or “international tourists”. However, depth study among these
group of accident victims ought to be differentiated and detailed investigated further.
The study is specific at Phuket tourism destination only. It is understanding that the “data” on
international tourist’s casualty are not available at hand which are confounded with other domestic
tourists and local residents. However, the researchers had put best attempt on the prospected sources
of information, e.g. 6 hospitals, few police stations, car rental companies and casualty insurance
companies. The lower bound of the accident events are presented hereby as. ( these are “Phuket”
figures covering all groups of victims, e.g. tourists – residents etc .
Table 3
Traffic Accident Events in Phuket Province Classified by Level of severity
Year
Accident Events 2002 2003 2004 2005
Fatal 48 50 49 43
Seriously injures 109 121 61 75
Injured 276 317 340 353
Total 433 488 450 471
Note : (1) It is anticipated that the statistical records of “Seriously Injured”

and “Injured” classes must be of extremely under reported.
(2) These figures were included both International and Domestic.
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The record of fatal victims among these statistics for the international tourists visiting Phuket
are reported during the year 2001 through 2004 are 4 in 2001, 8 in 2002, 6 in 2003, 5 in 2004 and 6 in
2005. All other seriously injured and injured cases are not specifically recorded. To be investigating at
the fatal rates of international tourists, there are fatal rates of 1 to 2 per million visitors which caused
from traffic accidents. The nationalities of these fatal casualties are shown in the table 4 :
Table 4
Fatal Casualty Incidents in Phuket among Tourists from Various Nationals
Year (2001 – 2005)

Nationality 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
1. America 1
2. Australia 3
3. Belgium 1
4. British 1 1 2
5. China 1
6. Finland 1
7. France 2
8. Germany 1 1
9. Ireland 1
10. Italy 1 2
11. Japan 1 1
12. New 1
Zealand
13. Philippines 1
14. Scotland 1
15. Sweden 1 2 1
16. Swiss 1
Total 4 8 6 5 6
If we were to investigate and to study on the issues of traffic accidents on nationwide basis, it
is expected that there will be as much as 50 fatal casualties annually for entire Thailand. The
authorities involved should have paid extreme attention to the matters, especially on the preventive
sides.
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
All figures and statistics presented here in this paper should be some what under recored.
Since, there are lack of “effective tourist information system”, to cope with quality services for the
tourism industry, then the results as concluded above are well below the actual situation.
However, the researchers do hope that the concerned authorities should take into account of
having a rigorous statistical or information system in near future.
Moreover, the similar study (to Phuket) should be implemented at other tourism
destinationsof the country, i.e. Chiang Mai, Bangkok and Pattaya. These destinations may have
distinction of confounding environment and local traffic culture. The preventive measures as to suit
the vital need of each location may substantially be varied and specially provided.
CONCLUSION
The study had shown that “Traffic Accident” is one of the relevant component in supporting
to tourism quality and image build-up of tourism destination, i.e. The Phuket City. The existing
statistics did show that there has been as many as 6-8 fatal accident casualty in Phuket among
international visitors. In effect, the annual incident rates for the years 2001 to 2005 are ranging from 1
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to 3 per million. These rates are considered to be at least one hundred times higher if one were to take
into account only the exposed to risk tourists into the incident rate computation.
RECOMMENDATION
Conclusively, traffic accident casualties among “international tourists” in Phuket should be of critical
attention for all authorities and stakeholders concerned. The direct and evident causes of these fatal
and severe incidents could be easily be control and reduced by various alternatives and preventive
measures. The following are selected measures and appropriate action so as to elevate the global
tourism quality of Phuket tourism industry. They are:
- imposed the tourists (drivers) with local traffic rule and regulations.
- the local authorities should improve all of traffic peri-pherals, e.g. road conditions, street
lights and all of the traffic signs and signals.
- attention and proper advices on law, order and driving practices should be emphasized by
the car rental companies. Enforcement should be emphasized on the driving culture which of course,
are of different from the tourist’s motherland.
- provided more Traffic Police checking-points on highways, especially during the night
times and special events for preventive drinking drivers.
- Due the traffic rule information as hand out brochures within rented cars for primary
understanding of tourists who are the driver.
REFERENCES
Asiamarketresearch.com2003, Branding Asian Tourism Destinations, [Online] Retrieved from

www.asiamarketresearch.com/columns/tourism-branding.htm
Asiatraveltips.com2005, WTO to focus on Tsunami Recovery at ITB 2005, [Online] Retrieved from
www.asiatraveltips.com/news05/172-ITB.shtml
Phuket-tourism.com2002, The General Information, [Online] Retrieved from www.phuket-

tourism.com/introduction/general_information.htm
Tourism Authority of Thailand 2005.
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TRAVEL 101: A GENERAL EDUCATION OR ELECTIVE TOURISM COURSE
Stan McGahey
International Hospitality & Tourism Management
Saint Leo University
ABSTRACT
Tourism courses are normally taken only by students majoring in that discipline or as an
approved elective by students majoring in a closely-related discipline. As the world’s largest
industry, however, tourism is exerting increasingly important economic, socio-cultural, and
environmental impacts. As such, tourism’s stakeholders reach far beyond just those who work within
the industry. Tourism’s multi-disciplinary character also makes it potentially relevant to students with
a vast array of majors and interests. In addition, most students will travel for business and pleasure
many times during their lives. Therefore, knowledge of tourism as a lifelong leisure activity and as a
prominent worldwide industry would be of substantial value to them.
Key Words: Travel, tourism, tourism course, university students, general education
INTRODUCTION
This is an exploratory paper that will attempt to explain the need for a new type of tourism
course that would be offered to all university students, regardless of their major field of study. It will
have an international perspective, as we seek to open the world to our students. The course is still
under development, so all suggestions and recommendations are welcomed. It is not meant to be the
typical introductory course for a tourism program, although elements of that type of course will be
included. Students taking introductory courses in tourism often approach the material only from their
known perspective as a tourist. This course would attempt to refine and embellish that perspective,
while also providing them with an industry perspective.
Since the course is generically known as Travel 101, it is a freshman-level course, and since it
spans such a broad field, there is no presumption that every conceivable subject can be covered.
Rather, the course is intended to create a sense of awareness of important and intriguing issues among
the students that will stimulate them to develop a conceptual framework upon which to continue
building their knowledge of tourism and to develop their personal relationship with it in their various
personas as a tourist, resident, and voter.
THE NEED FOR TRAVEL 101 IN ASIA
Tourism has become an integral part of many people’s lives, budgeted and planned as a
necessity on an annual or more frequent basis. Although still in its nascent stages, tourism in Asia
continues to grow for both pleasure and business purposes on a national and international level
(UNWTO, 2003). Mass tourism, much of it in the form of domestic tourism and tourists from other
Asian countries, has already overwhelmed some Asian destinations. Meanwhile, millions of Asian
tourists now travel to various destinations around the world. The volume and importance of Asian
tourism has made it a significant topic of concern from an economic, socio-cultural, and
environmental perspective for people in the region. They are all stakeholders in Asia’s tourism
industry whether they realize it or not. As residents and voters, they must be prepared to practice
responsible stewardship and to sustain their lifestyle by becoming knowledgeable about the positive
and negative impacts of tourism and by exerting the appropriate influence on its continued growth and
their limits of acceptable change.
The recent growth of Asian tourism traffic is phenomenal. As the numbers continue to grow
each year, many of the tourists are novices. Many have never traveled abroad, and many have
experienced little or no contact with foreign culture and ways of life at home. With enhanced freedom
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to travel and the economic power to do so, a whole new wave of tourists is descending on heretofore
untapped destinations. These tourists are in the process of formulating their own tourism
philosophies, preferences, and habits. They are influenced primarily by promotional efforts, word-of-
mouth, and limited personal experience.
Being a knowledgeable and responsible tourist abroad, being able to interact properly with
culturally-diverse tourists at home, or just being informed with the appropriate knowledge and
perspective to influence or react to tourism policy, planning, development, and operations is
becoming an essential skill for citizens in many cities, regions, and countries that thrive on tourism.
Students are the perfect group for nurturing a positive attitude toward responsible tourism both as
travelers and hosts.
While tourism students must often take a variety of courses from the arts and sciences as a
required part of the general education curriculum, non-tourism students rarely, if ever, have the
opportunity to take a tourism class as a general education offering. Instead, it must be taken as an
outside elective, an extra course, or not at all. Students are ardent travelers during breaks from their
university studies and as participants in study abroad programs. And, even though this is a major
commitment in terms of time, money, and opportunity, they are often ill-equipped for such an
undertaking.
Ironically, universities are increasingly providing opportunities for students to go abroad for a
semester or a year. Some universities boast of dozens or even hundreds of exchange partners around
the world. Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, has more than 250 exchange partners in 54
countries. In 2005, it sent over 1,200 students on study abroad programs in 2005 (Macquarie
University, n.d.), and the administration intends to increase that percentage substantially. Goucher
College, located near Baltimore, Maryland in the USA, will begin requiring all of its students to
participate in an international experience of at least three weeks (GoAbroad.com, 2006). Both
Macquarie and Goucher provide substantial travel stipends for their students who study abroad.
With the growing acknowledgement that tourism has become an integral part of the lifestyle
of college graduates and that the tourism industry has become a pervasive element within our
everyday environment, perhaps it is time to craft a course that fills this void.
Most tourism programs have an introductory course that canvases topics such as the history of
tourism, types of tourism, primary operational sectors, contemporary roles and importance, positive
and negative impacts, and various careers tracks. While this course itself would make a meaningful
contribution to general education, a broader based course that includes perspectives from other
disciplines and elements specifically attractive to students might be more pertinent and more
acceptable. This is the genesis of Travel 101.
TWO MAIN THRUSTS
Travel 101, has two main thrusts. The first thrust is to provide a brief overview of the tourism
industry in regards to it primary operational sectors, its major impacts, and its overall importance and
role as the world’s largest industry. This part of the course has two purposes. First, as students gain
an understanding of tourism as a mega-industry and as a multi-dimensional subject, they should begin
to understand how it relates to some facet of their academic major. Examples would be as diverse as
an environmental science student who becomes interested in ecotourism or an anthropology student
who becomes interested in heritage tourism. This creates synergy in their studies and broadens their
professional horizons and opportunities. The second purpose is to enable students to become better
informed and more proactive voters and residents, as they will undoubtedly be faced with numerous
tourism development and management issues that have the potential to impact their quality of life and
even their standard of living in the 21st century. Travel does indeed makes the world smaller, so there
is a greater need and a greater challenge for everyone to get along and live together more
harmoniously in our biosphere known as planet Earth. Travel 101 can contribute to that lofty goal.
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The second thrust of the course is probably the one that the students will enjoy most. It is
designed to make them somewhat skilled and responsible tourists who will gain significant benefits
from their individual travels. As previously stated, travel makes the world smaller, but tourism makes
it larger. Tourism enables aspects of the journey, the destinations, and the entire experience to be
organized and presented in a manner that showcases countless points of interest, recreational
activities, and individual passions and pursuits. So while travel makes the world smaller, tourism
makes it larger, by providing tourists with an infinite number of ways to explore the world and
interact with its abundance of natural and cultural attractions.
TOPICS RELATED TO UNDERSTANDING THE TOURISM INDUSTRY
The four main operational sectors of the tourism industry are generally understood to be
transportation, attractions, accommodations, and food service. That is because, simply stated, people
go somewhere, they do something, and they sleep and eat. The business establishments that provide
each of these services and facilities for tourists are an integral part of the local economy. They
provide jobs, pay taxes, generate revenue, induce investment, and bolster many other businesses that
supply them or benefit from their overall economic presence. Students who are non-tourism majors
may be preparing for a career in these other businesses. Having some knowledge of tourism as an
industry is beneficial to them. Therefore, de-mystifying tourism by briefly discussing its four
operational sectors and how they work together to create an industry that interfaces with other
elements of the economy would be featured in Travel 101.
Although tourism is developed primarily for its economic impacts, socio-cultural and
environmental impacts are also of immense importance. These impacts, or consequences, need to be
discussed from the sociological and ecological perspectives. This links tourism to those disciplines
and to the students who major in them. Types of tourism, such as cultural tourism, religious tourism,
sports tourism, adventure tourism, and even medical tourism also tap into other areas of academic and
personal interests. Tourism as an agent for peace transcends mere socio-cultural considerations and
enters the realm of politics and governmental interaction on a global basis. These and many other
topics should be of primary interest to university students concerned about the future of the world and
the lives they will lead.
TOPICS RELATED TO UNDERSTANDING THE TOURISM EXPERIENCE
Most students have a strong desire to travel. But, as pointed out in Pearce’s travel-needs
model (Goeldner & Ritchie, 2003), it takes experience to become a proficient and fulfilled traveler. A
course that caters to the students’ natural desire to travel and provides useful insights on how to best
to do it should appeal to them. So, in addition to providing a brief understanding of tourism industry
basics, Travel 101 would emphasize the tourism experience. Topics could range from the joy of
travel (motivations and outcomes), tourist literature and quotes, and styles of travel to popular
destinations and itineraries, tourist information, travel documentation, and security. Above all, this
part of the course should inspire students to recognize and engage in responsible tourism as a
personally beneficial and worthwhile leisure activity.
Students are idealistic and still forming their adult personalities, their outlooks on life, and
their vision of the future. Among the many personal philosophies they must form is one related to
leisure, recreation, and travel, especially in regards to purpose and priority. For young people, in
particular, travel can be a form of self-discovery, a spiritual odyssey that changes their life, and a
proving ground for the development of initiative, self-reliance, and adaptability. Tourism experiences
also provide students with valuable lessons in cultural diversity and political-economic realities, as
they gain the opportunity to view the world community from an entirely new perspective. Student
mobility is being strongly supported in the form of global education and study abroad programs at
many universities to achieve these and many other goals (Bliss, 2006).
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To stimulate their thinking, a number of travel-related quotes and other writings are available.
For example, one that could certainly stimulate discussion on motivation of travel is by the American
poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. He wrote: “Though we search the world over to find the beautiful, we
must carry it with us, or we find it not.” Some additional quotes are “The wise man’s home is the
universe” (Democrites), “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness” (Mark Twain),
“I love to travel, but I hate to arrive” (Albert Einstein), and “Don’t listen to what they say, go see”
(Chinese proverb).
As the course covers the socio-cultural and environmental impacts of tourism from the
tourism industry perspective, it must also cover them from the tourism experience perspective.
Students who become lifelong business and pleasure travelers must learn to travel responsibly. A
number of codes of conduct created by various international tourism organizations can be reviewed.
For example, the PATA Traveller Code – Sustaining Indigenous Cultures offers a quote: “Travel is
passage through other people’s lives and other people’s spaces”, and among its stated principles is
“Be Flexible” followed by the question: “Are you prepared to accept cultures and practices different
from your own” (PATA, n.d.). The UNWTO under its Responsible Tourist and Traveller section on
ethics offers the following principle: “Help preserve natural environments. Protect wildlife and
habitats and do not purchase products made from endangered plants and animals” (UNWTO, n.d.).
And, among the principles of The International Ecotourism Society is: “Raise sensitivity to host
country’s political, environmental, and social climate” (TIES, n.d.). These principles are critical for
the next generation of Asia’s leaders to follow and to advocate to others throughout their lives.
CONCLUSION
There is no standard syllabus for Travel 101, although course objective would be similar from
university to university. It is a concept more than a template. The main point is to expose students to
the world of tourism in order to enrich their lives and those with whom they come into contact, a point
shared by UNWTO in its designation of “Tourism Enriches” as the theme for World Tourism Day in
2006 (UNWTO, 2005). Travel 101 is, therefore, a course that uses tourism as a vehicle for students to
better understand the world and their place in it. At the same time a simple understanding of the
tourism industry, its sectors and dimensions, and the systemic means by which it functions to provide
an infinite array of tourism experiences for people around the world will provide students with
insights that will enhance their personal travel endeavors and potentially influence their professional
aspirations.
REFERENCES
Bliss, S. (2006). Global Education in Australia. Handout distributed at Student Mobility Fair at
Macquarie University on March 20, 2006.
Goeldner, C. & Ritchie, J. (2003). Tourism – Principles, Practices, Philosophies (9E). Hoboken, NJ:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
GoAbroad.com. (2006). Goucher College Launches Unprecedented Study-Abroad Requirement.

Newsletter 7(10). [Online] Retrieved March 28, 2006, from http://www.goabroad.com/newsletter/
20060305.html
Macquarie University (n.d.). MQ Students Going Abroad Exchange Process. [Online] Retrieved
March 22, 2006, from http://www.international.mq.edu.au/abroad/process/index.html
PATA (n.d.). PATA Traveller’s Code. [Online] Retrieved April 5, 2006, from
http://www.pata.org/Patasite/index.php?id=419
TIES (n.d.). What is Ecotourism? [Online] Retrieved April 6, 2006, from

http:www.ecotourism.org/index2. php?what-is-ecotourism/
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UNWTO (2005). “Tourism Enriches” to be the theme for WTD 2006. UNWTO News, XIX
(4/2005).
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TRAVEL AGENCIES’ SERVICE PERFORMANCE VS. CUSTOMERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF
SERVICE QUALITY
Jui Chi Chang

ABSTRACT
SERVQUAL has been widely used in various disciplines including numerous studies in the
hospitality and tourism industries and has received considerable recognition in service marketing.
Some have found empirical support for the five dimensions, but some question the five service
dimensions. This study investigated the five dimensions and the modified SERVQUAL instrument
was used to evaluate travel agencies’ service performance as well as tourists’ perceptions of service
quality on the guided package tour. The study found that the dimension of ‘tangibility’ was less
significant when compared with other dimensions in terms of customers’ perceptions of service
quality. Other elements such as, ‘communication’, ‘care and concern’ (in empathy) and ‘sociability’
were critical from customers’ view point when on the tour. The results concluded that the number of
dimensions in the SERVQUAL scale is too restricted.
Key Words: service quality, Taiwan, guided package tour, travel agency, SERVQUAL
INTRODUCTION
Tourism development cannot operate without the contributions of travel agencies. They not
only provide a link between the travel service providers and customers, but they are also active in
marketing and promoting a country’s’ tourism development. Taiwan is a small island country with
limited resources and isolated geographical location. People in Taiwan are interested in seeing the
outside world. Based on the Taiwan Tourism Bureau Annual Report on Tourism (Tourism Bureau
Ministry of Transportation and Communications, R.O.C., 2006), in the year of 2005, there were a
total of 2,472 travel agencies (including main offices and branch offices), which promote outbound
tour products in Taiwan, and the total outbound travel from Taiwan was 8.2 million in 2005. Due to
the language barrier and other inconveniences, many Taiwanese travelers heavily relied on the service
of travel agencies. As the market expanded, and competition in tour operating turn more intense,
travel agencies tended to focus on low prices rather than quality. As a result, the profit margins of
each tour are trimmed. In addition, Taiwanese travelers have become more experienced and are
demanding better service. The quality of product and service become a critical issue for repeat
customers. According to the ROC Travel Quality Assurance Association’s report (2006) the number
of cases of disputes between customers and travel agencies has increased. In 2005, the Travel Quality
Assurance Association mediated 647 cases of travel disputes which involved 3,276 outbound
travelers – there were 73 cases in 1990. To cope with the inevitable pressure of disputes and
competition, more travel agencies in Taiwan joined the ISO9001/9002 in order to provide a better
service and increase their competitive advantage. Ryan and Cliff (1997) suggest that one way to
improve competitiveness and profitability in services is to improve the quality of service provided.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Service Encounter
Service is a subjective concept and a complicated phenomenon. Intangibility and interactive

activities construct the central idea of the nature of service. During service delivery, Gabbott and
Hogg (1998) state that the quality of the service encounter involves two significant elements: service
personnel and the service setting. Three characteristics of service personnel directly affect consumers'
service experience (Czepiel, Solomon, Suprenant, and Gutman, 1985): (1) employees' expertise which
is associated with creativity, flexibility, and responsibility to the customers; (2) employees' attitude
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which is related to their openness, friendliness, and empathy; (3) the demography of the service
provider which is related to gender, sex, and educational level. The service setting refers to the contact
environment. Maslow and Mintz (1953) suggest that aesthetically pleasing physical surroundings and
physical content can influence people's mental state.
Furthermore, Gabbott and Hogg (1998) consider that the service encounter involves five
dimensions: time, physical proximity, participation, engagement, and degree of customization. In
terms of time, the service encounter can be categorized as a single, a multiple, and a latent encounter
service. The latent encounter service refers to the service activated in the future when it is necessary
and the relationship is assumed to be infinite (Gabbott and Hogg, 1998). There are two unfavorable
factors for travel service companies during the service encounter. When service involves multiple
service encounters and latent encounter services, it is difficult to maintain the same level of
satisfaction. Secondly, Solomon Surprenant, Czepiel, and Gutman (1985) state that people are
constantly changing their perspective of the service experience. According to the Role Theory, people
are social actors; they learn and adapt themselves through a series of social settings. The level of
satisfaction tends to be easily influenced by other people during multiple service encounters in a
single transaction. Furthermore, communication styles during service encounters should not be
ignored. Boshoff (1999) considers the quality of communication style plays a crucial role in customer
service recovery. Burgers, de Ruyter, Keen and Streukens (2000) state that the interactions between
service providers and customers should not be limited to the traditional face-to-face service encounter,
they recommend that customer expectation with regard to employee behavior during voice-to-voice
encounters also needs to be considered. However, the quality of the service encounter should be
viewed from the customers' perspective. Customers assess the efficiency of services rendered on the
basis of what they consider to be desirable and not necessarily what is desired (Mills, 1986)
Service Quality Determinants
In the service industry, many service quality models have been developed. Lehtinen and
Lehtinen (1982) suggest three guidelines for service quality: (1) physical quality, (2) corporate quality,
and (3) interactive quality. Furthermore, LeBlanc (1992) indicates six factors of customer perceptions
of service quality, in order of importance. These are corporate image, competitiveness, courtesy,
responsiveness, accessibility, competence. Grönroos (2000) integrated several previous studies and
proposed a service quality model based on seven criteria: professionalism and skills, attitudes and
behavior, accessibility and flexibility, reliability and trustworthiness, service recovery, atmosphere
(physical surrounding/environment), reputation and credibility. The model aims to offer a conceptual
framework for understanding the features of a service including its outcome, process, and image
dimensions. It also draws much attention to personnel quality in providing service.
Among existing service quality models, the best well-known model is SERVQUAL which
was developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1988). The initial ten categories are (1)
reliability; (2) responsiveness; (3) competence; (4) access; (5) courtesy; (6) communication; (7)
credibility; (8)security; (9) understanding/knowing; and (10) tangibles (Parasuraman, et al., 1985).
The refined SERVQUAL dimensions are as follows: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance,
and empathy. SERVQUAL as an instrument has been widely recognized and tested in various service
industries for measuring service quality, and for customer satisfaction. The instrument is used to
ascertain the level of service quality and to identify where and to what extent gaps in service exist.
Although SERVQUAL instrument has been widely used (Pizam, & Ellis, 1999), it has received many
criticisms.
In reviewing the criticisms of the five dimensions, some have found empirical support for the
five dimensions (Parasuraman et al., 1988; Boulding, Kalra, Staelin, and Zeithaml, 1993), but some
question the five service dimensions (Carmon, 1990; Williams, 1998).Reliability has consistently
been found to be the primary influence for the service outcome and is recognized as the most critical
service quality among the five service dimensions (Parasuraman et al., 1988). Reliability represents
the service outcomes and the core service attribute, which is the customers’ primary concern and the
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other four dimensions represent the process of service delivery, which may be viewed as peripheral by
consumers (Walker and Baker, 2000). The dimension of assurance can be particularly important for
services such as banking, insurance, and legal services, which involve high risk to customers where
the feeling of trust and confidence are important in order to further strengthen their relationship with
the firm. However, several researchers have concluded that the dimensions of assurance, reliability
and tangibles are the most important expectations of customers in the hospitality industries (Saleh and
Ryan, 1991; Fick and Richie, 1991; Bojanic and Rosen, 1994). Gabbie and O’Neill (1997), in their
research in the hotel sector, report that the dimensions of reliability and assurance receive the highest
expectation of consumers while the dimensions of tangibility and empathy are lowest in their rankings.
In fact, not all the dimensions will be used to determine service quality perception (Zeithaml
and Bitner, 2003). For example, in a phone encounter, tangibility is not likely to be applicable; in a
remote encounter, empathy is unlikely to be relevant and it is less applicable for the large firm.
Service industries tend to emphasize tangibles as strategies in their establishments to enhance their
image (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2003). Further, the relative importance of each service quality dimension
in contributing to overall quality of a service may differ prior to and after service delivery. Fick and
Ritchie (1991) test the SERVQUAL instrument in four tourism service sectors: airline, hotel,
restaurant, and skiing and find that the scale do not appear to be entirely valid for all tourism service
sectors and the number of dimensions in the present version of the SERVQUAL scale seems too
limiting. For example, Luk, Leon, Leong and Li (1993) modify the SERVQUAL scale to investigate
tourists’ expectations of an organized tour service quality and find that among the 18 items,
sociability is the crucial factor. Meanwhile, evaluation of service quality is not entirely dependent on
the outcome of a service, but also on the process of service delivery. In addition, cultural differences
will also have an effect on the relative importance placed on the five dimensions (Parasuraman et al,
1988). In short, among these various determinants, the determinants which are related to service
quality of personnel appear to be more significant. However, it seems difficult to tell which is more
crucial than the other; it depends on the circumstances or the subjects to be investigated. Nevertheless,
SERVQUAL instrument can be partially used in the travel and hospitality industry and has received
considerable recognition in service marketing. However, the list is not exhaustive. In the travel
industry, other determinants of good quality may emerge. This study integrates above theories and
proposes the modified scale - the five SERVQUAL dimensions, the communication and the
sociability - to evaluate travel agencies’ service performance and customers’ perceptions of service
quality on the guided package tour. This study will only focus on the pre-tour – after decision made to
join the guided package tour - and the on-tour service encounters. The post-tour service encounter is
excluded.
METHODS FOR DATA COLLECTION
Due to the scarceness of research on service quality among Taiwanese travel agencies and
tourists, this study undertook exploratory research to understand the relative service factors which
might affect tourist satisfaction when customers take an overseas guided package tour. Travelers -
particularly the Taiwanese who are passive and reserved - do not always express their expectations
and their real needs for traveling. It is difficult to gain an insight into the travelers’ views during
service encounters on a tour unless the observer is with them. The quantitative approach with
customer service questionnaires is incapable of capturing the customer voice (Bowen, 2001). On the
contrary, the qualitative approach is considered to be a better technique of producing interested results
to this case study. The comments of respondents - the in-depth interview and observation - can
produce a richness of information on aspects of service provision or improvement. Singleton, Straits,
Straits, and McAllister (1988) consider that field research with exploration and description is
appropriate to uncover the subjects in which we do not have much knowledge. The primary data for
this study were collected using two different research methods. Firstly, the study examined travel
agencies’ perceptions toward service quality. The in-depth, semi-structured face-to-face interviews
with managers from 19 randomly selected Taiwanese travel agencies – 10 direct sell travel agencies
(tour operators) and 9 wholesale travel agencies - were carried out. Secondly, in order to gain an
insight into customers’ views during service encounters on a tour, the participant observation of an
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overseas tour to Italy was carried out. The travel agency agreed not to tell the tour leader and tour
participants about they’re being observed in order to avoid bias. To enhance the data collection and
gain deeper views of tourists’ perceptions of service quality, semi-structured telephone interviews
after the tour with 23 tour participants were also employed.
FINDINGS
Service Performance
The data showed that the majority of travel agencies had attempted to provide good service.
However, the pre-tour service did not impress customers much due to poor communication and lack
of initiative by the front-line employees. Six travel agencies (T/As) belong to the ISO. Large size
companies are more willing to standardize their service performances On the other hand, small size
T/As are less interested in it since they are much more feature-oriented and flexible and may not able
to afford the cost of joining the ISO. Additionally, not all the interviewed T/As believe that
membership of the ISO is practical and attracts customers.
The policy of paying a daily fee and charging a ' Head Tax' is considered important in relation
to the tour leader’s (TL) service. Nearly half of interviewed T/As do not pay their TLs daily fees. A
T/A, considers that freelancers lack loyalty and therefore should not be paid a fee. Three wholesale
travel agencies charges ‘Head Tax’. 'Head Tax' is a fee based on the numbers of tour members -
charged by the T/A to a person who leads an overseas tour. One T/A - a member of ISO - did not
think that charging a ' Head Tax' was right but the company stated that 'most wholesalers charge the
Head Tax and my company is the last one to do so. If we did not do it, we would not be able to
compete with the others.’
The interviewees were asked what the company’s expectations were from service personnel in
terms of customer service. Apart from staff knowing their own company’s products, providing a good
service to customers is expected and concerns most of the T/As. Employees are encouraged to avoid
giving customers a reason to complain, satisfy customers’ needs, treat the walk-in customer to a cup
of tea, use a ten-principle service guide-book, be patient even if a customer is annoyed. One T/A even
mentions that ‘employees should always say yes to customers.’ In fact, this phenomenon is prevalent
in Taiwan’s tourism market which also causes many differences in perception between travel agencies
and customers. On the contrast, three T/As, deliver more appropriate service concepts – everything
that the employee says is treated as a contract and they do not say one thing and do another. However,
a few T/As seem to be pessimistic about their service personnel – they either had no expectations, or
just expected to avoid causing complaints. One even had no confidence in its young employees. In
addition, the data showed that most training schemes for the front-line personnel seem to focus on
selling skills and are less focused on service delivery.
The interviewees were asked about their TLs’ training schemes and company’s expectation of
their TLs in terms of job performance. Data showed that most of T/As adopt ‘apprenticeship
schemes’ – seniors or the department head teach junior staff – or on on-the-job training. Their training
seems to focus on familiarizing their tour leaders with the company’s products and to be
knowledgeable to operate the tour. Actually, Taiwan’s TLs are expected to do all sorts of things for
their tour members including explaining the local culture and events, taking care of customers’ daily
needs, and entertaining them. A few T/As even design guiding rules to caution their TLs on avoiding
confrontation with their customers and in pleasing them. One T/A expects their TLs to present a
birthday gift to customers who coincidently have a birthday on the tour, One T/A, stated that
‘although we do not wish our TL to check each of the customer’s hotel rooms to ensure they are
alright, even though this is very common in Southeast Asian destination tours, we do expect them to
provide more individual, personal attention’. Several T/As expect their TLs to be always available.
One interviewee said that Taiwanese TLs actually provide a 24-hour service. However, two T/As
expect their TL to promote the company’s other tour products in order to make a second sale.
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The data show that the majority of T/As tend to be pessimistic about satisfying customers’
needs, in particular the whole T/As. Many express the view that ‘as long as the TL can solve
customers’ complaints overseas and not bring the problems back to the company we are satisfied.’ A
T/A, stated that ‘as long as customers do not complain to the company, the company is satisfied.’
Another whole T/A stated that ‘we do not need to provide a perfect service to our customers since our
travel agents do not send their clients to us only on the basis that our products and service are perfect.’
T/As were asked how they delivered important messages to their customers and whether they
have held a pre-tour induction. The interviewee data indicate that the majority of T/As tend to arrange
face-to-face contact with their clients. Unless the customers live too far away from the location of
T/As, most of them will send their salespeople to visit customers either to collect the deposit and
important documents. Some indicate that the salespeople also ring the customers to reconfirm the tour
and to ensure that everything is going all right prior to departure. One T/A provides a very thoughtful
service to prevent customers from complaining that they couldn’t locate the salesperson – they
provide a team rather than one person to handle client needs. The company also sends a thank you
card to reconfirm customers’ reservations and the amount of deposit received. As for the wholesale
T/As, they do not provide much service to their agent’s clients except those who are direct
customers – most of the agents do not allow wholesale T/As to contact their clients.
Most of the T/As hold a pre-tour induction except a few who indicate that they do not do this
any more for short-haul destination tours. All the T/As also indicate that fewer customers participate
in the induction nowadays, particularly the wholesale T/As whose customers come from agents. T/As
believe that the perception differences in the view of the package tour may occur due to their absence.
Many T/As provide the handout and expect their clients to read it. However, one T/A states that
‘many customers do not like to read the handout and prefer the T/As to tell them.’
‘It seems that it is difficult to prevent customers from complaining,’ one T/A said. Customer’s
complaints vary – from personal subjective opinions, TLs’ unprofessional performance, unforeseeable
changes of hotel rooms and itineraries during the high season, to poor quality of products. Data
indicate that customers’ complaints are related to human services - more on the TL’s job performance
than others. One T/A indicates that the hard elements can be arranged in advance so that there are
fewer problems. The interviewed travel managements indicate that tour members’ different
perceptions toward the products have resulted in complaints. Many T/As indicate it is due to poor
communication during the pre-tour service contact and improper comparisons – customers using past
experience to evaluate their present different situation. They also point out that customers’ unrealistic
attitudes - price-sensitive in the pre-tour stage and quality-oriented on the tour stage – make it worse.
One T/A states that ‘”customers need psychological preparation before they go on the tour.”’ One T/A
blames the problem to the media who mislead consumers. However, one T/A indicates that since
some T/As attract customers with vague expectations this has led tour members to be unrealistic.
The above findings have shown travel agencies’ dilemma – they expect the front-line
personnel to provide good service but do not pay much attention on their communication skills. They
charge tour leaders ‘Head Tax’ and are unwilling to pay much daily fee to their tour leader. Their
expectations from contact personnel in term of providing good service quality seem to be difficult to
fulfill.
Perceptions of Service Quality
This section presents the themes identified from participant observation and telephone
interviews of tour participants. Most tour members were on their first journey to Italy and were not
familiar with all the details of arrangements. One major reason for them joining this company’s tour
was based on word-of-mouth communications. The data also show that only one-third of tour
participants attended the pre-tour induction. They showed no particular expectations but being able to
relax and have fun. A few mentioned that they wish to have good quality hotel rooms and food. Many
also mentioned that they will repeat-purchase because of the tour leader. Although the majority of
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tour members responded that in general the Italian tour was successful, a few complaints were
identified. The objects of their complaints included:
1. The TL – some received less attention from the tour leader due to the large group; he should not ask
for tips; careless with elderly; unsociable, too solemn and lack of smile;
2. Untrained local guides who are not very enthusiastic but keen on taking tour members to shop;
3. Poor quality of the Chinese food and poor service quality of the waitresses - the food on this tour
received more complaints than any other subject;
4. Hotel service - mainly the shortage of labor;
5. Spending too much time waiting for other tour participants.
Inadequate communication causes misunderstanding. The findings show that a proper

explanation by the Tour leader can prevent complaints from occurring. One tour member suggested
that communication was important and that the TL should let customers know that the bad quality of
the food was not because of the low cost of the tour. On day 3, the tour leader gave an explanation and
said that ‘there was not much he could do, The quality of Chinese food was all the same in European
destinations.’ Additionally, one’s assumptions or lack of correct information might cause a
misperception. For example, a misperception upsets a male tour participant. He thought it would be a
bus city tour in Rome and had carried several books to read. However, it was a walking tour. He
complained that ‘the tour leader should make the activities clear.’
Many tour members had a positive impression of the tour. A smooth journey with exotic,
stunning attractions reinforced by the tour leader’s performance contributed to the success of this tour.
As one female tour member said ‘I was impressed by the performance of the tour leader’. The
interviewed data show that the tour leader received wide recognition for his interpretation skills and
managing the itinerary. A few tour members indicated that he enlightened them and made them want
to learn. In fact, at the end they considered the tour leader was helpful and thoughtful even though he
had received a few negative commends regarding his service attitude.
Tour members also indicated that the mutual respect and the harmonious atmosphere among
tour participants made the tour very enjoyable. One female tour members indicated that good
interaction among group members was quite fun. Another female tour member said that she expected
to meet different friends and to have fun with them. One tour member who had her birthday
celebrated on the tour by the tour leader and tour members felt very satisfied. Activities, such as
‘exchanging shopping experiences’, ‘sharing food on the coach’, ‘treating each other to an Italian
coffee’, and ‘a dancing dinner party’, helped to integrate tour members’ enjoyment of the tour.
CONCLUSION
In general, earning customers’ trust and confidence are significant for service providers in
terms of service quality and repeat business. In examining five specific dimensions of service
quality – reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibility - developed by Parasuraman
et al. (1988), this research confirms that except for ‘tangibility’, which did not show much
significance in terms of service quality, the other four dimensions are considered crucial to service
quality by tour participants. However, the findings conclude that the number of dimensions in the
SERVQUAL scale is too restricted; other dimensions such as ‘care and concern’ (in empathy),
‘sociability’ and ‘communication’, should be particularly considered.
The findings partially support Lam and Zhang (1998)’s evaluation of the relative importance
of the five service factors in predicting overall quality. They suggest that the dimension of reliability
is the most importance service quality of travel agents, followed by responsiveness and assurance,
resources and corporate image, tangibility, and empathy. However, the findings of this study
correspond more to Wong’s (2001) findings, which reveal that professional skills, customer
relationship/empathy, and communication are three key tour-guiding service dimensions in Hong
Kong. Wong (2001) regards communication as a crucial factor for satisfaction implications, in
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particular during the moment of service encounter. Based on attribution theory, Kelley and Michela
(1980) identify three antecedents - information, prior beliefs, and motivations - for causal inferences.
They believe that information received from these would influence the judgment of those who are
responsible for the service failure. Given the degree of importance, sources of information play a
pervasive influence on consumer behavior.
Taiwanese travelers who join a group tour tend to be less independent and are seeking
companionship. They take the initiative less and expect the T/A or the tour leader to do things for
them. Personal attention from the tour leader and the relationships with others are viewed as an
important factor for travelers’ satisfaction on the tour. This study confirm Mossberg’s (1995)
suggestion who proposes eight service attributes of tour leaders in charter tours: reliability, ability to
handle complaints, willingness to take part at any time, being easy to reach, ability to handle difficult
situations, being knowledgeable about sights, and being pleasant and helpful. An empirical study by
British Airways found that 'care and concern' was considered one of very important factors by airline
passengers when judging airlines' service quality (Albrecht and Zemke, 1985).
Providing social interaction for travelers on the tour is a significant service quality. Although
both Crompton (1979) and Van Raaij (1986) consider that social interaction is one of the key travel
motives for people taking a vacation, they do not truly emphasize the importance of its role. This
study considers that the traveler’s need for social contact during the tour is actually more crucial than
people have thought – while travelers have this need, they may not recognize it. However, it is not
only an important travel motive for people who participate in group tours but also a crucial
determinant for the feeling of satisfaction and enjoyment when on the tour. As Holloway (1981) has
stated, it is considered a great success for a tour guide to be able to foster group member’s interaction
and interpersonal relationships.
In reality, this study considers that the dimension of tangibility should be considered as an
important service quality for travelers, and in fact most T/As considered it to be important – to inspire
customer trust and confidence at the beginning. However, the dimension of tangibility has less
influence tour participants and was less salient when compared with other dimensions. The outcomes
might be due to the fact that the facilities – hotel, bus – provided by the T/A are acceptable – and
within the zone of tolerance based on the price they pay. In terms of the office facilities of a T/A, they
did not impress customers. One of the reasons is that nowadays travelers do not necessarily have to
visit T/As in order to join a package tour; as mentioned before, the majority of T/As send their
employees to collect/deliver travel documents or other items from/to customers. In addition, direct
sales through internet/telephone bookings paid by credit card have turn out to be popular.
It is unanimously agree by T/As that their contact personnel should provide intensive services
which are corresponding to travelers’ needs. However, both admit that contact personnel’s
communication skills need to be fostered. Although tour leaders’ service attitude is usually a core
element for building close relationships with customers, their interpretation skills are also crucial.
This research propose that the service attitude of the tour leader (including interactions with tour
participants) is sufficient to satisfy tour participants but interpretation skills will enhance the
customer’s level of satisfaction. In contrast, a tour leader who demonstrates a poor service attitude but
has good interpretation skills may not be able to satisfy tour participants. This study suggest a
hypothesis: it is hypothesized that the service attitude of a tour leader is considered more important
than their interpretive skills for customer satisfaction on the tour.
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UNDERLYING ACTIVITY DIMENSIONS OF CULTURAL FESTIVAL PARTICIPANTS
Kakyom Kim
Recreational Marine Research Center
Department of Park, Recreation, and Tourism Resource
Michigan State University
Jonggab Sun
Hyechon College
Giri Jogaratnam
Hotel and Restaurant Management
Eastern Michigan University
and
Ick-Keun Oh
Keimyung University
1. INTRODUCTION
Festivals have come to be a popular form of tourism. The fact is evidenced in a study
conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America (1999), which found that approximately
33% of U.S. adult travelers or 31 million travelers attend a festival while traveling. Festivals are
defined as “public, themed celebrations” (Getz, 1997, p. 8) and are viewed as one of the most
universal types of cultural tourism (Kraus, 2001). Getz (1990) suggested that the two major benefits
of hosting festivals and events were associated with reducing negative impacts to tourism destinations
such as environmental or cultural destruction and offering an opportunity to enhance relationships
among participants and residents of host destinations. Hosting festivals at local destinations is also
viewed as important in maintaining cultural resources or traditions, producing a positive destination
image, and providing economic benefits (Crompton & McKay, 1997; Uysal, Gahan, & Martin, 1993).
In addition, cultural festivals “bring back into life old traditions, together with local culture and
history” (Formica & Uysal, 1998, p. 16).
A limited number of researchers have examined the relationships between motivations and
related variables such as activities and satisfaction of festival participants (Backman et al., 1995; Lee,
Lee, & Wicks, 2003; Mohr et al., 1993). Jacob and Ragheb (1983) stress that individuals participate in
leisure or travel activities for a variety reasons, which implies that it is considered important to
identify activity preferences of festival visitors in an effort to effectively segment travel markets.
Nevertheless, travel and tourism researchers that have examined festival and event-related travelers
have conducted a limited amount of research in the area of activities of festival goers (Backman et al.,
1995). Given that none of the prior studies have examined the activity preferences of visitors based on
different types of activity seekers visiting a cultural festival, this study is useful for revealing
differences in activity preferences across type of visitor to both expand the literature of the festival
industry and effectively target this potentially large market. Further, the current study helps identify
and test for differences in activity preferences of cultural festival visitors, which may support the
target marketing efforts of managers and marketers. That is, this research provides festival managers
with rational, data-based marketing strategies for developing and promoting specific programs and
products to suit the needs of different types of visitors. Hence, the main objectives of the study were
to determine the underlying dimensions associated with activities undertaken by festival visitors and
to discover any significant differences in these dimensions by distinct types of visitors attending a
national cultural festival.
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2. TRAVEL ACTIVITIES
Individuals participate in amusing activities to suit unmet desires and as an opportunity to

escape the routine life though experiencing activities (Mannell & Iso-Ahola, 1987). A person
participates or gets involved in a leisure activity because “she or he finds it intrinsically interesting,
for its own sake, out of sheer pleasure and enjoyment” (Is-Ahola, 1999, p. 39). This implies that by
nature people participate in some activities to meet their individual preferences at destinations while
traveling.
The majority of previous research on activity preferences has been directed at assessing the
needs of pleasure travelers or students, and has typically focused on differences based on
demographic or trip characteristics. Research on preferred activities by different groups of festival
participants is needed to effectively target the festival market. Moreover, the previous studies have not
examined any differences in the activity dimensions of festival visitors across different groups of
visitors and evaluated the validity of group classification. Thus, there is a need for research to focus
on revealing differences in activity preferences of festival goers by distinguishing homogenous groups
attending a cultural festival.
3. FACTOR/CLUSTER METHOD FOR MARKET SEGMENTATION
Two methods of segmentation traditionally adopted by travel researchers are “a priori

segmentation” and “a posterior segmentation”. The former segments a specific market by using pre-
known variables such as gender, age, marital status, income, nationality or frequency of previous
visits, while the latter utilizes previously unknown variables such as number of variables and number
of travelers to delineate underlying factors and clusters (Formica & Uysal, 1998; Kim & Jogaratnam,
2003). It has been noted that using the a posterior method provides more comprehensive outcomes
(Smith, 1995) than using the a priori method. Given that it is difficult to conclude if “cluster analysis
followed by factor analysis” is a better procedure than “factor analysis followed by cluster analysis”
(Arimond & Elfessi, 2001), this article utilizes factor analysis followed by cluster analysis for
segmenting the market associated with the Baekje cultural festival in Korea. That is, the current study
principally attempts to simplify variables and respondents using the factor/cluster method to find any
differences in the activity dimensions by type of visitor in an effort to segment the festival market.
In the festival market, Formica & Uysal (1998) determined six motivation factors resulting
from 23 selected items and classified two clusters based on the factors: “enthusiasts” and
“moderates”. Interestingly, statistically significant differences were found between the two groups
with respect to three demographic characteristics, namely age, income, and marital status.
Although most of the studies associated with festivals and events have mainly discussed
motivations of visitors, Backman et al. (1995) addressed the relationship between motivations and
activities of festival visitors. Analyzing people who took a festival/special event/exhibition trip, this
study delineated five motivation factors and five activity factors. The results of motivation domains
included excitement, external, family, socializing, and relaxation, while the results of activity domains
included upscale urban, exhibit, events, local culture, and low risk. Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
applied to those factors then found group differences among demographic characteristics such as age,
marital status, income, and family size. This research, however, did not employ the cluster method to
further segment the festival visitors, and thus did not examine any differences in activity factors by
homogenous clusters.
Previous studies that have employed the factor and cluster method concluded that marketers
should develop different product strategies or plans based on the different and distinctive types of
visitors on motivations, activities, and demographic characteristics. This is because festival or event
seekers are heterogeneous. However, few studies have investigated the field of festival activities by
classifying types of visitors. This suggests that research on festival activities using the factor and
381
cluster method will further help develop festival programs and marketing plans by examining
significant differences in activity factors by similar types of festival visitors.
4. RESEARCH METHODS
4.1. Research location
The Baekje Cultural Festival, one of three national cultural festivals, takes place every odd
year in the town of Buyeo and every even year in the town of Kongju. Those two small cities were the
different capitals of the ancient Baekje, which existed about 1,400 years ago in South Korea. Both
Buyeo and Kongju, as the center of the Baekje’s cultural heritage and long history, possess nationally
plentiful treasures and historical attractions. In 1955, with strong support from local residents, the
Baekje Cultural Festival was originated from the religious ceremonies commemorating the memory of
four kings who ruled Baekje. The primary aims of the festival are to celebrate their own culture,
tradition, and spirit of the era and to promote positive relationships between visitors and local
residents. Bringing 40,000 participants every year, the festival consisted of costume and photo
exhibitions, performances that include the representation of the traditional rituals, musical acts and
parades, and participation events called “the Baekje Experience”.
4.2. Research Instrument
A survey instrument consisting of three main sections was primarily designed for determining
the activity preferences of visitors attending the Baekje Cultural Festival. In the first section
concerned with trip characteristics, respondents were asked to indicate their past trip experiences,
duration and group size of the trip. In the second section, a set of 23 activity items were adopted to
assess preferences using a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from “1 = Not at all important” to “5 =
Highly important.” In the last section, respondents were asked to indicate socio-demographic
characteristics such as age, gender, martial status, and income. The list of activities was generated
from an extensive review of previous studies related to tourism, festivals, and events (Hsu & Sung,
1997; Kim & Jogaratnam, 2003; Nicholson & Pearce, 2001; Rao, Thomas, & Javalgi, 1992). To
enhance face validity of each of these items, several tourism professionals were asked to comment on
the initial questionnaire. The researchers integrated their input and conducted a pre-test on
undergraduate and graduate students in order to further develop the survey instrument and decrease
potential measurement error. The final instrument was then translated into Korean.
4.3. Data Collection and Analysis
Data were collected using self-administered on-site surveys in the festival area during the Fall
2004. A systematic random sampling method was employed to obtain a wide range of responses.
Every 4th vehicle entering the four main parking lots was approached and asked to complete the
survey. Along with a brief explanation of the study purpose, the questionnaire was handed over only
to those who agreed to participate. To increase the response rate and decrease the missing values, a
simple souvenir was provided to participants. Participation was voluntary and precautions were taken
to maintain anonymity and confidentiality. A total of four hundred questionnaires were distributed, of
which only 48 were rejected by potential respondents, yielding a final response rate of 83%. By
eliminating 13 questionnaires with incomplete responses, a total of 335 usable questionnaires were
analyzed for the current study.
The SPSS 12.0 program was used to determine the underlying factors associated with 23
activity items via Principal Components Factor Analysis with varimax rotation. K-means Cluster
analysis was then used to classify similar groups of visitors based on activity preferences. To evaluate
how valid the clusters were, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess the significant
differences in the delineated factors across similar types of visitors. Discriminant analysis was then
employed to determine significant differences in the types of visitors associated with the delineated
dimensions. Finally, the chi-square statistic was used to identify any differences in the demographic
profiles of the clusters.
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5. Results
5.1. Profile of the Respondents
Males consisted of 47% of the total respondents and females 53% of the participants with
ages ranging from 18 years to 72 years. Their past visits to the festival also varied from none to four
or more. The majority of the respondents were single (65%), day-trip visitors (60%). Annual incomes
of less than $20,000 were reported by 66% of the respondents (US $1.00 = 1,000 Won [Korean
currency]). Interestingly, almost all of the respondents indicated traveling as part of a group (95%).
5.2. Activity Factors
As shown in Table 1, principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation was
performed on the 23 activity items and generated five possible factors. The varimax rotation method
helps maximize the sum of variances of required loadings of the factor matrix. Eigenvalues (greater
than 1) criterion and scree test criterion were used to extract the reliable number of factors (Hair,
Anderson, Tatham, and Black, 1998). These five factors accounted for 56.19% of the total variance.
Based on the items with higher loading values and the common characteristics related to each, the
factors were then labeled as follows: Factor 1= “touring & dining” explaining 28.18% of the total
variance, Factor 2 = “action” explaining 8.78% of the total variance, Factor 3 = “leisure” explaining
7.94% of the total variance, Factor 4 = “entertainment” explaining 6.73% of the total variance, and
Factor 5 = “walking & resting” explaining 4.56% of the total variance. The factor loadings of each
variable were statistically acceptable ranging from 0.31 to 0.81. Cronbach’s coefficient alphas also
ranged from 0.58 to 0.81, suggesting acceptable reliability.
To determine which factor was the most or least important to the respondents, composite
means of each factor were obtained by simply calculating the average score of the variables loaded on
each factor. The highest composite mean score was associated with “action (2.80)”, which was
viewed as the most important activity factor of respondents, followed by “leisure (2.76)” and “touring
& dining (2.70)”, while the lowest was “entertainment (2.19)”, which seemed to be the least important
activity factor.
5.3. Identification of the Respondents
Cluster analysis was applied to identify similar groups of respondents associated with the five
activity factors. It is agreed that there is no apparent rule to classify a specific number of clusters (Hair
et al., 1998; Sung, 2004; Arimond & Elfessi, 2001). Thus, some possible cluster solutions from two to
five were tested to determine the final number of clusters. The clusters were classified by performing
the K-means cluster method, which is less sensitive to outliers and more appropriate when analyzing
large samples over 200 cases rather than other cluster methods (Hair et al., 1998). By examining an
appropriate distribution of respondents on each group, three clusters were optimally proposed. Hence,
the final cluster sizes were found to be 117 (Cluster 1), 130 (Cluster2), and 88 (Cluster3), respectively
with no extreme outliers. The first cluster accounted for 34.9 % of respondents, the second cluster for
38.8%, and the third cluster for 26.3%. They were then labeled as “passive seekers”, “moderate
seekers”, and “active seekers” based on the patterns of activity mean scores associated with each
factor.
To evaluate the validity of the three group classification, two further analyses were
performed: analysis of variance (ANOVA) and discriminant analyses. ANOVA was run to determine
the significant differences in the activity factors across the three clusters (Table 2). In this procedure,
the factors were designated as the dependent variables and the clusters were assigned as the
independent variable. The analysis revealed that all of the five factors were significantly different
across the three clusters (p < .001). Discriminant analysis was then performed on the three clusters by
the five activity factors. In this procedure, the factors were designated as the independent variables
and the clusters were assigned as the dependent variable. The analysis revealed significant differences
383
among the three clusters (Wilks' Lambda = 0.20, χ2 (10) = 531.75, p < .001; Wilks' Lambda = 0.83, χ2
(4) = 60.11, p < .001), respectively for two functions. The result of the classification is shown in Table
3. It suggests that of those included in Cluster 1(n=117), 100% were correctly assigned. Among those
who were included in Cluster 2 (n=130), 96.9% were correctly classified, leaving only 3 cases (2.3%)
misclassified. At the same time, 98.9% of those in cluster 3 (n=88) were correctly classified, leaving
only 1 case (1.1%) misallocated. Thus, overall 98.5% of the total cases were correctly assigned to the
three groups based on their activity preferences.
6. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
The main purpose of the current study was to determine the underlying dimensions associated
with activity preferences of festival visitors and identify distinct clusters of visitors to assess any
significant differences in the factors. The findings using principal components analysis and K-means
cluster analysis revealed five activity factors and three clusters. The factors included “touring and
dining”, “action”, “leisure”, “entertainment”, and “walking and resting”. Based on the three clusters
classified, both analysis of variance (ANOVA) and discriminant analysis were then performed. The
results revealed that there were significant differences in the three clusters associated with the activity
factors. Especially, discriminant analysis indicated that overall 98.5% of the total cases were correctly
assigned to the three groups based on the activity factors.
As the results suggest, Cluster 1 indicated both “leisure” and “action” as the most important
factors, Cluster 2 placed the highest importance on “leisure”, and Cluster 3 selected “action” as the
most important factor associated with activities. However, both Clusters 1 and 2 were commonly least
motivated by “entertainment”, which includes going to a nightclub and going to a concert or musical
hall while “walking and resting” was the least important factor chosen by Cluster 3 among five
activity factors. In addition, the analysis using the chi-square statistic showed that there were
significant differences in age, total spending, and past visit across the three clusters. Based on the
significant findings, the following marketing plans are noted.
Festival and event managers should focus on the two important factors, “leisure” and “action”
selected by Clusters 1 and 2 to develop products, services, and programs associated with activity
preferences of festival visitors. “Leisure” includes visiting museums, visiting a theme or amusement
park, visiting a local or city park, visiting friends or relatives, and visiting cultural and historical
attractions. “Action” consists of watching a variety of performances, watching parades, participating
in parades, participating in sports, and watching sports events. In addition, festival and event
managers should also pay attention to “action” and “entertainment” viewed as the most important
factors for Cluster 3. The “entertainment” factor includes going to a nightclub and going to a concert
or musical hall. These factors and the activities associated with them should thus be actively
emphasized and promoted to attract more participants by reinforcing these types of programs in
cultural festival destinations.
The current study suggests that festival managers and marketers need to target the festival
market based on the different types of visitors because they are not homogenous according to their
activity preferences and socio-demographic characteristics. It implies that the significant activity
factors and characteristics across the three clusters can be used to identify and develop powerful
marketing strategies for attracting more participants to cultural festivals if they are appropriately
designed and developed based on different activity preferences.
7. FUTURE STUDY
Given that the current study has employed the factor and cluster method to segment the
festival market, the results provide festival marketers and managers with a meaningful approach to
developing strategies or plans for targeting their own markets based on the different and distinctive
types of visitors on activity factors and socio-demographic characteristics. Moreover, the three
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clusters were statistically further evaluated and validated through testing by ANOVA and
discriminant analyses. However, the results of this study may not be generalized beyond the range
represented by the sample since the survey was conducted at a single cultural festival. In addition, this
study did not examine if there were any relationships between activities and other related variables
such as motivations, satisfaction, and festival loyalty, and thus may not explain other factors that
influence the development of the overall festival industry. Thus, festival marketers and researchers
should investigate the activity preferences of festival visitors at other multi-destinations as well as the
significant relationships among the related variables in future studies.
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APPENDICES
Table 1
Principal components factor analysis for activity preferences
Factor Eigen- Explained Cronbach Composite

Activity factors
loadings values variance alpha mean
Factor 1: Touring and dining 6.48 28.18% 0.81 2.70
Dining at a variety of 0.68
restaurants
Touring a city 0.67
Having local foods and drinks 0.63
Looking at or purchasing local 0.61
arts and crafts
Sightseeing 0.55
Shopping 0.52
Meeting local people 0.53
Enjoying nightlife and 0.41
entertainment
Factor 2: Action 2.02 8.78% 0.79 2.80
Watching a variety of 0.81
performances
Watching parades 0.80
Participating in parades 0.61
Watching sport events 0.50
Participating in sports 0.48
Factor 3: Leisure 1.83 7.94% 0.70 2.76
Visiting museums 0.78
Visiting a theme or amusement 0.78
park
386
Visiting a local or city park 0.61
Visiting friends or relatives 0.48
Visiting cultural and historical 0.31
attractions
Factor 4: Entertainment 1.55 6.73% 0.62 2.19
Going to a nightclub 0.72
Going to a concert or musical 0.55
hall
Factor 5: Walking and resting 1.05 4.56% 0.58 2.52
Walking or strolling about 0.70
Resting a quiet places 0.55
Going out to bars or pubs 0.52
Total variances explained 56.19%

Scale: 1 =Not at all important, 5 = Highly important; Varimax rotation with Kaiser normalization
Table 2
Results of ANOVA for activity factors by three clusters
Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3

(n =117) (n =130) (n =88)
Activity factors Mean Mean Mean F p
Touring & dining 1.96 2.93 3.32 184.81 .000***

Action 2.08 2.94 3.51 106.88 .000***
Leisure 2.08 3.07 3.20 93.53 .000***
Entertainment 1.68 1.75 3.49 232.51 .000***
Walking & resting 1.90 2.67 3.10 71.09 .000***
Each activity factor with composite means was used for analysis; ***p<.001; Significant findings
were highlighted
Table 3
Results of discriminant analysis for three clusters by activity factors
Predicted group membership

Cluster case 1 2 3 Total
Count
1 117 0 0 117
2 3 126 1 130
3 0 1 87 88
Percentage
1 100.0 0.0 0.0 100.0
2 2.3 96.9 0.8 100.0
3 0.0 1.1 98.9 100.0
Of a total of 335 cases, 98.5% of original grouped cases correctly classified
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Section III
Poster Papers
A STUDY OF PRESENT CHARACTERISTICS AND FUTURE TRENDS OF
INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY ADOPTED BY CHINA’S TRAVEL SERVICE GROUP
Ma Ai-ping
ABSTRACT
Outbound tourism has been developed fast in China within these several years. Nowadays,
more and more countries have become the destination of Chinese outbound tourists. Along with this
trend, some international travel service group in China has already adopted the international strategy.
An analysis of present characteristics and future trends of China’s international travel service group
are the focal points under this study. The international travel service group and their international
strategies of China’s travel service group are our study area. The distribution of their branches around
the world and their development features and phases are also studied. This paper mainly adopts
qualitative methodology. Focusing on strategic and marketing competitiveness, the paper analyzes the
characteristics of international strategy adopted by those travel service groups in China .By
comparison with the advanced international strategy adopted by groups from tourism developed
country, future trends of China’s international tourism group is under study. Mainly on the basis of
secondary data, the study also adopts the method of personal interviews with managers from tourism
international firms. There are no more than twenty travel groups going abroad out of over ten
thousand travel services in China, this study has interviewed more than six companies of its kind in
china, mainly at Beijing. This paper acknowledges that the strategy adopted by China’s international
travel service group is only at a beginning stage, but since more and more Chinese tourists going
abroad, international strategy more and more becomes an important issue, and these international
travel companies have important roles in terms of influence among China’s tourism industry and
Chinese consumers as well. The study concludes by proposing strategies for China’s international
tourist service group to be scientifically positioned during the course of internationalization and make
contribution on the development of the world tourism since China is an important part of international
tourism economy and also an important part of international tourist market.
Key Words: international strategy, travel service group, China.
Present situations and characteristics
International travel service group means the groups of enterprises combined by assets and
have a cross -country network. International strategy means the company sells or produces their
products and services abroad. It has two meanings: Firstly, international cooperation with foreign
companies within China; Secondly, Chinese enterprises set up new branches abroad (Dujiang, 2003).
For this paper, we focus on the second area.
At present, In China, several travel service groups have been formed and supported by the
local governments with the capital of between 1billion to 10 billion us dollars, but most of them were
formed and combined together at the will of the local government, not by the market force, therefore,
they are big but not very strong. Some small, private owned travel services or some travel services in
the legal form of partnership or corporation, they are active in the market but still need time to grow
to meet the international competition.
There are nine travel services which have adopted international strategies, they are CITS
(China International Travel Services), CTS (China Travel Services), HK CTS, Merchants Travel
service, Comfort travel Services, Spring and Autumn Travel services, Kunmin International Travel
services and Hunan International travel services, most of these services have over one enterprises
abroad.
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There are four features of the travel services adopted international strategies:
Firstly, Geographically, they are situated in the Southeast Asia and major western source
market, they scarcely situated in non-tourists generating areas.
Secondly, In terms of ownership, mainly owned by one investor.
Canada and France have limited regulation for entering their markets; therefore, there are
joint venture travel services in these countries, whereas in Vietnam and Thailand the investment for
entering the market is rather strict
Thirdly, Starting from 1990s, the travel services branches abroad have limited operation time,
limited numbers of enterprises and not large scales. Except for a few travel enterprises, on an overall
basis, the operation situation is to sustain and survive, there are seldom large scale enterprises, they
were not influential among overseas tourism industry circle and their competitiveness are not strong
enough.
Fourthly, few Chinese travel services have already formed effective business model in foreign
environment and it has been introduced to other branches. The pioneer in this field is CITS (China
International Travel Services). It has fourteen overseas travel branches in Japan, France, Australia,
America, Hong Kong, Macao and other regions. Its world well known brand “CITS” has been
registered over sixty countries and regions. The CEO of CITS maintains that international strategy is
very important for the big travel service group to achieve competitive advantages in the world market.
Statistics shows that many comparatively influential Chinese enterprises abroad in the entire tourism
industry, including hotels, transportations etc, are travel services enterprises at this stage ( Jin-Mei
Wu ,2003). For instance, the Chinese tourist enterprises entering into American market are mostly
dealing with travel service business, in this sense, travel services enterprises especially groups are
pioneers in the process of the international extension of China’s tourist industry value chain.
There are no more than twenty travel groups going abroad out of over ten thousand travel
services in China. Due to the small amount of relevant enterprises, and due to the features of senior
managers with strategic importance especially those who had worked overseas are relevant for this
study, since large scale questionnaires to general staffs in travel services has little significance for the
study, deep interviews with several senior posts from three companies of its kind in china have been
conducted, mainly in Beijing during July and August in 2004, and then over twenty questionnaires
have been designed and collected from those senior managers during August in the same year.
From these questionnaires several features have been obtained:

There were four modes of entry into international markets for Chinese travel services, mainly
in the 1990s, they are individual, partnership, joint-venture and wholly owned.
The area coverage are in HK SAR, southeast Asia, Japan, Europe, Australia and America.
The average numbers of staff for oversea branches are three ,with the highest having sixty and
the least only one person.
The break-even point for the foreign branches were answered to be 2 million
US dollars.
Some overseas offices employed local staffs.
The numbers of incoming tourists to China brought by these foreign branches
Contributed to 0-40% of total company incoming tourists.
The types of tourists they sent into China were FIT, low class group tourists, high class group
tourists and individual business travelers.
By observing the world tourism development process, we can see that “it is the Transnational
Corporation that stands astride the global economy as the dominant form of enterprise in both the
tourism industry and other sectors”. In China, international travel service groups are at their initial
stage in terms of volume, and market influence. They are unable to have local retailing network at the
389
moment. There is still a long way to go, but it already has a very promising start.
CONCLUSION
For Chinese international travel service groups which adopted and which will adopt
internati0nal strategies, several suggestions have been raised in the paper:
Firstly, they must consider the conditions and criterions to meet when they adopt international
strategies for Chinese travel services. By summarizing the answers in this respect from those
managers who filled in the questionnaires, conditions they must to consider are summarized as
follows:
have certain scale of the travel agencies and have enough strength;
have brand influence power in the international market;
have international sense and the ability of international operations for travel service group
senior executives;
have enough business volume(outbound tourists from home country);
need investment capital;
staffs with competent marketing techniques; Understand international market , follow
international rules, have international mentalities and loyal to the enterprise.
to be able to connect with domestic business system;
standardized management;
mechanism to reserve and cultivate internationalised personnel.
Secondly, they should set up their branches in the region where many Chinese outbound
tourists would like to go so that they may have enough business.
Thirdly, Gradually tries to invest in some critical areas in order to guarantee qualities
standards such as restaurants.
Fourthly, for attracting incoming tourists, cultivates marketing techniques and networks via a
variety of means including retailing, Internet and cooperating with local tour operators through their
endeavour. By cultivating China’s friendly
Image through their intruding of specific tourist products, more and More tourists will visit
China in the future.
REFERENCES
Wu, J. (2003). The New trends of China tourist enterprise group development, China Tourism
Development: Analysis and Forecast. Beijing, Social Science Literature Publishing House.
Zhang, J. (2004) Grasp the Moment of Transnational Resources. China and Foreign Management, 9.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research is part of the program of the analysis of the internationalization of China
tourism enterprises.
The program was sponsored by Beijing Municipal Government. President Du jiang of Beijing
International studies University (BISU) and professor Daibin in BISU took charge of this program. I
would like to extend my gratitude to their support during the survey.
390
A STUDY ON THE POSITIONING ANALYSIS OF BROTH PRODUCTS
Hyun-A Lee
Kyung-Soo Han
Eun-Jung Lee
and
Eun-Yong Pho
ABSTRACT
Broth belongs to seasonings in accordance with terms of service of official food standard rule
in FDA. Broth products in the open market have been marked as sauces and composite condiments.
The broth products made from beef, anchovy, seaweed, and etc. have been sold in type of liquefied
seasonings, liquefied broth, and liquefied power. These products have been sold for a long while in
Korea. However, the usage rate is not high. Therefore, it is necessary to identify customer's perception
about broth products and test the type and shape of broth in the market. The Purpose of this study
was to position ideal vector by plotting customer's perception points about the shape of broth products
in multi-dimensional space. The perceptual map is drawn by pointing subjects in two-dimensional
space on the basis of analyses of similarity and 16 characteristic tests. The subjects in this study were
limited to the powder type broth, liquid type broth, and concentrated type broth and 16 characteristics
of broths were identified in order to acquire accurate results. Questionnaire were distributed to 150
housewives and single woman selected by nonrandom convenience sampling.
Key Words: broth products, positioning, perceptual map
1. INTRODUCTION
Broth is a kind of soup to have boiled the brisket of beef, a landslide, and use various
materials. (Dong-A, 2002) Today, broth is used by soup, a pot of stew, and noodle(cold and warm).
And it also used by base of sauce and soup (Choi, 1998). However, it is not too easy for contemporary
who need time saving and convenience to make broth recipe.
Especially, the housewife with work and with preparing meal is considered the need of broth
products. Yoon et., the research shows that consumer trends on dietary food purchasing behaviors and
perception for the convenience foods .In this research, the housewife had high demand score to take
out, of high quality sauce, seasoning, broth, and convenience foods.(3.67±0.89).(Yoon etc, 1998)
Since 1996s in Korea, Broth products have been developed for consumer needs. Broth
belongs to seasonings in accordance with terms of service of official food standard rule in FDA.
(식품공전, 2004) However, Compared to high rate of broth products, broth products have been
considered that they have not enough types of broth products as well as can not make customer
satisfaction. (Lee etc, 1999)
391
A product’s position is the way the product is defined by consumers on important attributes-
the place the product occupies in consumers’ minds relative to competing products. Marketers plan
positions that will give their products the greatest advantage in selected target markets and then design
marketing mixes to create the planned positions.
Therefore, it is necessary to identify customer's perception about broth products and test the
type and shape of broth in the market. And idea form the ideal vector, we could establish the
marketing strategy and this could be essential information to make superior strategy.
1-1. The purpose of the study
The Purpose of this study was to indicate position and ideal vector of powder type broth,
concentrated type broth and liquid type broth by plotting where customer's perception points were
about the shape of broth products to lead multi-dimensional space.
2. STUDY METHOD
2-1. The compose of Questionnaire
From demographic, According to age, occupation, family size, education level, marriage,
monthly family income, and monthly food expense. The research results could be change. Therefore
All characters should be referred.
The questionnaire of positioning was base on the research of Lee and Kang..
First, the question of similarity part was composed of number1 to 7. The higher score is, the
more similar score is. Second, the question of broth traits, It was consisted of 16 traits considering
reason of buying broth products. This reason was base on research of Choi and depth interview. The
scale was 7 Likert-type scale. Third, to investigate the preference of broth products, Rank Data was
used.
2-2. Sample
The research was focused for housewives and single women who prepare meals at home.
Because those people could affect decision- making. The information of this research was collected
by questionnaire, For the specialist of broth product, Depth-interview was selected.
For students who took a course for cooking at the welfare center in Seoul, The first survey
was treated and After complementing from the first survey, those who was selected from first survey
completed second survey as well as depth- interview.
The period of the survey was from August to September in 2004. From 180 survey, all of
them was returned. However, 30 survey could not use because of unclear answering. The statistical
analysis was completed using SPSS/PC＋ and SPSS Win 10.0
3. FINDING
Demographic status of the respondents was table 1. In age, from age 20 to age 50 was
distributed similarly. The consumer who has a job was 56%. The consumer who has not a job was
44%. In Family size, 1 to 2 was 15.3%, 3 to 4 was 66.7%, more than 5 were 18%. In education level,
less than high school was 25.3%, more than high school was 73.3%. In marriage, the married was
72%, The unmarried was 28%. In Monthly family income, the group of less than $2000 was 30.7%.
the group of $2010 to $3000 was 28%. The group of more than $3010 was 41.3%. In monthly food
expenses, the group of less than $ 500 was 51.3%. The group of $500to $800 was 22%. The group of
more than $800 was 25.3%.
392
Table1
Demographic status of the respondents
Item Categories Number(150) (%)
20~30 (46) 30.7
30~40 (47) 31.3
Age(year)
40~50 (32) 21.3
More than (25) 16.7
Yes (84) 56.0
Occupation
No (66) 44.0
1~2 (23) 15.3
Family size 3-4 (100) 66.7
more than5 (27) 18.0
High school
(38) 25.3
Education level graduate
Over high school (110) 73.3
Yes (108) 72.0
marrige
No (42) 28.0
Monthly family Less than 200 (46) 30.7
income 200~300 (42) 28.0
(10,000 won) More than 300 (62) 41.3
Monthly food Less than50 (77) 51.3
expenses 50-80 (33) 22.0
(10,000 won) More than 80 (38) 25.3
3-1. similarity Analysis
To verify the relative distance among 3 groups, The Hierarchical Clustering Analysis was
used. It was based on similarity Analysis. After the Hierarchical Clustering Analysis, It was divided
powder type broth, liquid type broth, and concentrated type broth. The result between liquid type
broth and concentrated type broth was similar.
Figue1
Similarity broth type product
powder type liquid type concentrated type

broth broth broth
3-2. positioning
This study was limited to the powder type broth, liquid type broth, and concentrated type
broth and 16 characteristics of broths were identified in order to acquire accurate results. To make
broth perception map, the factor analysis of broth type product and characteristics was conducted.
Factor 1 was health oriented factor. Factor 2 was taste oriented factor. Factor 3 was convenience
oriented factor. Each factor for category was selected by common character. To know the position of
broth product in the perception map, the mean of each factor score stand for coordinates which were
applied for the dimension.(table 3) The position of broth type product was determined by the mean.
The results were as followed. (<figue1>, <figue2>, <figue3>)
For acquiring the results, factor analysis was conducted. Through factor analysis, three factors
were identified. The identified factors were named as 'health oriented', 'taste oriented', and
393
'convenience oriented'.
The perceptual map were drawn by the results of crossing the three factors. According to the
positioning results, the liquid type broth and the concentrated type broth are superior to health
oriented and taste oriented sides. The positioning map of the health oriented factor and the type of
broth showed that both of the liquid type broth and concentrated type broth were positive and the
powder type broth is negative on the axis-health oriented. Accordingly, it was identified that
customers recognized the liquid type broth and concentrated type broth to be affirmative. On the
axis-convenience oriented, the powder type broth, the liquid type broth, and the concentrated type
broth were marked orderly in the level of convenience. Powder type broth was identified as the
convenience oriented product. he perceptual map of the taste oriented factor and convenience oriented
factor showed that the liquid type broth and concentrated type were positive on the axis-taste oriented.
However, the powder type broth was positioned in the negative direction. Related to convenience
oriented, the powder type broth, the liquid type broth, and the concentrated type broth were positioned
in high convenience order without regard to health oriented and taste oriented.
Table2
The Factor analysis of Korean food brand personality
health oriented taste oriented Convenience oriented

Characteristic factor factor factor factor
(.71375) (.79095) (.68287)
◆ high image of health
.82361 .17953 -.01000
◆ nature materials .80429 .15185 -.00320
◆ without seasoning .80288 .09812 -.12005
◆ safety .77685 .10067 .20164
◆ taste of home-made .75519 .24823 -.02809
◆ hygiene .72339 .04843 .25555
◆ high quality material .71959 .25249 .22018
◆ reasonable saltiness .55446 .25689 .40003
.46356 .09139 .11049
◆ reasonable price
◆ taste of savory .26585 .81657 .09343

◆ taste of richness .03306 .80300 .17668
◆ taste of pleasant .30516 .75330 -.01726
◆ buying everywhere -.04050 -.05053 .84877

◆ shortening cooking time -.04080 .30703 .73355
◆ Being capable to keep .28880 .02787 .67608
◆ Giving taste easily .27385 .15695 .47310
394
Table 3
Type of Broth factor mean score
health oriented factor taste oriented factor Convenience oriented factor
powder type broth -.0552104 -.3195826 .1880925

liquid type broth .0421179 .0505826 -.0462942
concentrated type broth .0130723 .2744029 -.1445062
Figure 2
From perception map , health oriented factor and taste oriented factor of broth type product
concentrated
type broth
taste
oriented
factor liquid type
broth
powder type
broth
health oriented factor
Figure 3
From perception map , health oriented factor and convenience oriented factor of broth type product
powder type
broth
convenience
oriented
facto
liquid type
broth
concentrated
type broth
health oriented factor
395
Figure 4
From perception map , taste oriented factor and convenience oriented factor of broth type product
concentrated
type broth
liquid type
taste broth
oriented
factor
powder type
broth
convenience oriented factor
3-3. Ideal vector
Ideal direction of angle appears by beta value that receive factor analysis and preference
regression analysis.
In the side of taste oriented and health oriented, the concentrated type broth had more positive
value than the powder type broth. The powder type broth showed negative direction in both sides.
Accordingly, the results showed that the liquid type broth and the concentrated type broth satisfied the
desire of customers to some degree in the sides of two factors. As well, the customers considered
more the convenience oriented factor comparing to the health oriented factor. To access to the ideal
vector, mapping customer's perception of type of broth on the two axis-the two factors, any products
had not positive value on both sides. That is, the broth product in the market is not enough to satisfy
the customer's desires. Moreover, in the taste oriented factor and the convenience oriented factor,
any products didn't access to the ideal vector. Accordingly, it showed the same result as the
positioning map in terms of the convenience oriented factor and health oriented factor. In result, liquid
type broth products were preferred mostly. On the other hand, the powder type broth products were
less preferred.
4. CONCLUSION
Broth belongs to seasonings in accordance with terms of service of official food standard rule
in FDA. Broth products in the open market have been marked as sauces and composite condiments.
The broth products made from beef, anchovy, seeweed, and etc. have been sold in type of liquefied
seasonings, liquefied broth, and liquefied power. These products have been sold for a long while in
korea. However, the usage rate is not high. Therefore, it is necessary to identify customer's perception
about broth products and test the type and shape of broth in the market.
The Purpose of this study was to position ideal vector by plotting customer's perception points
about the shape of broth products in multi-dimensional space. The perceptual map is drawn by
pointing subjects in two-dimensional space on the basis of analyses of similarity and 16 characteristic
test. The subjects in this study were limited to the powder type broth, liquid type broth, and
concentrated type broth and 16 characteristics of broths were identified in order to acquire accurate
396
results.
For acquiring the results, factor analysis was conducted. Through factor analysis, three factors
were identified. The identified factors were named as 'health oriented', 'taste oriented', and
'convenience oriented'.
The perceptual maps were drawn by the results of crossing the three factors. According to the
positioning results, the liquid type broth and the concentrated type broth are superior to health
oriented and taste oriented sides. The positioning map of the health oriented factor and the type of
broth showed that both of the liquid type broth and concentrated type broth were positive and the
powder type broth is negative on the axis-health oriented. Accordingly, it was identified that
customers recognized the liquid type broth and concentrated type broth to be affirmative. On the
axis-convenience oriented, the powder type broth, the liquid type broth, and the concentrated type
broth were marked orderly in the level of convenience. Powder type broth was identified as the
convenience oriented product. Perceptual map of the taste oriented factor and convenience oriented
factor showed that the liquid type broth and concentrated type were positive on the axis-taste oriented.
However, the powder type broth was positioned in the negative direction. Related to convenience
oriented, the powder type broth, the liquid type broth, and the concentrated type broth were positioned
in high convenience order without regard to health oriented and taste oriented.
Moreover, it showed the same result as the positioning map in terms of the convenience
oriented factor and health oriented factor. In result, liquid type broth products were preferred mostly.
On the other hand, the powder type broth products were less preferred.
REFERENCES
Chaiy, S.I (2003). Social Science Research Method, B&M Books, 56.
Chaiy, S.I, & Kim, B.J. (1998). SPSS/PC+’s Statistical Analysis, bobmunsa.
Churchill, Jr, G.A. (1999). Marketing research: Methodological foundations. Orlando, FL. The
Dryden Press., 414-416.
Lee, H. J. (2002). Korea Food Curtural, Shinkwang, 187.
Lee, J.M., & Choi, S.E. (2001) A survey on the Status of Utilization and Consumers’ Opinions for
Commercial Soup Stock, 16(1)
Lee, J.M., Shin, K.S., & Choi, S.E. (1999). A study on the present situation of utilization of broth
materials for the development of broth product, Korean J Diet Culture, 14(1)
Kang, Y.M. (1996). A Study on Beer Brand Image Positioning using Multidimensional Scaling, Kang
Won University
Kim, J.B. (2001). A case Study on the Brand Positioning Strategy, Dong-Eui University.
Kim, K.B. (2003). Decision Support System for Evaluating Positioning and Repositioning Strategy,
Marketing Research, 18(3), 73-74.
Korea Food & Drug Administration (2004). food code, [Online] Retrieved from http://kfda.go.kr
Kotler, P. (1998). Marketing Management, Prentice-hall Inc., 6th ed., 308.
Lee, D.H. (2001). Marketing Positioning Study on Internet Portal Site, Hanyang University.
397
Lee, Y.Y. (1998). The principles of Marketing, hyungseul.
[Online] Retrieved from http://www.gykimcooking.co.kr/download
Yoo, Y.S. (1999). A Study on the Sport Positioning Using Perceptual Map, Yonsei University.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research was supported by Korea Science and Engineering Foundation(R-05-2003-000-

1088).
398
A STUDY ON THE EDUCATION AND TRAIINING OF EXPERTS AND SPECIALISTS FOR
2008 BEIJING OLYMPIC GAMES
Lanya Peng
Tourism Department
Fudan University
Yingzhi Guo
Tourism Department
Fudan University
and
Kuo-Ching Wang
Graduate Institute of Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality Management
National Chiayi University
ABSTRACT
The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will be a great opportunity for Beijing’s city construction
and development. Adopting qualitative analysis, this paper first investigated the characteristics of the
education and training of Beijing’s Olympic Games, then it discussed the present opportunities and
problems of it; thirdly, it put forward several promotion strategies. Due to the data limitation, this
study still need further review, and the promotion strategies should be improved and updated.
Key Words: Beijing Olympic Games; convention experts and specialists; education and training
1. INTRODUCTION
Beijing had won the bidding for the 2008 Olympic Games, which is a great opportunity for
Beijing’s city construction and development. According to the estimation, the Beijing Olympic
Games will attract as many as 200,000 athletes, delegations, and correspondents from home and
abroad (Han & Chen, 2004). As an officer from Athens Olympic Committee once dressed, the success
of the Olympics depends greatly on service (Wen & Xiong, 2005). As an international pageant, the
Olympics involves a great number of organizations and institutions, which made the coordination
work even more difficult. To ensure the success of the Game, not only the Beijing Olympic
Committee calls for experts and specialists with various expertises, but the entire sports community
and the related fields need abundant supply of talented persons. Thus the education and training of
experts and specialists has become a critical factor in preparation of the Olympic Games.
It is expected that over 20,000 people will be directly or indirectly involved in Beijing
Olympic Games, most of whom are responsible for the preparation and conducting of it, including
4,000 full-time workers, 80,000 to 10,000 volunteers and about 10,000 part-time workers. However,
there is a great lack of talented persons in the aspects of events planning and management, senior
sports administrators and convention planning and design. What’s more, problems like the lack of in-
depth theoretical research, the unreasonable structure of human resource and the irregular training and
education market, etc.
The purpose of this paper mainly lied in applying the existing research findings on the human
resource management of MICE industry into the research of the education and training of talented
person for Beijing Olympic Games, solving the problems of the shortage of talented person, the
unreasonable human resource structure and so on. The objectives of this paper were as follows: (1) to
know about the current characteristics of education and training of talented person for Beijing
399
Olympic Games; (2) to understand the opportunities, challenges and current problems of education
and training of talented person for Beijing Olympic Games; (3) to discuss the solutions to these
problems, and find out the promotion strategies for the education and training of talented person for
Beijing Olympic Games.
2. STUDY PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES
Theoretically, this paper examined and summed up the predecessors’ research in human
resource management, education and training of experts and specialists in MICE industry, for the sake
of inspiring more in-depth research of its kind. Practically, this paper set forward the promotion
strategies for the sake of presenting the education and training situations to the government and
Beijing Olympic Committee, helping the employees and employers clearly understand the demand
and supply of the human capital market, and enlightening those committed to promoting the education
and training for Beijing Olympic Games and even the whole MICE industry.
3. METHODOLOGIES AND DATA SOURCE
This paper mainly adopted the qualitative methodologies, namely, second-handed material
investigation, the SWOT analysis, the induction, and the deduction methodologies.
There three main data sources for this paper: (1) the relating websites of 2008 Beijing
Olympic Games, such as the official website of Beijing Olympic Committee; (2) the electronic
editions of main tourism academic journals from home and abroad; (3) the main tourist news websites
in China.
4. Analysis and Study Results
4.1 Training Programs
4.1.1 Security maintenance program
Under the supervision of Beijing Public Security Bureau, the program includes subprograms
of long term education, short term training, and abroad training.
The long term education program combines domestic education and abroad training, which
last totally 1-2 years. Sponsored by the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs and China
Scholarship Council, it strictly limit the number of trained experts in around 40 per year, every one of
whom is selected from a large number of excellent policemen to ensure the quality of this program.
The short term training program, introducing the overseas expertise in intelligence
management, concentrates mainly on the training of basic Olympic knowledge, the expertise in
security maintenance operations, and foreign language training of the staff in the whole police system.
The abroad training program is jointly lodged by International Talent Market of China and the
sophisticated and experienced international training organizations from the UK, German, Greece, and
Australia. Provided training includes the crises manipulation, skills of negotiation, intelligence
transport, human resource management in police system, public security maintenance, professional
English for police service and so on. The program also offer Chinese police officers the opportunities
of exchanging experiences with foreign police services (Political Department of Beijing Public
Security Bureau, 2005).
4.1.2 Sports Management Training Program
Administered by the State Physical Culture Administration, this program adopted forms of
vocational training and continuing education. Many interns are sent to the Olympic site to practice, all
400
for free. Since the year of 2004, Beijing Olympic Committee has sent over 40 people in succession to
participate in the various organizational work in Athens Olympics, which had helped accumulate
precious experience of the interns.
4.1.3 Volunteer Training Program
Hand language volunteers training. It is forecasted that Beijing Olympic Games will demand
over 900 hand language interpretation volunteers, but currently there are only less than 30 highly
qualified hand language interpreters in Beijing. Therefore, Beijing Disabled Persons Federation is
planning to train 1,000 hand language volunteers in 2006 to meet the demand, also in the same year,
Beijing is starting building up a team of finger language interpreters (Wang, 2005).
The Pre-Olympic environmental protection volunteers training. Through the process of

preparing the Olympics, recruited volunteers will take part in the daily affairs or certain programs of
the organization committee, and will provide the volunteer support and service for Olympics. Sydney
and Athens had adopted similar programs when they were hosting cities. Sydney once organized a
team of 500 volunteers at its climax. Named “the Pioneering Volunteers”, this team directly took part
in the pre-Olympic environmental protection (Liu, 2005).
Other volunteer training programs. Beijing will further open more volunteer training
programs and recruit more volunteers such as convention receptionists, tour guides, shopping guides,
scenic sites explainers, scene coordinators and so on.
4.1.4 On-the-spot training program
In 2005, Beijing Olympic Committee signed agreements with 16 universities and colleges,
who promised to recruit 446 of their graduate students as on-the-spot interns. On-the-spot interns will
serve the committee for a period of 6 months to one year in a stable position. The education for them
is divided into 3 stages: (1) Course study. Lasting a whole year, the stage requires graduate students to
grasp the expertise knowledge and to know something about the Olympics. (2) Internship. From July,
2007 to September, 2008, the interns will be participating the organization and management of the
Olympics and contributing their own expertise to it. (3) Graduation thesis. After the conclusion of the
Olympics, they should write their graduation thesis relating to their experience of working in the
committee (Gao & Wang, 2005).
4.1.5 Journalists training program
Started by propaganda department of Beijing Municipal Party Committee, this program is

aimed at promoting the overall quality of the staff in public information and news system and to carry
out personnel reservation for Beijing Olympic Games. The training course is mainly undertaken by
China Agricultural University, cooperating with the University of Luton from the UK. There are
already trainees successfully obtaining the master’s degree of media management before they came
back to China. Still, more people are applying for this program.
4.1.6 MICE planner training program
By way of alleviating the urgent demand of experts for the Olympics, the Employment and
Training Skills Instructions Center under China Ministry of Labor and Social Security started the
training program of MICE planners. The main courses include ABC of MICE, MICE industry
management, MINC investigation and marketing, MICE designing and construction and so on.
Trainees who passed the exams will be granted the National MICE Planner Certificate (Yi, 2005).
4.1.7 Exhibition designer training program
401
The Exhibition designer training program is also the Employment and Training Skills
Instructions Center under China Ministry of Labor and Social Security started the training program of
MICE planners. The main courses include the overall design of the exhibition, technical problems
solving, computer programming technique, CAD, etc. Trainees who passed the exams will be granted
the National Exhibition Designer Certificate (Yi, 2005).
4.2 Training Locus
In respect of sports management experts, Beijing had a series of training organizations such as
Olympics Human Culture Research Center established in 2001 in Renmin University, the Social
Science Research Basis under State Physical Culture Administration set up in 2001 by Tsinghua
University and Peking University, Olympic Culture Research Center started in April, 2002, in Beijing
Union University, Physical Law Research Center based in China University of Political Science and
Law, etc.
In respect of education of senior specialists, Beijing also boasts a lot of Universities which
have established master degree and doctor degree in sports management. In 2003, Central University
of Finance and Economics first established its sports economics program, Beijing Normal University
had its sports economics major and sports journalism major, Tsinghua University and Beijing Normal
University also set doctor degrees in sports study.
In addition, there are many vocational high schools and colleges which had courses relating
MICE management and MICE vocational training. What’s more, many civic training organizations
also attracted trainees with their distinctive courses.
4.3 Training Means
4.3.1 Classroom study
Widely ranging from the programs as low vocational training to those as high as doctor
degree, the MICE training used mostly the classroom study method which requires the students or
trainees to sit in classroom, make notes of what the teacher says, and pass exams according to what
they learned. Of course there are selective courses for them to attend, and the teaching methods are
varying too, so that the students will grasp well-knit basic knowledge.
4.3.2 Practice study
The training and education organizations will also offer trainees opportunities for short-term
practice in enterprises, convention and exhibition halls and so on. Through practice, trainees will
understand the theories more thoroughly. Giving prominence to trainees’ skills, case study, and
practice ability, the practice program will help trainees qualify themselves of meeting the customers,
originating the convention theme, and designing the whole exhibition or conference. They will also
find themselves busy learning from other experience workers, listening respectfully to how their
predecessors managed to cope with problems and crisis, and grasping the practical ability through the
process of solving problem.
4.4 Opportunities for Education and Training of Beijing Olympic Games
4.4.1 The great demand of talented persons in Beijing
On the one hand, Beijing Olympic Games is going to create over 2 million job opportunities
for Beijing city, and among them 0.8 million are direct employment in MICE industry, more than 1
million are indirect employment in related industries such as sports management, electronics and
information technology, environmental protection, culture industry, tourism industry and so on.
402
On the other hand, the Olympics is going to nurture a lot of talented experts in events
management, sports management, MICE marketing, etc.
4.4.2 The flourishing relating industry of MICE industry
As a capital city, Beijing undoubtedly enjoys the advantages such as the superior
comprehensive social and economic conditions, the ascendant priority in regional economic
development, great space for developing its MICE industry to ascend, large amounts of swarming
foreign investment, advanced education and training organizations, abundant supply of excellent
talents, and so on. All these are contributing to the promotion of human resource management and
training in MICE industry of Beijing.
4.4.3 The developing education industry of Beijing
There are many famous universities gathering in Beijing, with a coarctation of intelligence.
Since 1999, many of the famous universities had set up programs and courses in MICE management,
ranging from the vocational schools to doctor degree, all outfitted with outstanding professors and
teachers and amplitude of financial support. They have supplied large number of trained experts and
specialists for Beijing’s MICE industry.
4.4.4 The developing MICE industry of Beijing
The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is a great chance for Beijing to develop itself into an
international MICE center. Compared with cities like Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore, Beijing is a
city that boasts greater vitality and strength in MICE industry. Compared with other cities in inland
China, Beijing certainly ranks in the highest flight when it comes to the number, scale, quality, and
level of conventions and exhibitions held every year. Beijing, with its distinct preponderance and
bright future, is no doubt an important MICE center in China, and will become a MICE center in
tomorrow’s world.
4.5 Existing Problems of the Education and Training for Beijing Olympic Games
4.5.1 The insufficient supply of experts and specialists
The Beijing Olympic Committee demands at least 4,000 workers when preparing the Olympic
Games, but the gap from the demand is as wide as 3,000 workers. In 2007, the demand will approach
its climax.
Take demand of tour guides as an example. There is an urgent call for foreign language tour
guide, but the qualified ones cannot meet the call at present. The education of the tour guides is still
insufficient, among them more than 2/3 received education less than 12 years (12 years of education is
equal to high school degree or vocational high school degree), and less than 1/3 received college or
university education. From the perspective of the grade of tour guides’ qualification, most of the
present tour guides are with elementary grade qualification, minority with qualifications above the
intermediate grades.
4.5.2 The unreasonable human capital structure
Macroscopically, the education and training system for Beijing Olympic Games hasn’t been
established yet. There is no obvious differentiation between the volunteers and formal workers for
Olympics, and the numbers of them are incertitude. There is also no clear differentiation between the
senior, medium, and basic workers, and still vague evaluation in their numbers.
403
Microscopically, the inner structures of various categories of talented persons are also
inconsequent. Take the human capital structure of logistics as an example. Nowadays, Beijing most
urgently needs experts in consultancy of logistic planning, international logistic affairs, and logistics
research field. Whereas the education of logistics lagged behind of the demand, the senior logistic
experts altered to others cities such as Shanghai and Guangdong to seek for better opportunities and
higher salaries, and the education of medium and basic workers are still neglected.
4.5.3 The low quality of education and training
As far as knowledge structure of the trainees is concerned, (1) the knowledge structure is
simple, and there is low compatibility between their foreign language ability (mainly English ability)
and their expertise; (2) there is low comprehension of both the theoretical ability and practical
experience in one person; and (3) few trainees possess comprehensively a familiarity with China’s
national situation both in the past and at present, an insight of the international development and
affairs, and an acquaintance of the international rules.
As far as the procedures of recruitment and training, there still exist serious problems. Some
of the training organizations quires trainees of merely “dedication in sports undertakings”, and don’t
have specified requests. This will lead to that the trainees will find them still unable to meet the
market’s and employers’ demand in addition to a waste of the training fees. What’s more, some of the
organizations are not equipped with sophisticated professors or teachers. Some of the tutors teach a
course without any actual practice or research experience in that field.
4.5.4 The irregularity of education and training market
Some education and training organizations established programs and courses in a harsh,
without acquiring the necessary knowledge of the market demand. Thus they waste money and energy
in educating and training the people no more or little more needed by the market, neglecting whom
the market and employers really need. Many universities focus on the education of senior experts,
ignoring the regulation of the human resource structure. This will bring problems like the confusion
and over supply in senior experts market, but insufficiency in medium and basic worker supply.
5．CONCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS
5.1 Promotions strategies of education and training of Beijing Olympic Games
5.1.1 Specializing education and training organizations
Government should actively create positive environment for those licensed education and
training organizations and encourage the trainees to choose those organizations which provide
canonical programs. Meanwhile, select and send convention experts to go to the countries with
developed MICE industry and advanced MICE management skills and systematically learn the
planning, design, propaganda, organization of MICE. Beijing is bound to have a group of
sophisticated talents with rich metropolis MICE experience and an international view.
Constitution of a standard education and training system, including the warranty of the
organizations, the working plans, the training goals, the completion of training and education of
different levels and the enrichment of training methodologies.
5.1.2 Cooperating with international training and education organizations
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Cooperation with international training and education organizations, such as ICCA, UFI,
IAEM and EIF, should be further encouraged, in the aspects of infrastructure construction, staff
training and education, information consultancy and so on.
5.1.3 Vary the means of education and training
Integrate different channels of education and training including vocational education,

undergraduate and graduate studies, etc. Combine means of self-study and school education together,
domestic and abroad education together, expertise and foreign language training together.
Take courage in making breakthroughs in traditional teaching methods and simple practice,
bring in more vibrant teaching means to make the lessons interesting, to promote the trainees’
practical abilities, and to enlarge their vision.
5.1.4 Differentiating the trainees in diversified levels
Different levels of education and training should be given to different trainees with diversified
abilities and expertise. To educate the senior managers in sports undertakings, it necessary to combine
classroom studying with practice in Olympic Committees. To help the ordinary citizens grasp basic
foreign language skills in preparation for the Olympic Games, government can take such forms of
sending volunteers into the communities to permeate basic skills of English and other language.
5.1.5 Regulating the contents of education and training programs
The basic courses should be established on a broad and extensive basis, to help the trainees
acquire basic knowledge in MICE industry and in Olympic Games. The professional courses should
embody great agility in different expertise education. Education and training organizations should add
more practice and applying courses into the basic and professional courses and promote the
cooperation with enterprises, exhibitions centers and so on, to provide fine practice opportunities to
the trainees.
5.1.6 Standardizing the quality evaluation of education and training
Evaluation and feedback mechanism should be started to strictly monitor the quality of
education and training. At the same time with enlarging the scale and quantity of education and
training, the standardized quality evaluation and feedback mechanism will also help regulate the
recruitment of teachers and the source of financial support, avoid the unfair competition in the
education and training market which seems a big cake for some businessmen, and guarantee the
trainees that they will receive a worthwhile training and be qualified to enter the MICE industry.
5.2 Limitations and future research
However, this article still had certain limitations: (1) because of the limited data and material,
the analysis of the current situation of the education and training of talented person for Beijing
Olympic Games still needed further review; (2) as the preparation for the Beijing Olympic Games
proceeded, the demand of talented person may alter, and new problems may also emerge.
Therefore the current countermeasures may seem invalid then. In future research, we will
thoroughly study the insistently emerging problems and find new solutions to them.
405
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
406
A STUDY ON THE INDUSTRIALIZATION OF KOREAN FOOD AS PART OF THE TOURISM
INDUSTRY
Park Nak-jong
Division of Tourism
Ministry of Culture and Tourism
and
Kim Hyang-ja
Division of Planning & Coordination
Korea Culture and Tourism Policy Institute
ABSTRACT
This thesis intends to review how competitive Korean food culture is with other trends of the
global tourism market, which favors healthy diets. Also, this thesis aims at suggesting objectives and
policy direction for improving Korean food industry including tourism sector by investigating the
reality, limitation and the potential of our food culture and analyzing its status in our policy for
tourism industry.
The thesis presents the basic direction to take and the priorities for industrializing and
globalizing Korean food. It is expected that such suggestions will be used as valuable material in
drawing up policy measures for the concerned areas, including tourism policies. Furthermore, this
study should trigger sustainable food tourism research in the future.
Key Words: food culture, tourism resources, industrialization, globalization, Korean wave, food
culture tourism policy.
INTRODUCTION
Countries advanced in tourism around the world have recently recognized the importance of
cultural tourism, striving to foster it through diverse policies. Among the many components that make
up cultural tourism, the unique food culture of each country and region is becoming a critical tourism
resource. Each country acknowledges that food tourism is one of the pivotal factors that could
improve a country's tourism balance, and is making all-out efforts to transform it into a major tourism
resource through active development. Of the total spending by foreign visitors to Korea, food
related expenditure ranks third following accommodation and shopping. Statistically, the economic
value-added of the food industry exceeds that of semi-conductors, automobiles, and other sectors. The
effect of food on the tourism industry in terms of the generation of value-added has been found to be
higher than that of accommodation, transportation, and entertainment. (The tourism industry value-
added of food is 15.23%, or 2.6 Trillion KRW, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2004).
Given that the food industry can easily generate high value-added, the Government has
recently committed itself to carrying out various policies to industrialize Korean food as a part of the
tourism industry. Food policy could be a means of resolving Korea’s tourism balance deficit, which
has been a chronic tourism policy issue, and it has only recently come into the limelight as a policy to
increase spending by foreign tourists. However, despite the attractiveness of Korean food and the
high interest shown in it from the policy area, because the food culture and its surrounding
environment including service, facility and hospitality has not matured enough to satisfy foreign
tourists, the awareness of the government and the people of the urgency and the need to industrialize
Korean food by improving our food culture is low. In this respect, the objective of this paper is to
seek the direction that the industrialization of Korean food should take to make it a part of the tourism
industry by identifying its limitations and the possibility of industrializing and globalizing Korean
407
food. Ultimately, its aim is to provide specific activation measures for tasks related to the
industrialization of Korean food based on existing literature.
This paper is fundamentally based on existing literature and material analysis. It closely
analyzes the food policies implemented up to now by thoroughly examining what has been executed
in those policies and identifies the main issues and problems associated with them. In addition, a
survey was conducted from February 25 to March 7, 2006 of 100 (90 samples) experts engaged in
food or tourism regarding Food Tourism Policy Measures proposed through studies of the available
literatures, thus able to present supplemented policy measures that were theoretically proposed. Food
Tourism Policy Measures were formulated by analyzing the contents of existing literature studies and
the result of the surveys of the questionnaire survey were analyzed using frequency analysis through
SPSS.
The paper is significant in that it took a fresh look at Korean food from a tourism policy
perspective and proposed comprehensive policy measures. However, because of the diversity of the
Korean food area, including ingredients, cooking, food service industry, and commercialization, there
are certain restrictions when proposing detailed policy measures.
STUDY CASE PRECEDENT
Papers on Korean food can be largely classified into three types: first, studies on the
characteristics and attributes of Korean food and its recipes; second, studies on the culture of Korean
food; and third, papers on the globalization or industrialization of Korean food as part of the tourism
industry. Various studies on the characteristics of Korean food have been conducted by the
academic cooking and food milieu, while there are few papers on the culture of Korean food.
However, with the increased movement towards the industrializing and globalizing Korean food
linked with tourism, more and more studies on the culture of Korean food have been conducted in
recent times. In this paper, the following is an analysis of the main propositions of the recently
published sources related to the subject.
A report by the Samsung Economic Research Institute (2003) entitled "Strategy for the
Commercialization and Globalization of Korean food" presented commercialization and globalization
strategies by analyzing the current status of commercialization and globalization of Korean food and
by reviewing nine such success cases, including Woo Rae Oak (Korean restaurant), Nolboo (Korean
restaurant), and Hetbahn (instant steamed rice). Yang Seung-nam(2004) released “Cases of the
Industrialization of Korean Food as part of the Tourism Industry and Short-term Action Plans for
Globalization,” but not enough case studies have been undertaken, and these only went so far as
offering measures. Kang Kyeong-nim (2004), in the paper “The Tourism and Globalization Strategy
of Korean Food,” analyzed the satisfaction levels felt by foreign visitors with respect to Korean food
according to different nationalities in order to make a standard manual. Based on the analysis, the
paper presented ways to promote Korean food including approaching foreigners with Korean food in
its most traditional form, transforming Korean food into fusion food, and promoting Korean food as
healthy food. However, this is more of a marketing strategy than an attempt to provide measures for
the industrialization of Korean food as part of the tourism industry. Park Nak-jong(2005) in his
paper “The Globalization of Korean Food Culture Tourism and Tasks,” offers a direction in which to
carry forward tourism policy measures linked with food, an area which has not been properly dealt
with even though food spending takes up a large part of tourism spending. However, specific
measures were not presented.
ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT STATE OF KOREAN FOOD POLICY
3-1. Current State of Korean Food Policy
Policies relating to food have been managed in eight different ministries and offices including
the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT), the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), the
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Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
(MOMAF). The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry oversees the quality authentication of traditional
food and designating masters, fosters food services and the food industries, brands agriculture
products, and makes inroads into foreign markets by participating in international food exhibitions.
The main focus of the Ministry of Health and Welfare is to enhance the health of the people and
increase projects to improve food culture. It is responsible for food safety, health control, and the
recommendation of a healthy dietary plan. (Park Nak-jong, 2005).
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism focuses on the development and succession of
traditional food, the commercialization of Korean food, and the utilization of Korean food as a
tourism resource. It also holds food exhibitions and festivals and seeks to improve overseas promotion
projects by participating in international exhibitions. With the increased popularity of Korean food in
Japan, China, and Southeast Asia thanks to the hit Korean TV series "Daejanggeum" (or "Jewel in the
Palace”), the Government is formulating promotion and marketing policies to exploit the Korean
Wave so that it can contribute to improving Korea’s tourism balance (Ministry of Culture and
Tourism, 2005). Local governments are striving to revitalize and strengthen their regional economy
by attracting tourists through the development of their representative local food, which they are
transforming it into a tourism resource and product, and the creation of a regional food festival that
displays their local uniqueness with a view to cultivating in as an international event.
3-2. Standing of the Food Industry in Tourism Policy
The proportion of the food industry out of the Korean tourism balance is as previously
mentioned (see page 1). The size of Korea’s food service market as of 2004 is approximately 40
trillion KRW, which is over 7% of the GNP, and it is growing by over 10% annually (National
Statistical Office, annual statistical study of wholesale and retail industry). Korean food service
business has the largest share out of the total food service businesses, much higher than that of
Chinese (24,280 businesses), Western (12,617 businesses), and Japanese (4,994 businesses) food
services. Spending on food services represented only 6% of the total household food spending in
1982, but this had increased to 45.9% by 2004 (National Statistical Office, annual urban household
study.). The size of the foodservice industry in 2005 has not yet been reported, but with the
introduction of the five-day working week, food service spending over the weekend is forecast to
increase by more than 10% year on year. The growth of the food industry has encouraged private
investment in the food tourism industry, which has influenced the improvement of food quality, the
strengthening of product features, the improvement and diversification of restaurant culture, and the
launch of foreign food service franchises. At the end of the day, this all contributes to the
advancement of Korea’s food tourism industry.
The results of the survey conducted on the relevant experts with regard to how much the
tourism industrialization of Korean food would influence the ability to attract foreign visitors and the
development of Korean tourism are shown in Table 1. The highest score was given to the “Food
festivals and demonstrations will provide the most diverse things to eat, see, and enjoy” category.
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Table 1
Influence of the industrialization of Korean food as part of the tourism industry on foreign tourist
attraction and the development of Korean tourism (n=90)
Classification Average
1. Experience of Korean food will affect tourism satisfaction and 4.04
encourage return visits to Korea.
2. Food tourism will contribute to improving our tourism deficit by 4.13
increasing tourism spending.
3. Experiencing Korean food culture will be experiencing Korea’s 4.14
unique culture.
4. Experience in Korean food culture will provide an opportunity to 4.12
understand Korean culture.
5. Food festivals and demonstrations will provide the most diverse 4.30
things to eat, see, and enjoy to foreign tourists.
6. Preference for Korean food of foreign tourists will serve as an 3.89
opportunity to improve the quality of Korean restaurants.
7. Transforming Korean food into a tourism product will affect Korea’s 4.19
image.
Note: 5-point scale☞ No effect at all (1) – average (3) – has a significantly effect (5)
Limitations on, and Potential of, Transforming Korean Food into a Tourism Industry
4-1. Limitations on Transforming Korean Food into a Tourism Industry
On the precondition that for the industrialization of Korean food as part of the tourism
industry, Korean food should be widely promoted around the globe and should become a food that
can be enjoyed without people feeling repelled by it, this paper looks into the restrictions on
globalizing Korean food that have been derived through studies of related literatures. (Refer to <Table
2>).
Table 2
Limitations of transforming Korean food as part of the tourism industry
(n=90, overlapping response)
Classification Respondents Response

(n) Rate (%)
Non-standardization of Korean recipes 33 36.7
Lack of policy support and promotion of Korean food 32 35.6
Low hygiene and service levels of Korean restaurants 31 34.4
Lack of R&D investment for Korean food 24 26.7
Disappearance of traditional Korean food culture 19 21.1
Lack of awareness of Korean food’s health benefits 18 20.0
Lack of human resources with expertise in foreign language 15 16.7
skills
Change in food consumption trends 7 7.8
Regarding the factors that might limit the globalization of Korean food, 36.7% (33 people) of
the respondents cited the “non-standardization of Korean recipes” as the number one problem. One of
the main characteristics of Korean food is that the secret of getting the right taste of a dish lies in the
hands of the maker, i.e. the personal skills of the person making the food; thus, the taste differs greatly
between identical dishes, a phenomenon that is widely accepted by Koreans. Although there are
numerous food experts in Korea and there are some 65 food-related departments in universities
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nationwide, the existing recipes are mostly used as materials for experts. There are not enough
standardized simple and basic recipes for the general public to use.
The “lack of policy support and promotion of Korean food” ranked second place, with 35.6%
(32 people) of the respondents choosing it as the major restriction. Many people still regard food
simply as a means of survival, and insufficient efforts have been made to understand the culture or
philosophy embodied in food and to commercialize it. (Kim Jae-soo, 2005).
The “low hygiene and service levels of Korean restaurants” was selected by 34.4% (31
people) of respondents as the main limitation. Generally speaking, Korean restaurants lag behind the
restaurants of advanced countries such as France or Japan in terms of the layout inside the building or
restaurant, and have a lower level of service. The “lack of R&D investment in Korean food” took
fourth place, chosen by 26.7% (24peopl) of the respondents. Research into Korean food has been
focused on certain areas such as increasing the nutritional supply, physico-chemical analysis of
nutritional factors, and sanitary condition management of restaurants. A comprehensive study into
Korean food has not been properly undertaken, and there are only a small number of study cases.
The “disappearance of traditional Korean food culture” was chosen by 21.1% (19 people) of
the respondents, standing at number five. Socio-economic changes such as the rapid industrialization
and westernization of Korean society have brought about the loss of Korea’s traditional food culture.
Consequently, traditional recipes and cooking methods are becoming extinct and traditional food
culture is disappearing. In addition, 18 people (20.0%) cited the “lack of awareness of Korean
food’s health benefits,” another 15 people (16.7%) referred to the “lack of human resources with
expertise in foreign language skills,” while only 7 people (7.8%) regarded the “change in food
consumption trends” as a major factor of limitation.
4-2. Possibility of Industrializing and Globalizing Korean Food
The possibilities for industrialization as part of the tourist appeal and globalization of Korean
food were derived from studying existing literatures, as shown in <Table 3> below.
Table 3
Potential of Korean food to be transformed into a tourism industry
(n=90, overlapping response)
Classification Respondents Response Rate

(n) (%)
Change of preference for Asian food due to 58 64.4
trends such as the pursuance of well-being
Change of awareness in Korean food owing to 48 53.3
the Korean Wave
Major health benefits of Korean food 19 21.1
(excellence in scientific aspects)
Growth of the food service industry 17 18.9
Increase in the awareness of the significance 13 14.4
of cultural tourism
Increase in interest in the policy of the food 13 14.4
industry (food festival development by local
governments, etc.)
Activation of domestic tourism thanks to five- 10 11.1
day working week
Increase in the number of foreign tourists 2 2.2
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64.4% (58 people) of the respondents chose the “change of preference for Asian food due to
trends such as the pursuance of well-being” as the number one potential factor in the industrialization
of Korean food as part of the tourism industry. There is an increased awareness in well-being
lifestyles around the world, and the World Health Organization (WHO) warned in September 2005
that around one quarter (23.4%) of the global population will be obese ten years from now. The
popularity of Asian food, which is mainly composed of natural food and vegetables, is increasing. As
a result, the awareness of Korean food is also on the rise. The “change of awareness in Korean food
owing to the Korean Wave” was chosen by 53.3% (48 people) of the respondents as the factor that
will affect industrialization and globalization. Daejangguem’s initial popularity was seen in China,
Taiwan, and Japan, but it is now gaining popularity in Southeast Asia and other countries,
contributing to the promotion of the Korean Wave and Korean food.
21.1% (19 people) of the respondents replied that the “superiority of Korean food (excellence
in scientific aspects)” would influence its industrialization as part of the tourism industry and the
globalization of Korean food. Korean food has various features that make it special and highly
beneficial, but the general traits are: a wide variety of grains, food culture of stable foods and
subsidiary foods, kimchi and pickled foods, and fermented foods. Korean food is also appraised as
having a good balance in terms of the ratio of vegetables (80%) to animal products (20%). (kim jae-
soo,2005). The “growth of the food service industry” was chosen by 17 people (18.9%), while the
“increase in awareness of the significance of cultural tourism” and the “increase in interest in the
policy of the food industry” were each selected by 14.4% (13 people) of the respondents as having an
affect on the tourism industrialization and globalization of Korean food.
In addition, when a question was put to experts regarding the possibility of turning Korean
food resources into a tourism product, journeys of exploration of the taste of Korean food received
3.91 out of a full score of 5 points, various international events related to food received 3.81, movies
and dramas related to food received 3.77, Korean traditional food and restaurants received 3.74, and
theme parks related to food received 3.57. Experts overall replied that Korean food resources have the
potential to become a tourism product (average 3.6).
Measures to Industrialize Korean Food as part of the Tourism Industry
Studying literatures and interviewing experts on the presentation of measures to industrialize

Korean food, five policy agendas focusing on the industrialization of Korea food as part of the
tourism industry were formulated. According to the survey conducted on experts about the importance
of the agendas, efficient policy implementation and the establishment of a promotion system were
found to be the most critical agendas, each receiving a score of 4.50, while commercializing Korean
food as a tourism product and the advancement of Korean food abroad each received 4.24, laying the
groundwork to industrialize Korean food received 4.08, and fostering the food service industry
received 3.81.
5-1 Efficient Implementation of Policies and Establishing a Promotion System
A survey was conducted to ask the opinion of experts regarding the four policy tasks designed
to efficiently implement policies and establish a promotion system, and all tasks were found to have
significant importance. Experts regarded “networking among food related organizations such as
associations, public corporations, and culture centers” as the most important task (4.22). “Work
cooperation among ministries and offices and strengthening of collaboration system” received 4.11,
“IT tourism promotion” received 4.09, and “reinforcing networking among organization located
overseas and Korean restaurants” received 4.08.
What is noticeable is the increased awareness of the necessity to efficiently implement

policies through working cooperation among government ministries and offices. For instance, policies
were improved by easing regulations on food industry development and by launching a task force
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team last year for food industry development measures. The team consisted of eight ministries and
offices spearheaded by the Office of the Prime Minister.
IT tourism promotion and the reinforcing of networking among organizations located

overseas and Korean restaurants are important tasks in the drive to efficiently implement policies and
establish a promotion system.
Table 4
Contribution to Tourism Industrializing of Efficient Implementation of Policies and Establishing a
Promotion System
(n=90)
Networking among food related organizations such as 4.22
associations, public corporations, and culture centers
Work cooperation among ministries and offices and 4.11
strengthening of collaboration system
IT tourism promotion 4.09
Reinforcing networking among organization located 4.08
overseas and Korean restaurants
Note: 5-point scale☞ No contribution at all (1) – average (3) – has a significantly contribution (5)
5-2. Turning Korean Food into a Tourism Product
Upon surveying the level of importance of the six tasks that were presented in relation to
transforming Korean food into a tourism product, turning purely traditional food into a tourism
product (received 4.23 out of a full scale of 5) and the development of an international level food
festival and turning it into a tourism product (4.21) were both found to have great significance. The
clustering of the food culture industry received 3.94. The main characteristics of traditional Korean
food are that it is a fermented food and that it mainly uses seasonal vegetables in its dishes. In view of
the fact that interest in slow food is increasing worldwide, the potential of Korean food to become
commercialized is very high.
To commercialize Korean food, while keeping the traditional taste and flavor of traditional
Korean food, it has to be partially adapted (fusion) so that foreigners will not feel hesitant about trying
it out (contribution to industrializing Korean food is 3.93). Korean food is also a slow food that takes
a long time to cook. Thus, some dishes should be developed as fast foods so that Korean food can be
enjoyed easily and in a convenient way. (Contribution to industrializing Korean food is 3.50).
Table 5
Contribution to Tourism Industrializing of Turning Korean Food into a Tourism Product
(n=90)
Turning purely traditional food into a tourism product 4.23
Development of an international level food festival and 4.21
turning it into a tourism product
Clustering of the food culture industry 3.94
Partially adapted (fusion) of Traditional food 3.93
Construction of Experience center of traditional food 3.86
Developing as fast foods of Korean food 3.50
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5-3. Laying the Groundwork to Transform Korean Food into a Tourism Resource
In the survey on the importance of the four tasks offered as initiatives to lay the groundwork
for the industrialization of Korean food, the need to draw up a long-term plan for the industrialization
of Korean food was found to be very high (4.37). The various policies relating to the industrialization
of Korean food currently being carried forward by the Government should be strategically executed
according to a long-term roadmap.
The fostering of food related experts and investment in food R&D each received 4.18 for their
contribution to the industrialization of Korean food as part of the tourism industry. The Government is
focusing more attention on investment in promotional projects utilizing IT technology and the
fostering of food-related professionals. Standardization of Korean food recipes received 3.86. This
is a project that is crucially important to systematically propagating Korean food and securing the
identity of the taste of Korean food. The Government is partnering the Ministry of Agriculture and
Forestry in a three-year project to translate Korean recipes into English, Chinese, and Japanese so as
to distribute them abroad.
Table 6
Contribution to Tourism Industrializing of Laying the Groundwork to Transform Korean Food into a
Tourism Resource
(n=90)
Draw up a long-term plan for the industrialization of 4.37
Korean food
Training and education of experts 4.18
Investment in food R&D 4.18
Standardization of Korean food recipes 3.86
5-4. Fostering Foodservice Industry
Fostering the food service industry is emerging as an important task in the globalization and
industrialization of Korean food as part of the tourism industry. More and more Korean restaurant
brands are succeeding at home and abroad. However, hygiene and the level of service provided by the
working staff of most Korean restaurants are still not as sophisticated or high-level as the restaurants
of other advanced countries. The survey of experts also reflects such a situation. The respondents
considered the “improvement of tourism food service” and the “advancement of restaurant culture” as
the most important factor that will contribute to the industrialization of Korean food as part of the
tourism industry, giving each a score of 4.08. In addition, it is thought that “traditional Korean
performances or various other performances in tourism restaurants are needed to enjoy the food
culture of Korea comprehensively” (Contribution to industrializing Korean food is 3.82). To this end,
improvements in the system have to be made to promote smaller-sized performance stages.
“Attracting famous restaurants abroad” (Contribution to industrializing Korean food is 3.19) and
“employing foreign entertainers” were found to have a median level in terms of their potential
contribution to the industrialization of Korean food (3.01).
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Table 7
Contribution to Tourism Industrializing of Fostering Foodservice Industry
(n=90)
Improvement of tourism food service 4.08
Advancement of restaurant culture 4.08
Performances in tourism restaurants 3.82
Attracting famous restaurants abroad 3.19
Employing foreign entertainers in tourism restaurants 3.01
5-5. Korean Food’s Advancement Abroad
For Korean food to make inroads into foreign markets, the fostering and secondment of
human resources, study, the training of foreigners in Korea, and the nurturing of foreign specialists in
Korean cuisine are all very critical (Contribution to industrializing Korean food is 4.22). The
standardization of Korean recipes (Contribution to industrializing Korean food is 3.97) by applying
modern measurements will enable foreigners to easily cook Korean food when following the recipe,
and this will help accelerate Korean food’s advancement abroad. Standardizing recipes can bring
about greater policy effects if it is linked with the franchising of Korean restaurants.
In order to enable Korean food to make inroads into overseas markets, it is necessary to create
more opportunities to spread Korean food by setting up culinary institutes in major cities abroad
where foreigners can directly experience Korean food in the long-term. (Contribution to
industrializing Korean food is 3.97)
Table 8
Contribution to Tourism Industrializing of Korean Food’s Advancement Abroad
(n=90)
Secondment of human resources, study, the training of 4.22
foreigners in Korea and the nurturing of foreign
specialists in Korean cuisine
The standardization of Korean recipes 3.97
Setting up culinary institutes in major cities abroad 3.97
Franchising of Korean restaurants 3.94
Note: 5-point scale☞ No contrubution at all (1) – average (3) – has a significantly contribution (5)
CONCLUSION
Various attempts to globalize Korean food have been made so far, but detailed analyses of the
bottlenecks or the limitations on globalization were insufficient, while effective measures were
presented only in patches. In particular, due to a lack of awareness that research related to food
constitutes a national project, the systematic accumulation of materials and the necessary research are
not being undertaken. This study examined the level of competitiveness of Korean food culture. The
study also probed into the current standing of Korean food culture, and the potential of and limitations
on Korean food’s development as an international cuisine. Based on the policy measures derived to
industrialize Korean food as part of the tourism industry, a survey was conducted on a number of
experts.
The study presents the basic direction to take and the priorities for industrializing and
globalizing Korean food. It is expected that such suggestions will be used as valuable material in
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drawing up policy measures for the concerned areas, including tourism policies. Furthermore, this
study should trigger sustainable food tourism research in the future.
REFERENCES
Kang, B.N. (2004), “Korean Food Tourism and Globalization Strategy”, material for the
industrialization of Korean food as part of the tourism industry and globalization strategy
(symposium), Korean Food Tourism Association.
Kim, J.S. (2005), Measures on the Globalization of Korean Food, Journal of the Dietary Lifestyle and Culture
Society of Korea, 20(5).
Ministry of Culture and Tourism (2004), 2004 Korea Tourism Satellite Account (Tourism industry
value-added of food was 15.23% (2.6 Trillion, KRW))
Ministry of Culture and Tourism (2005), policy material.
Park, N.J. (2005), New direction of Korean food tourism policy, revised Korean Tourism Policy,
Korea Culture and Tourism Policy Institute, 21.
Samsung Economic Research Institute (2003), Strategy of Commercialization and Globalization of

Korean food.
Yang, S.N. (2004), “Cases of Industrialization of Korean food into Tourism Industry and Short-term
Actions Plans for Globalization,” material for industrialization of Korean food as part of tourism
industry and globalization strategy (symposium), Korean Food Tourism Association.
National Statistical Office, Annual Statistical Study of Wholesale and Retail Businesses (National
Statistical Office, Annual Urban Household Study).
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AN ANALYSIS OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF TRAVEL SERVICE VALUE CHAIN IN CHINA
Ma Ai-ping
ABSTRACT
With the booming economy and accelerating exchange with the world, tourism in China both
for business travel and leisure has developed fast in recent years. Now, there are over ten thousand
travel agencies in China and they compete at the different levels along the value chain of the whole
travel service industry. Some companies have done better than others. An analysis of the present
characteristics and future trends of China’s travel service companies and their strategies adopted are
our study area. This paper mainly adopts qualitative methodology. The paper analyzes the
characteristics of strategies adopted by those travel service companies in China .In comparison with
the advanced international strategy adopted by groups from tourism developed country, we think
future trends of China’s travel services’ competitiveness should be studied. The study mainly adopts
the method of personal interviews with managers from tourism firm.
This paper concludes by proposing some strategies for the further development of the
international economy, China is sure to do more for the overall development of the international
tourism economy as a whole.
Key Words: travel service, value chain, competitive advantage, China.
THE PRESENT SITUATIONS OF CHINA’S TOURIST MARKET AND CHINA’S TRAVEL

SERVICES INDUSTRY
China’s tourism market
China’s tourist market is huge and it is still expanding fast recently due to the booming
economy and the development of holiday economy. According to World Tourism Organization, China
will become the largest international tourist destination and the forth international outbound
generating region in the world by the year 2020.Statistics shows that by the year 2020, the number of
Chinese people going abroad Will reach to ten million, with the annual increasing rate between
15-20%.
In the aspect of business travel market, the annual business travel consumption amounts to
over $4.2 billion. It is estimated that China will become the fourth largest business travel market in
the world following Germany, America and Japan respectively.
In the year2001, China’s total tourism revenue amounted to 449.5 billion RMB, which
accounted for 5.2% of China’s gross domestic product (GDP) in that year . Statistics in table1 showed
that all of the three markets (incoming, outbound and domestic) are developing fast in 2002. The
increase rate of tourism revenue is three percent higher than that of China’s total national economy.
History of Development in Travel Industry
Since the establishment of the first travel service in the world in UK in 1845, major travel
service enterprises in the western developed country matured gradually over more than a hundred
years. But the first set up of travel service enterprises in China is several decades later (in 1927) .Most
of the travel services in China exist only within this decade , mainly dealing with domestic service.
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In China, Travel services are divided into two categories: domestic travel service and
international travel services. The Former can only offer services to domestic tourists , and the latter
has the authority to offer services to both domestic and international tourists. Within international
travel services, some are authorized by China Tourism Administration Bureau to offer outbound
services for Chinese citizens.
According to the statistics from China National Tourism Administration, by the end of 2002,
there were 11,615 travel service enterprises in China, among which the international being 1358 and
domestic 10,257. The total assets of the entire travel service industry was 41.2billion RMB(with
exchange rate 1dollar=8 RMB), liability for the industry was 22.7billion RMB with an direct
employment of 229,000 people. The overall revenue for the travel service industry was 71billion
RMB, with the profit of 1.193 billion RMB. Revenues from Incoming is 17.1billion RMB with profit
0.634 billion, the profit accounted for 55% of the total industry revenue. Revenue from domestic
tourist business was 40.3billion RMB with the profit of 0.255. Revenues from outbound tourist
business were 10.4billion RMB with the profit of 0.262.
Macro-Management System
China’s Travel service enterprises used to be closed until recent years. Before 1996, the right
of running travel services was only given to state-owned and collective owned entities, it was
impossible for both individual and foreign capital to enter this market. From Table 1, we can see the
fact that only10 enterprises have foreign capital investment among 116oo travel services enterprises in
China.
Table 1
Numbers of China’s Travel service enterprises in year 2002
with outbound authorities. With foreign capitals

International 1,358 528 10
Domestic 10,257
Total 11,615
Sources: National Tourism Administration of the People’s Republic of China. (2003)
In international travel services, among 1358 enterprises, there are 528 enterprises are
authorized by China’s tourism administration bureau , can offer outbound services to Chinese citizens
whereas foreign travel services companies in China are not allowed to offer outbound services to
Chinese citizens.
Actually, heavy FDI has been imputed into China’s whole tourism industry within the recent
thirty years. The figure in table 2 demonstrates the fact that there is a total amount of $20 billion US
dollars invested in China between 1978-2000. It is estimated that there will be another $10 billion US
dollars of FDI in year 2003-2010.
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Table2
FDI in China tourism industry
$ billion
investment area 1978 -2000 year 2003-2010
tourist hotel 15 10
tourist holiday area 2
tourist sightseeing construction 1
resort villa and apartments 2
total 20
Sources: ‘On the FDI Chinese tourism development, Liuhua.(2003).
Comparatively, in 2002, the amount of foreign investment in China’s travel service enterprises
was only 3millonUS dollars, a figure which forms sharp contrast compared with the investment figure
in the hotel sector.
The expected degree of opening travel market will intensifies competitions, thus accelerating
the rate of restructuring system of China’s travel service industry and it is beneficial both for tourists
and the industry development in the long run.
Foreign travel companies in China
Before 1996, any form of investment was forbidden to entering into travel service industry
except for the state-owned enterprises. Only from1996 joint-venture travel services were permitted
within certain limited resort areas. Although government gradually eliminated the limitation of foreign
investment, there are around twenty travel services with foreign investment in China today.
With the entering of WTO, was started to give foreign tour companies the first real
opportunities to enter into China’s huge market and run travel businesses. According to China’s
commitments promised to WTO’s entry, no later than the end of year 2005, travel services operation
within China wholly–owned by foreign companies should be permitted. The process has been
accelerated by China tourism administration authority ‘s permission in June, 2003 and both the first
foreign holding travel company (German owned) and the first exclusively foreign–owned travel
services company (with Japan origin) has already been established in December, 2003 in Beijing.
It is a critical moment both for China’s companies as well as to those foreign travel
companies to enter China’s market.
For those multinational travel companies already entering China today, American Express has
cooperation with China’s largest state-owned travel service company-China International Travel
Services, mainly targeting the high-end business travel field. The largest Japan travel company JTB
sends more tourists into China by its own offices instead of using Chinese local travel services. The
largest German travel company TUI now has joint venture in China and pays heavily attention to the
Chinese domestic market.
The Opportunities and Advantages for China Travel Service Companies along the Industry Value
Chain
A company’s value chain shows the linked set of activities, functions and business processes
that it performs in the course of designing, producing, marketing, delivering and supporting its
product and service thereby creating value for its customers. A company’s competitiveness depends
on how well it manages its value chain.
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The first opportunities for China Travel service companies along the industry value chain is China’s
own market potential.
In the aspect of product structure, in China, among the three major sightseeing products
(incoming, outbound and domestic tourists), incoming tourist business are firstly started and
emphasized due to foreign revenue concerns and resource-based reasons. As domestic market quickly
increased, the triple-product consumption patterns (incoming, domestic and outbound market )are
quickly formed.
Besides these traditional sightseeing-based products, the variety of the products such as FIT
as well as holiday products, business travel service and conferences and conventions products has
been developed fast nowadays. It means that there are huge market bases within China itself today. It
forms the foundation of China’s travel services development.
The second advantages for China Travel service companies along the industry value chain is the
developing feature, there are many unfulfilled fields to explore within the travel services enterprise
value chain itself, as well as along the whole travel service industry value chain systems. The
competitiveness of travel service enterprises lies also in the whole industry value chain system (see
figure 1).
Figure1
Value chain system
Suppliers’ Travel companies’ Channel Buyers’

value chain value chain value chain value chain
Within the travel companies’ value chain, the competition is strong and the total revenue rate
decreased sharply compared to the 1980s. It is hard for many small and medium sized travel service
enterprises to survive with limited profit if they operate ethically. The market structure was changed
since 1980s.
With the booming of domestic market and outbound market in recent ten years, especially
when the government’s introduction of “Golden Week holiday vacation” system, seven year’s ago,
that is by combing the consecutive two weekend together with several public holidays, three seven
free-day time has been blocked (they are in spring, May, and October) for facilitating long-distance
traveling,. Since then, many regional and local markets have been shaped and the importance of travel
services in China for domestic tourists has been decreased since many people prefer to travel by
themselves. How to meet the new trend, how to offer the value people want today, are the challenges
for travel service managers in China.
Some travel service enterprises grow from competition and have been successful in their
region for their good service and reliable brand image and flexible product, such as Spring and
Autumn Travel services in Shanghai and Beijing for its domestic product, GZL International, a local
new star in China’s southern city Guangzhou.
CAISSA (Beijing CAISSA International Travel Service Co., Ltd. ) ,a private owned company
is active in Beijing for its outbound services especially to Europe for Beijing citizens due to its deep
connections with Europe local markets.
C-trip in shanghai, which has been listed on New York stock Market, grasps the needs of
many individual travelers, both for business and leisure, focus only on services of hotel and air tickets,
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it has been very successful. It rewrite the concept of “service” of the traditional travel services’
product offering (package group product) in China by combining traditional travel service with
internet booking, its success owns to its good market positioning and foresees the opportunities on
internet technology.
From its twenty years experience, Spring and Autumn Travel services, with its headquarter in
shanghai, finds the importance of transportation, they tries to seek value from the supplier’s value
chain , by positioning itself as an “tour operator”, it follows the examples of European big tour
operators and set up the first cheap airline by itself, the first of its kind in China.
For forward value chain in China’s travel service system, some enterprises actively establish
branch offices and travel shops within their city and provinces; a few big enterprises set up branches
in other provinces in major tourist regions, several big travel services set up their branches in other
countries.
That the repositioning of travel services along the value chain system in the information era
should control both tourist market and attraction resources is the new opinions in China’s tourism
academic circle and this will direct the future travel practices in China in the form of big travel
services’ both horizontal and vertical integrations.
Trends in the future for travel service industries
According to Francois Vellas , the International Marketing of Travel and Tourism has now
entered a fifth stage with a firm focus on strategy by Consumer-led Marketing and Strategic Thinking
with highlights on internationalization, Strategic Alliances and leading through the Use of New
Technologies .
The trend of future travel industry development is focusing on value chain repositioning. As
Auliana Poon (1993) argues that ‘It is no longer relevant whether a company is an airline, a travel
agent, hotel or tour operator as the boundaries among players are re-defined, what becomes more
relevant are the activities along the value chain that they control.’ Therefore, What elements with
strategic importance must travel companies consider first? In essence, tourist product is the major
feature of travel service, which is natural and cultural resource-based, and because of their
quasi-public nature, travel product designer should be particularly paying attention to the control
and use of these precise resources.
In one respect, American Express’ diagonal integration practice by tailor-making a number of

tightly –related services like personal banking, credit cards, insurance and travel services, shows us an
good example ,as’ travel is usually purchased in combination with a number of other services to
consumers who consume at regular intervals over their lifetime”.
Auliana Poon also maintains that those players in control of the manipulation and distribution
of the industry’s information will increase their share of the industry’s value and those who closest to
the consumer will also gain importance. Travel service is just falls into this category, with highly
consumer-touched feature. Therefore, communication with consumers in marketing strategy should be
emphasized travel service companies.
CONCLUSIONS
The value chain system for the entire travel industry in China has been reconstructed. The
cost activities may exist in any of three areas in the industry value chain, suppliers’ industry, the
company’s own activities and forward channel activities. For China’s travel services, the suggestions
for the positioning along the value chain system are:
For small sized travel services, they should concentrate on only one stage or field of the value
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chain, such as performing the roles as an representative for travel suppliers. For medium sized travel
services, they should focus on a specific market and offer segmented products. For large and strong
travel services in China, they should function as tour operators and tries to design good products and
tries to conduct integration and to some extent, diversification.
REFERENCES
Liuhua.(2003). On the FDI Chinese tourism development. Shichang Economic Studies , 2,2-3.
Liyue-jun. (2003). On the development of China’s Tourist Industry in Globalization. Journal of

Baoji College of Arts and Science(Social Science), 3, 2-3.
Ma, A. (2004). An Analysis of Characteristics of the Consumption to the Travel services Products
from Beijing Residents. Tourism Tribune, 1(9), 47-50.
Poon, A. (1993). Tourism ,Technology and Competitive Strategies. C.A.B International.
422
AN OVERVIEW OF HOSPITALITY PROGRAMS IN SOUTH KOREA
Yen-Soon Kim
Department of Food & Beverage Management
University of Nevada Las Vegas
Nak Hwan Choi

Chonbuk National University
and
Carola Raab
Department of Tourism & Convention Administration
University of Nevada Las Vegas
ABSTRACT
The primary purpose of this paper is to report on the current profile and development of
hospitality programs in South Korea’s colleges and universities. Approximately 28.5 percent of
colleges and universities now have a hospitality related program (i.e., hotel, restaurant, and tourism
management). Information provided in this paper, includes names and characteristics of institutions
and the contact information. From this report, hospitality educators and practitioners will gain an
understanding of South Korea’s hospitality and tourism education and have access to detailed
program information. International educators can utilize this information to help determine the
adequacy of programs as potential collaboration or exchange partners. Practitioners may also use the
information to recruit students as potential interns or employees, as hospitality businesses expand
globally and their customers become more international.
Key Words: South Korea’s hospitality programs, South Korea’s tourism, South Korea’s hospitality
degree
INTRODUCTION
The Korean Peninsula extends southward from the eastern end of the Asian continent. Korea
is roughly 1,000 km (600 miles) long and 216 km (135 miles) wide at its narrowest point. Mountains
cover 70% of Korea's land area, making the peninsula one of the most mountainous regions in the
world. The lifting and folding of Korea's granite and limestone base has created breathtaking
landscapes of scenic hills and mountains. The mountain range that traverses the entire length of the
east coast plunges steeply into the East Sea (Figure1). Korea's 99,200 sq km (24,800 acres) is
populated by 44.85 million people. Administratively, the Republic of Korea consists of nine provinces
(do) and the 7 metropolitan cities of Seoul (Capital), Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon, and
Ulsan. In total, there are 68 cities (si) and 103 countries (gun) in the nine provinces (Ministry of
Culture and Tourism, 2006).
In 1945, at the end of World War II , Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into the Soviet
Union-occupied northern half and the United States-occupied southern half. Despite efforts at
unification, each half formed its own government in 1948. Prior to 1945, the peninsula had been
united for more than 1,000 years. On June 25, 1950, the North invaded the South, starting the Korean
War. The United Nations who backed the South and the Communist who backed the North
eventually reached a stalemate, and an armistice was signed in 1953, splitting the peninsula along the
demilitarized zone at about the original demarcation line. By the 1990s, South Korea had become one
of the world's largest economies. In 1996, South Korea joined the OECD. Although the nation
suffered severe economic hardship during the Asian financial crisis in 1997, South Korea today is a
functioning liberal democracy and one of Asia’s most affluent and technologically advanced nations.
423
Figure 1
Geographic Location of Korea
Source: http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/kr.htm
South Korea's tourism industry has been growing by leaps and bounds over the last two
decades. The number of foreign visitors increased from 239,000 in 1970 to 5.3 million in 2000. The
development of Korea's tourism industry is a natural consequence of its phenomenal economic growth
and an increased tourism budget. The government enacted a series of tourism promotion laws, which
resulted in an average growth rate of 11 percent annually in tourist visitors during the last decade.
The nationality of tourists arriving in Korea has been shifting over the last two decades, from
Americans to Asians. In 1970, Americans accounted for 32 percent of inbound tourists, while
Japanese formed the second largest group. By 2000, however, visitors from Japan comprised 46
percent of the total, followed by visitors from North and South America, mainly the United States, at
11 percent (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2006).
Today, South Korea has approximately 48 million residents, which make the land one of the
world’s most densely populated areas. Korean Langue, Hangul, is the official language in Korea,
though other dialects are commonly spoken. Many people in urban area can speak basic English, and
many taxi drivers do speak English a little bit.
South Korea’s estimated GDP per capita of US$21,419 in 2006 placed it on a par with
developed nations of the world (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2006). International tourist hotels,
domestic tourist hotels, and independent hotels are the three major categories in Korea’s lodging
industry (Korean Tourism Bureau, 2006). Hotels in South Korea are available in different levels of
price and comfort. They are classified by an official rating system according to size, service quality
and conveniences into five groups: super deluxe (SDL), deluxe (DLX), first class, second class and
third class.
As of the end of 2005, there were 44 super deluxe hotels, 71 deluxe hotels, 211 first class
hotels, 117 2nd class hotels, 64 3rd class hotels, and 21 tourist hotels (Korea Tourism Organization,
2006). Due to the increase in tourist arrivals and the development of major hotels, competition among
the international tourist hotels in Korea is anticipated to be even more intense in the future.
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Figure 2
A List of Super Deluxe (SDL) Hotels in South Korea
Hotel Name Hotel Address Phone Number

1 COEX Inter-Continental 159, Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 82-2-3452-2500
2 Grand Hilton Seoul 201-1, Hongeun-dong Seodaemun-gu Seoul 82-2-3216-5656
3 Grand Hyatt Seoul 747-7, Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul 82-2-797-1234
4 Grand Inter-Continental Seoul 159-8, Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 82-2-555-5656
5 Hotel Amiga 248-7, Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 82-2-3440-8000
6 JW Marriott Hotel Seoul 19-3, Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul 82-2-6282-6262
7 Lotte Hotel Seoul 1, Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul 82-2-771-1000
8 Lotte Hotel Seoul-Jamsil 40-1, Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul 82-2-419-7000
9 Mayfield Hotel 278-2, Oebalsan-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul 82-2-6090-9000
10 Renaissance Seoul Hotel 676, Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 82-2-555-0501
11 Seoul Plaza Hotel 23, Taepyeongno 2-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul 82-2-771-2200
12 Sheraton Grand Walkerhill San 21, Gwangjang-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 82-2-455-5000
13 The Ritz-Carlton Seoul 602-4, Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 82-2-3451-8000
14 The Shilla Hotels & Resorts 202, Jangchung-dong 2-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul 82-2-2233-3131
15 The Westin Chosun, Seoul 87, Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul 82-2-771-0500
16 Busan Lotte Hotel 503-15, Bujeon-dong, Jin-gu, Busan 82-51-810-1000
17 Busan Marriott Hotel 1405-16, Jung-dong, Haeundae-gu, Busan 82-51-743-1234
18 Haeundae Grand Hotel 651-2, U-dong, Haeundae-gu, Busan 82-51-740-0114
19 Paradise Hotel Busan 1408-5, Jung-dong, Haeundae-gu, Busan 82-51-742-2121
20 The Westin Chosun, Busan 737, U 1-dong, Haeundae-gu, Busan 82-51-749-7411
21 Hotel Inter Burgo San 92-1, Manchon-dong, Suseong-gu, Daegu 82-53-952-0088
22 Paradise Hotel Incheon 3-2, Hang-dong 1-ga, Jung-gu, Incheon 82-32-762-5181
23 Hotel Hyundai Ulsan 283, Jeonha-dong, dong-gu, Ulsan 82-52-251-2233
24 Lotte Hotel Ulsan 1480-1, Samsan-dong, Nam-gu, Ulsan 82-52-960-1000
424, Sabuk-ri, Gohan-eup, Jeongseon-gun,
25 Kangwon Land Hotel & Casino Gangwon-do Province 82-33-590-7700
San 43-15, Simgok-ri, Seolcheon-myeon, Muju-gun,
26 Tirol Jeollabuk-do Province 82-63-320-7617
27 Cheju KAL Hotel 1691-9, I-do 1-dong, Jeju-si, Jeju 82-64-724-2001
28 Cheju Oriental Hotel 1197, Sam-do 2-dong, Jeju-si, Jeju 82-64-752-8222
29 Crown Plaza Hotel & Casino Jeju 291-30, Yeon-dong, Jeju-si, Jeju 82-64-741-8000
30 The Suites Hotel 2812-10, Saekdal-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju 82-64-738-3800
31 Hyatt Regency Cheju 3039-1, Saekdal-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju 82-64-733-1234
32 Jeju Grand Hotel 263-15, Yeon-dong, Jeju-si, Jeju 82-64-747-5000
33 Lotte Hotel Jeju 2812-4, Saekdal-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju 82-64-731-1000
34 Paradise Hotel Jeju 511, Topyeong-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju 82-64-763-2100
35 The Shilla Jeju 3039-3, Saekdal-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju 82-64-738-4466
36 Jeju Pacific Hotel 159-1, Yongdam 1-dong, Jeju-si, Jeju 82-64-758-2500
370, Sinpyeong-dong, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk -
37 Gyeongju Hilton Hotel do Province 82-54-745-7788
410, Sinpyeong-dong, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk -
38 Hotel Concorde in Kyongju do Province 82-54-745-7000
477-2, Sinpyeong-dong, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk
39 Hotel Hyundai Gyeongju -do Province 82-54-748-2233
111-1, Ma-dong, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk -do
40 Kolon Hotel Gyeongju Province 82-54-746-9001
410-2, Sinpyeong-dong, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk
41 The Westin Chosun Hotel -do Province 82-54-745-7701
42 Hyatt Regency Incheon 2850 Unseo-dong, Jung-gu, Incheon 82-32-745-1234
43 Millennium Seoul Hilton 395 Namdaemunno 5-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul 82-2-753-7788
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44 Park Hyatt Seoul 995-14 Daechi 3-dong Gangnam-gu Seoul 135-502 82 2 2016 1234
Source: http://english.tour2korea.com
Higher Education System in South Korea
South Korea was liberated in August, 1945, a day of great meaning for Koreans. It was the
turning point from a colonial political system to a democratic one and from a closed society to an
open one, in which people could enjoy the opportunity for education which the Japanese had denied
them. As the United Nations designated the 1960s as “the decade of development,” the span of ten
years witnessed considerable economic growth in Korea. With rapid economic growth, tremendous
changes took place in many spheres of life. With those changes, efforts were made to stimulate
change and progress in rapid quantitative growth in the education sector.
The most outstanding feature of educational development in South Korea is its quantitative
expansion in the 1960s. The 1970s are characterized as the “decade of fundamental reform” in the
economy, and in education. In the educational sector, reforms were directed toward the supreme goal
of producing self-directed and future-oriented Koreans. Innovative efforts to modernize the
educational system were carried into the 1980s. It is widely known that the rise and fall of a nation
depends on the success or failure of the education of its people.
Korean education in the 1990s has prepared for the future based on the pursuit of quality in
education in the 1980s. In 1999, the Ministry of Education launched a reform project for higher
education. The project is called Brain Korea 21 (hereafter BK 21), which aims at fostering world class
scholars in research to establish the creative and advanced knowledge-base necessary for the 21st
century.
The higher education system in South Korea includes 2-year junior colleges (N=162), 4-year
colleges and universities, including national or public and private (N=171), 4-year institutes of
industrial universities (N= 18), 4-year cyber colleges and universities (N=15), and 4-year institutes of
university of education (N=11). As for the funding sources and operations, all categories of higher
education institutions may be government supported or privately run. Most 2-year junior colleges in
Korea have been privately financed and managed, while the other categories of institutions have a mix
of government and private operations (Ministry of Education, 2006). Due to the diversified nature
and rapid growth of institutions and the increase in number of hospitality programs, an inventory of
institutions with hospitality programs would be helpful to provide a systematic view of the current
status of hospitality higher education.
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
This research investigated the current development of hospitality and tourism programs in
South Korea. Specific objectives of this study were to collect and document important information,
including name and characteristics of institutions and contact information. From this report,
hospitality educators and practitioners will gain an understanding of South Korea’s hospitality and
tourism education and have access to detailed information. Educators can utilize this information to
help determine the adequacy of these programs as potential collaboration or exchange partners.
University admission staff and program administrators may also use the information provided in
considering credit transfers or accepting students graduated from Korea’s various hospitality
programs. Practitioners may also use the information to recruit students as potential interns or
employees, as hospitality businesses expand globally and their customers become more international.
METHODOLOGY
The target population for the study was all higher educational institutions in South Korea (n =
189). Various sources of information were used to identify hospitality and tourism programs among
the 189 colleges and universities. Sources of information included Internet search engines and
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Ministry of Education websites. Of the 189 institutions, 54 were identified as offering programs that
used hotel, restaurant, foodservice or tourism as part of their departments’ names. Institutions with
departments, such as home economics, applied life science, leisure management, food and nutrition,
and food science, that may offer a hospitality or tourism specialization, were excluded from this study
due to the difficulty of identifying special curriculum tracks for programs was not reflected in the
departments’ names.
A checklist was developed to ensure that relevant information on the attributes and
characteristics of hospitality and tourism programs was obtained consistently from all institutions.
Program information was initially gathered from colleges’ and universities’ homepages; however, the
type and amount of information available was rather limited.
Each college and university website was used to gather information about the program’s
contact person and departmental profiles. With the information obtained earlier from the Internet
about the 54 programs, comprehensive profiles were analyzed and reported. Basic information on the
54 institutions was also listed to provide a complete picture of hospitality and tourism higher
education in Korea.
RESULTS
Among the 189 institutions (national or public 4-year colleges and universities, private 4-year
institutes, and industrial universities), there were 40 private (21.1%), 7 public (3.7%), and 6 industrial
(3.1%) hospitality programs. Table 1 shows that 54 institutions (28.5%) offered 4-year curriculums
with hospitality programs. In terms of geographic location, 6 institutions (11.1%) were located in the
Seoul area of Korea, which included Seoul (the capital of Korea); 4 institutions (7.4%) were located
in Kyonggi of Korea; 17 institutions (31.4%) were located in Kyungnam and Kyungbuk of Korea; 9
(16.6%) were located in Chungnam and Chungbuk in Korea; 7 (12.9%) were located in Jeonnam of
Korea; 2 (3.7%) were located in Jeonbuk of Korea; 7(12.9%) were located in Kangwon, the west part
of Seoul; 2 institutions (3.7 %) were located in the Cheju island of Korea. The names of the contact
persons listed were the directors of the programs at the time of data collection.
Table 1
Institution Characteristics and Institution Homepage
Province Ownership Institution Name Institution Homepage

Kangwon Public Kangwon University http://www.kangwon.ac.kr/
Private Kyungdong University http://www.kyungdong.ac.kr/
Public Kangnung University http://kangnung.ac.kr/~tourism/
Private Kwandong University http://www.kwandong.ac.kr
Private Donghae University http://www.donghae.ac.kr
Industrial Samchok National University http://www.samcheok.ac.kr/
Private Sangji University http://www.sangji.ac.kr
Jeonbuk Private Jeonju University http://www.jeonju.ac.kr/
Industrial Howon University http://www.howon.ac.kr
Cheju Public Cheju University http://www.cheju.ac.kr/
Private Tamna University http://www.tnu.ac.kr/
Chungbuk Private Far East University http://www.kdu.ac.kr/
Private Semyung University http://www.semyung.ac.kr
Private Cheongju University http://www.cju.ac.kr
Chungnam Private Woosong University http://www.wsu.ac.kr
Private Paichai University http://www.paichai.ac.kr/
Private Konyang University http://www.konyang.ac.kr/
Public Kongju University http://www.kongju.ac.kr/
Industiral Chungwoon Umiversity http://www.cwunet.ac.kr/
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Private Soonchunhyang University http://www.sch.ac.kr
Jeonnam Public Mokpo University http://www.mokpo.ac.kr
Private Daebul University http://www.daebul.ac.kr/
Industiral Chodang University http://web.chodang.ac.kr/
Private Hanlyo University http://www.hanlyo.ac.kr/
Private Kwangju Women's Univ. http://www.kwu.ac.kr/
Private Honam University http://www.honam.ac.kr/
Private Kwangju University http://www.kwangju.ac.kr/newhomepage/
Kyungnam Private Kyungnam University http://www.kyungnam.ac.kr/
Private Youngsan University http://www.ysu.ac.kr/
Private Dongseo University http://www.dongseo.ac.kr/
Private Donga University http://www.donga.ac.kr/
Public Pukyung University http://www.pknu.ac.kr/
Pusan University of Foreign
Private Studies http://www.pufs.ac.kr/
Industrial Tongmyong University http://www.tit.ac.kr/
Private Dong-Eui University http://www.deu.ac.kr/
Private Silla University http://www.silla.ac.kr/
Seoul Private Kyunghee University http://www.khu.ac.kr/index.html
Sookmyung Women's
Private University http://www.sookmyung.ac.kr/
Private Hanyang University http://www.hanyang.ac.kr/
Private Seoul Women's University http://www.swu.ac.kr/
Private Kyonggi University http://www.kyonggi.ac.kr/
Private Sejong University http://www.sejong.ac.kr/
Private Yongin University http://www.yongin.ac.kr/
Kyonggi Industry Kyungwon University http://www.kyungwon.ac.kr/default.jsp
Private Suwon University http://www.suwon.ac.kr/
Private Anyang University http://www.anyang.ac.kr/
Private Kaya University http://www.kaya.ac.kr/
Kyungbuk Industrial Kyungwoon University http://www.kyungwoon.ac.kr/
Private Dongyang University http://www.dyu.ac.kr/
Private Daegu University http://www.daegu.ac.kr/reor/index.asp
Private Gyeongju University http://home.gyeongju.ac.kr/kor/
Private Dongguk University http://wwwk.dongguk.ac.kr/
Private Keimyung University http://www.kmu.ac.kr/
Private Cathoric University of Taegu http://www.cataegu.ac.kr/
Among the 54 institutions, 17 (31.4%) were under the College of Social Sciences or
Humanities and Social Sciences, 16 (29.6%) under the College of Business or Economics and
Commerce, and 12 (22.2%) under the College of Tourism or Hotel & Tourism (Table 2).
Table 2
Academic Information of Department
Institution Name College Department/program

Kangwon University Business Tourism Management
Kyungdong University Tourism Tourism Management
Hotel Management
Foodservice Management
Kangnung University Social Sciences Tourism Management
Kwandong University Tourism & Sports Tourism Management
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Hotel Management
Hotel foodservice & culinary
Tourism and Travel Information
Donghae University Humanities & Social Science Hotel & Tourism Management
Foodservice Industry
Samchok National
University Liberal Arts & Sciences Tourism
Sangji University Economics & Business Ad. Tourism Management
Tourism
Hotel Convention
Jeonju University Culture & Tourism Tourism
Foodservice
Howon University Business & Tour Tourism
Cheju University Economics & Commerce Tourism Management
Tourism Development
Tamna University Tourism Hotel Management
Tour Industry
Far East University Hotel Tourism Tourism & Leisure Manage.
Hotel & Foodservice
Semyung University Hotel & Tourism Tourism Management
Hotel Management
Cheongju University Economics & Business Ad. Tourism Management
Hotel Management
Tourism & Hospitality
Woosong University Mange.
Paichai University Tourism & Culture Hotel Convention
Tourism Event
Konyang University Service Industry Tourism
Kongju University Humanities & Social Sciences Tourism Management
Chungwoon Umiversity Social Sciences & Humanities Hotel & Travel Administration
Hotel Culinary & Catering Management
Soonchunhyang
University Social Science Tourism Management
Mokpo University Business Administration Tourism Management
Daebul University Humanities Tourism Management
Chodang University Humanities & Social Sciences Hotel & Tourism Management
Hanlyo University Foreign Information Tourist
Kwangju Women's
Univ. Humanities Hotel & Tourism
Honam University Business Administration Tourism Management
Hotel Management
Management, Commerce and
Kwangju University Social Welfare Tourism
Kyungnam University Economics & Commerce Tourism Management
Youngsan University Hotel & Tourism Management
Culinary Art & Food Management
Dongseo University International Relations International Tourism
Donga University Business Administration Tourism Management
International Tourism
Pukyung University Business Administration Tourism Management
Pusan University of
Foreign Studies Humanities & Social Sciences History & Tourism
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Tongmyong University Social Sciences Tourism Management
Hotel Management
Dong-Eui University Commerce & Economics Tourism Management
Hotel & Convention Management
Restaurant & Foodservice
Silla University Economics & Business Ad. International Tourism
Kyunghee University Hotel & Tourism Hotel Management
Tourism Management
Convention Management
Culinary Art
Sookmyung Women's
University Liberal Arts Culture and Tourism
Hanyang University Social Sciences Tourism
Seoul Women's
University Social Sciences Hotel & Tourism Management
Kyonggi University Social Sciences (Soowon) Tourism Management
Tourism Development
Hotel Management
Foodservice Management
Event Management
Sejong University Hotel & Tourism
Yongin University Industry & information Tourism
Kyungwon University Business & Economics Tourism Management
Suwon University Economics & Business Ad. Hotel & Tourism Management
Anyang University Social Sciences Tourism Management
Kaya University Social Sciences Hotel Management
School of International Tourism and Trade
Hotel, Culinary, Nutrition
Kyungwoon University Tourism Hotel/Tourism Management
Dongyang University Humanities & Social Sciences Management & Tourism
Daegu University Business Administration Tourism Management
Gyeongju University Humanities & Social Sciences Tourism Management
Hotel Management
Tour Development
Dongguk University Tourism Tourism Management
Hotel Management
Tour & Leisure Development
Keimyung University Business Administration Tourism Management
Cathoric University of
Taegu Natural Science Foodservice Industry
DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
One of the primary purposes of this paper was to serve as a detailed directory of hospitality
and tourism programs in South Korea. Another purpose was to assist both hospitality educators and
practitioners in understanding South Korea’s history and economy, higher education system, and
hospitality and tourism education development. As more South Korean students studying abroad, due
to the rapid expansion of higher educational institutions and hospitality programs in South Korea,
admission officers in foreign countries may have a difficult time in assessing the level and quality of
education the applicants have received. The information presented in this paper could serve as a
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starting point for admission officers and hospitality program faculty members in evaluating the
applicants’ qualifications.
Internationalization has been a focus for many colleges and universities in South Korea.
Collaboration with overseas institutions in the form of articulation, credit transfers, student exchanges,
faculty exchanges, and joint research projects, have been strongly sought after by many hospitality
and tourism programs. Institutions that receive this type of inquiry could also use the information
provided in the article to make comparisons among programs in Korea and to assess the similarities of
programs between the two potential partners.
LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH
Results of this study were limited by the amount of information available through publicly
accessible media and a moderate response rate. Part of the information asked may be deemed
confidential by some programs. However, interested individuals can use this report as a starting point
to initiate their own pursuit of information. Due to the rapid development of higher education in
Korea, particularly in the field of hospitality and tourism, such a study should be conducted on a
regular basis to provide updated information.
Similar research is also recommended for other countries, so that international hospitality
educators and practitioners can have an understanding of the size and significance of this discipline
and the scope of its coverage. A recent discussion on a tourism related LISTSERV, Trinet, raised
such a need, because no one seemed to know the exact number of hospitality and tourism programs in
many countries around the world. Due to the relatively young and growing nature of the discipline,
hospitality and tourism educators from time to time need to “educate” the general public and
administrators about its importance and development. A compilation of higher education programs in
this field could serve as a useful reference for many stakeholders in hospitality and tourism education.
REFERENCES
Korea Tourism Organization. (2006). [Online] Retrieved from http://english.tour2korea.com/
Ministry of Education. (2006). [Online] Retrieved from http://www.moe.go.kr/
Ministry of Culture and Tourism. (2006). [Online] Retrieved from http://www.mct.go.kr/
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (2006). [Online] Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea
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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF EXPECTATIONS AND SATISFACTION OF INTERNATIONAL
TOURISTS BY NATIONALITY
THE CASE OF JEJU ISLAND AS AN INTERNATIONAL TOURIST DESTINATION IN KOREA
Kim, Hyung-Mi
Hanyang University
Moon, Sung-Jong
Jeju Halla College
Song Jae-Il
Daegu-Gyeongbuk Development Institute
ABSTRACT
Many studies have explored the subject of tourist expectations and level of satisfaction in
respect to tourist destinations. However, similar investigations have been limited in regards to Asian
tourists. The purpose of this article is to provide up-to-date insights for international tourism
marketing strategies by analyzing the differences in tourism-related expectations and satisfaction of
Japanese and Chinese tourists visiting Jeju Island. This study revealed significant differences in the
expectation and satisfaction levels between Japanese and Chinese tourists, the primary target markets
of Jeju, and important implications were discovered. Fundamentally, the level of tourists’ pre-travel
expectations and their satisfaction afterwards should be raised. As a result of this study, we are better
able to identify the specific areas that require improvements. Based on the results of the study, it is
suggested that a systematic guide service should be implemented in Jeju.
Key Words: Japanese and Chinese tourists, expectation and satisfaction, comparative study
1. INTRODUCTION
Many studies have been conducted with respect to tourists’ expectations and level of
satisfaction. These studies identified the concepts of tourist expectations and satisfaction, as well as
investigating the variables behind and the relationship between the two factors. Other empirical
studies have sought to explore the similarities and differences in expectations and satisfaction found
in multiple groups, in relation to travel patterns and attitudes towards specific destinations (Pizam,
Neumann & Reichel, 1978, 1979; Van Raaij & Franken, 1984; Chon, 1990; Danaher & Arweiler,
1996; Park & Um, 1998; Chaudhary, 2000; Kozak & Rimmington, 2000; Kozak , 2001; Lee & Jung,
2001; Long & Wong, 2003).
Despite the many studies examining tourist expectations and satisfaction, an insufficient body
of comparative work that looks specifically at nationality and cultural differences as explanatory
factors of tourist expectation and satisfaction levels exist (Kozak, 2001). Much of the existing
research is limited to homogeneous sample populations and destinations, most of which were
conducted with respect to Western tourists, and little effort has been made into the travel patterns and
attitudes of Asian tourists (Kim & Prideaux, 2005).
Any such differences in perceived tourist expectation and satisfaction levels by nationality are
important to the decision-making process of destination management for positioning and market
segmentation strategies. However, because tourist destinations attract foreign tourists from diverse
countries with an equally diverse range of cultures, is not reasonable to study the expectation and
satisfaction levels of a single specific group of tourists without taking into account the factor of
nationality. Through the comparative study of the differences between various groups, based on such
factors as language and culture, we can identify both differences and similarities in order to come to a
better understanding of international tourists (Kozak, 2001; 2002). Those differences and similarities
in attitude or behavior could suggest distinctive features of each tourist group and segmentation of the
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tourist market, which may in turn help lead to an optimal market strategy for every target market or
destination.
This study undertakes a comparative analysis of the expectations and satisfaction of Japanese
and Chinese tourists visiting Jeju by nationality. The island is one of South Korea’s major tourist
destinations, and the tourism industry of Jeju Island has developed rapidly through the continuous
establishment of government policies beginning in the 1970s, and due to the advantageous possession
of beautiful natural resources and unique folk-customs. However, Jeju has recently been faced with
increasing challenges, due to the lack of appropriate countermeasures set up to deal with changing
trends in the tourism industry and also because of a dearth of capital investment.
Of the total 4,932,512 people who visited the island in the 2004, domestic tourists made up
4,603,297, with visitors from other countries totaling just 329,215. These figures show Jeju to be a
largely domestic, rather than international tourist destination. Moreover, over 90% of foreign
tourists in 2004 were from Asian countries, with only 5% from American and European countries
(Jeju Province, 2005). The main target markets of Jeju Island are Japan and China. Regarding visitors
from Japan, the number of tourists to Jeju has stagnated lately because of unreasonable airfares and
the island being difficult to access from foreign countries, despite its many advantages such as close
proximity, a favorable exchange rate, and a large number of Koreans in Japan. China is the second
most-promising market for Jeju Island after Japan. Chinese tourists to Jeju numbered 1,117 in 1994
(0.7% of all international visitors), but that number has increased almost a hundred fold to 101,236 in
2004 (33.3%).
Therefore, there must a more systematic marketing strategy must be established in order to
attract Japanese and Chinese tourists, who are seen as the most favorable customers to the island.
Rather than targeting specific groups by nationality, most of the previous studies on foreign tourists
who had visited Jeju Island focused on general travel patterns and strategies to attract tourists (JDI,
2001; 2002). Although it is important for international travel marketers to study tourist behavior
(Uysal, McDonald & Martin, 1994), comparative research on international tourist expectations and
level of satisfaction by nationality is still relatively rare.
The purpose of this study is first to verify differences between Japanese and Chinese tourists
in terms of their expectations and satisfaction levels upon visiting Jeju. Second, it identifies the
differences between the expectations and satisfaction level of tourists of the same nationality. Finally,
this study offers suggestions for new, practicable marketing strategies for attracting foreign tourists,
improvements which would allow Jeju to become a recognized international tourist destination in
Asia.
2.1 Comparative Study on Tourism Behavior by Nationality
The nationality of a tourist is one of the most important factors for study in the international
tourism market sector. This supposes that tourists of the same nationality would have similar cultural
backgrounds such as values, customs and socialization behaviors. Previous research has identified that
there significant differences can be found in the motivation, travel-related variables and satisfaction of
tourists based on their nationality (Kim & Prideaux, 2005). These studies enable us to relatively
evaluate tourism resources, tourist facilities, service, and marketing through a comparative approach.
Thus, weaknesses in or threat to the inducement international tourists and segment target markets can
be discovered, and new marketing strategies or alternative development strategies can be set up
according to study results (Baum, 1999).
Pizam (1999) suggests using two methods when carrying out cross-cultural research in the
field of tourism behavior (Kozak, 2001), with two different research patterns occurring, depending on
whether direct or indirect methods are used to understand differences in tourist behavior by
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nationality.
First, the indirect method inquires into how local residents or tour guides perceive differences
in tourist behavior by nationality (Kim, Prideaux & Kim, 2002; Pizam & Sussmann, 1995; Pizam &
Jeong, 1996 ; Thompson & Culter , 1996).
Pizam and Sussmann (1995) studied differences among Japanese, French, Italian, and
American travelers through the behavioral characteristics that a group of British tour guides had
perceived. They analyzed the causes of 20 behavioral characteristics of travelers during travel through
6 main factors - social interaction, commercial deals, preference in activities, product purchase, tour
plan and knowledge of destination, and found that there were 18 significant differences in the
travelers' behavioral characteristics. For example, for the factor of preference in activities, tourists
from Italy and France most preferred adventurous activities, while Japanese tourists preferred them
the least among the tourists from the four countries. In terms of social interaction, tourists from Japan
and France were more interested in artwork than in people living in the destination, while tourists
from America and Italy were more interested in people than works of art. American tourists showed a
preference for local food, while tourists from Japan, France and Italy were not interested in it. The
researchers asserted that these results were not determined by geographical factors or language, but by
cultural differences.
Pizam and Jeong (1996) investigated the differences in behavioral characteristics that Korean
tour guides perceived among Korean, Japanese, and American tourists. In the survey used by Pizam
and Sussmann (1995) to analyze results, they attributed the cause of the travelers' 20 behavioral
characteristics during travel to 6 factors - social interaction, commercial deals, activity preference,
product purchase, tour plan and knowledge of destination, and also found that there were 18
significant differences in the travelers' behavioral characteristics. For example, regarding activity
preference, tour guides felt that Korean tourists were loose and unplanned when it came to making
tour plans. They perceived American and Japanese tourists as being accurate and careful. The
researchers explained this result by Hofstede’s (1980) uncertainty avoidance, suggesting that while
Japanese tourists’ level of uncertainty avoidance is high, that of Korean tourists is low.
Thompson and Culter (1996) identified that tourists visiting Gambia had differences in
choosing tourism arts and handicrafts according to their nationalities. Scandinavian tourists preferred
batik products incorporating more traditional Gambian designs and color schemes, while German
tourists preferred products with brighter colors and abstract designs representing wild animals, and
British tourists showed a preference for batik products with bright colors and non-traditional design.
In purchasing craftwork, Scandinavian tourists favored wood carvings like big masks representing
Gambian characteristics, and German preferred smaller crafts. Tourists from England preferred wood
carvings such as bowls and chess sets.
Kim, Prideaux, and Kim (2002) studied casino guests' behavior according to nationality, as
perceived by casino employees. From the study, they found that the casino employees saw the
behavior of Japanese tourists, Chinese tourists, Koreans living abroad and guests from other countries
differently. For example, while Japanese, Western tourists, and Koreans living abroad tended to play
games alone, the Chinese and tourists from other countries were not willing to play alone.
Second, the direct method explores tourists’ behaviors, expectations and satisfaction level by
nationality through a direct questioning of the tourists themselves (Danaher & Arweiler, 1996;
Iverson, 1997; Kim & Prideaux, 2005; Kozak, 2001, 2002; Lee & Jeong, 2001; Sussmann &
Rashcovsky, 1997; Wong & Law, 2003).
Sussmann and Rashcovsky (1997) described the differences in terms of the amount of
domestic and international travel, sources of information, ratings of accommodation attributes, and
ratings of destination attributes in the vacation travel behaviors found in English-speaking and
French-speaking Canadians. Notably, there were important differences in 8 factors out of 35. The
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English-speaking tourists valued trying local foods, visiting friends or relatives, opportunities for
adventure, high standards of hygiene and language spoken, while the French speaking tourists thought
highly of casinos, cruises and low-budget accommodation. Based on the results, the researchers
asserted that the culture classified by language is a useful predictor in Canadians' vacation travel.
Iverson (1997) studied the factors that affect vacation-planning characteristics of Korean and
Japanese tourists who had visited Guam. From the study, it was found that tourists' marital status and
nationalities have a great effect on the characteristics. In terms of marital status, unmarried tourists
made more extemporaneous plans, while married tourists spent much more time in choosing
destinations. Additionally, Korean tourists were found to have significantly shorter decision-making
times than the Japanese, which corresponds with the results found by Pizam and Sussmann (1995).
Kim and Prideaux (2005) conducted comparative research on international tourists from five
different countries visiting Korea. As they researched tour motives and other characteristics related to
tourism, they commented on the importance of comparative studies of tourists by nationality and
pointed out that empirical studies of tourists from Asian countries are insufficient. Especially,
variables such as the length of pre-travel planning, information sources used, and length of stay etc.
are affected by the varying national cultures. Western tourists, such as Americans and Australians,
prefer historical or cultural resources and motivation, stay for over seven days and get information
from newspapers or magazines. On the other hand, Japanese and Chinese tourists (from Hong Kong
and mainland China) enjoy meals or shopping, get information from friends, relatives, or travel
agencies, and their length of stay is shorter.
Kozak (2001) identifies the differences in satisfaction when international tourists from two
different countries visited two of the same tourist destinations. The study examined the satisfaction
level of British and German tourists who visited Mallorca and Turkey. The British tourists were much
more satisfied with most of the tourism criteria than the German tourists. In Turkey, the study showed
differences in the level of language communication, availability of local transport services and level
of prices. In Mallorca, the study showed differences in the level of prices, level of hygiene, sanitation
and cleanliness, availability of facilities and activities, level of language communication, and level of
accommodation services, all of which the British tourists answered more favorably.
Kozak (2002) conducted research to explore whether there are any differences, first among
the motivations of those from different countries traveling to the same destination, and second among
those who are from the same country traveling to two different destinations. The study showed that
British tourists who visited Turkey had pleasure-seeking and fantasy in mind, while German tourists
valued relaxation and physical motivations. British tourists who visited Mallorca valued pleasure-
seeking factors, while Germans valued physical motivation factors.
Lee and Jeong (2001) studied differences by nationality in trip-related satisfaction among
South Asian tourists who visited Gangwon Province in Korea during the winter skiing season.
According to the tourists' nationalities, there were differences in five factors of evaluation: beautiful
scenery, price of amusements, quality of sleeping accommodations, various souvenirs, and
communication network for emergency situations.
Danaher and Arweiler (1996) investigated whether differences exist in satisfaction level
according to tourists' nationalities and decision factors for satisfaction level among travelers visiting
New Zealand. In a study by Wong and Law (2003), the expectations and satisfaction among Asian
and Western travelers on shopping activities in Hong Kong were compared. They found that there are
some differences in expectations and satisfaction in the factors of service quality, product quality,
variety of products, and prices of products, and that Western travelers were found to be more satisfied
than Asians.
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2.2 TOURISTS’ EXPECTATION AND SATISFACTION
Tourist expectations and perceived performance are influential factors that directly or
indirectly affect customer satisfaction (Bowen, 2001). In particular, Oliver’s (1980) expectancy
disconfirmation theory is one of the most famous theories for explaining customer satisfaction with
relative concepts. Customers form their own expectations about the quality of products before they
purchase them, with the actual evaluation is made after the purchase, when satisfaction with the
purchased product is compared with the expectation (Oliver, 1980). When the perceived result meets
expectations, confirmation occurs, while disconfirmation occurs when it does not meet expectations.
If there is a positive confirmation from the perceived outcome that is larger than the expectation, there
occurs satisfaction, while dissatisfaction occurs when a negative disconfirmation comes from a small
outcome that is less than the expectation (Bearden & Teel, 1983; Labarbera & Mazursky, 1983;
Oliver, 1980; Yi, 1997, 2000).
A tourist's expectations and perceived outcome is an important determining factor for

measuring his/her level of satisfaction. The tourist’s expectation is a subjective probability that he/she
expects from the destination he/she is going to visit, and it can be defined as a belief that a tourist
expects for performance (Yoo, Park, and Park, 1999). Tourists visit destinations with their own
subjective expectations, and they choose and visit the destinations that gave them higher initial
expectations than others. After their visit to the destinations, tourists feel satisfied if the result is
higher than the advance expectation, and feel dissatisfied when the perceived outcome is lower
(Akama & Kieti, 2003). Tourists' satisfaction, which can be referred to as the final purpose of tourism
activity, is an attitude formed from confirmation. In other words, satisfaction is the result of
comparing expectation and performance, with respect to the expected destination and results (Park &
Um, 1998).
A study on tourists' satisfaction was initiated by Pizam et al. (1978) by applying customers'
satisfaction theory to tourists' satisfaction and operating the structure of tourists' satisfaction (Ko, Yun,
Chung & Park, 2000). Later, Van Raaij & Franken (1984) applied the theories of expectation
discordance and equity to tourism, and studied tourists' satisfaction. They defined tourist satisfaction
as the difference between expectation and real result, and said that dissatisfaction occurs from the
discordance of expense and result, or from unfair equity. But they could not make a positive
application of the definition of satisfaction. Chon (1990) emphasized that it is necessary not only to
consider the overall satisfaction level, but also to think of the relationship between expectation and
perceived result by studying the correlation of expectation image and destination satisfaction.
Most studies about tourists’ satisfaction explored components or antecedents of satisfaction–

expectation, performance, expectancy disconfirmation, and how tourists’ satisfaction was affected by
variables of expectation and performance (Kim, 1995; Park & Um, 1998; Yoo, Park & Park, 1999; Ko
et al., 2000; Chaudhary, 2000;Wong & Law, 2002). All these studies focused on the factors that affect
satisfaction, and how and how much the factors work on satisfaction. Most of the studies looking into
expectations and satisfaction levels chiefly analyze the differences found among tourists from the
same country at the same tourism destination. There have been few studies that analyze expectation
and satisfaction by comparing the differences found in the behavior of tourists visiting the same
destination by nationality. Moreover, research conducted on Asian markets, such as Japanese and
Chinese tourism markets, are uncommon. Comparative studies of the behaviors of international
tourists traveling to a local tourist destination, not a national tourist destination, are also rare.
3. METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research design
A survey questionnaire was developed to examine Japanese and Chinese tourists

expectations and satisfaction. Based on the literature review, the questionnaire was separated into
three sections (Table 1), studying a total of 36 items: 27 for expectations and satisfaction, 4 for
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demographic characteristics and 5 for types of tourism. The expectations and satisfactions were then
divided into five sections: activities, facilities, food & accommodation, shopping, and others. A five-
point Likert scale was used for each item, ranging from 1= highly unexpected (extremely unsatisfied)
to 5= highly expected (extremely satisfied).
Table 1
Survey Composition
No. of Measurement
Factor Item
Questions scale
Activities
Experiencing traditional culture of Jeju island
Attending folk events & festivals
Sightseeing
Health and Beauty tourism (hot spring bathing, beauty treatment,
massage)
Gambling
Entertainment activities
Leisure and sports activities (golf, hunting, horseback riding, climbing,
etc.)
Gourmet cuisine
Attending various exhibitions or fairs
Night tours
Facilities
Availability of casino
Various entertainment facilities (amusement, theme park etc.)
Expectations
Various leisure and sports facilities (golf course, horse riding etc.) Interval scale
and 27
Food & Accommodation 5 points
Satisfaction
Quality of accommodation
Hotel rates
Availability of large variety of food
Availability of one's own country food
Shopping
Various shopping opportunities
Convenience and accessibility of shopping facilities
Variety of goods
Quality of goods
Attractive prices
Others
Communication and interpretation services
Tourism information services
Attitude or service quality of residents, employees
Comfort of local transportation
Safety and hygiene
Demographic
Age, Gender, Education level, Occupation 4
characteristics Ratio scale
Purpose of visit, Period of stay, No. of visit, Mode of travel, Nominal scale
Type of tourism 5
Source of information
3.2 DATA ANALYSIS
The subjects of the research were Japanese and Chinese tourists who visited Jeju Island
within a 2 month period (Jan.-Feb.) in 2005. 300 tourists from each country who were waiting at Jeju
International Airport to depart for their respective countries at the conclusion of their trip completed
the survey sheets, some with the help of trained researchers fluent in Chinese or Japanese. Excluding
incomplete forms, 497 sheets (82.8%) were taken as final samples.
The data was analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences ver. 12.0 (SPSS for PC).
Frequency analysis was conducted to identify demographic characteristics samples and types of
tourism. A series of independent t-tests were used to assess the significant differences in expectations
and satisfaction levels between Japanese and Chinese tourists. Also, a paired sample t-test was used to
437
compare any significant differences between the level of expectations and the level of satisfaction for
each nationality.
4. ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS
4.1 Characteristics of Samples
The results of the frequency analysis for the identification of samples is shown in Table 2. For
gender, 50.6% and 50.8% of the tourists from Japanese and Chinese respectively, were males. For age,
the composition of tourist age groups differed between the two country groups. For Japanese tourists,
30.4% were aged 20-29 and 25.3% were aged 30-39. In contrast, 40.4% of Chinese tourists were 30-
39 and 29.6% were between 20-29, for a total of approximately 70.0% of Chinese tourists still in their
youth. With respect to academic background, college graduates comprised the highest proportion at
54.9% (Japan) and 68.0%(China). In terms of occupation, responses from the two countries again
differed. For Japanese, owners and sales/service workers were the most common at 20.9% and 20.4%,
while the majority of Chinese were either white collar workers or government officials, comprising
29.7% and 25.5%.
There was a great difference in the type of tourism factors between Japanese and Chinese
tourists visiting Jeju Island. In frequency of travel, 54.2% of Japanese and 90.0% of Chinese tourists
were first-time visitors to Jeju. For purpose of visit, most of them came for tourism (70.8% Japanese,
93.1% Chinese), though for Japanese visitors, 11.0% came for business purposes. For mode of travel,
all-inclusive packaged tour was the most common at 49.5% and 73.9% of Japanese and Chinese
tourists, with partly inclusive tours following at 30.6% and 14.8% respectively. The information they
obtained about Jeju island most often came from travel agents (49.6%, 42.5%) and then TV/radio
commercials (19.2%, 20.2%). In terms of period of stay, 87.3% of Japanese stayed for 2 nights and 3
days, while 55.5% of Chinese stayed under 2 days.
Table 2
Characteristics of Samples
Factor Japanese Chinese Factor Japanese Chinese

Gender Occupation
Male 120 (50.6) 132 (50.8) Government officer 21 (8.9) 61 (25.5)
Female 117 (49.4) 128 (49.2) White collar 27 (11.5) 71 (29.7)
Age Professional/technical 26 (11.1) 32 (13.4)
20-29yr 72 (30.4) 77 (29.6) Sales/service worker 48 (20.4) 16 (6.7)
30-39yr 60 (25.3) 105 (40.4) Owner 49 (20.9) 25 (10.5)
40-49yr 49 (20.7) 54 (20.8) Housewife 34 (14.5) 11 (4.6)
50-59yr 31 (13.1) 16 (6.2) Student 12 (5.1) 23 (9.6)
Over 60 25 (10.5) 8 (3.1) Other 18 (7.7) -
Education No. of visit
High school 81 (34.2) 31 (13.8) 1st 128 (54.2) 234 (90.0)
Undergraduate 15 (6.3) 14 (6.2) 2nd 51 (21.6) 22 (8.5)
Graduate 130 (54.9) 153 (68.0) 3rd 23 (9.7) 2 (0.8)
Postgraduate 11 (4.6) 27 (12.0) 4th or more 34 (14.4) 2 (0.8)
Purpose of visit Mode of travel
Tourism 167 (70.8) 242 (93.1) Independent travel 18 (16.2) 25 (9.7)
Business 26 (11.0) 8 (3.1) All inclusive packaged tour 55 (49.5) 190 (73.9)
Conference 5 (2.1) 8 (3.1) Partly inclusive tour 34 (30.6) 38 (14.8)
Visiting friends/relatives 25 (10.6) - Incentive tour 2 (1.8) 3 (1.2)
Other 13 (5.5) 2 (0.8) Other 2 (1.8) 1 (0.4)
438
Source of information
Travel agency 111 (49.6) 107 (42.5)
Period of stay
TV/Radio commercials 43 (19.2) 51 (20.2)
Under 2 days 3 (1.3) 142 (55.5)
Friends /Relatives 27 (12.1) 46 (18.3)
2 nights 3 days 206 (87.3) 64 (25.0)
Travel brochures, 20 (8.9) 10 (4.0)
3 nights 4 days 21 (8.9) 41 (16.0)
Business associates 5 (2.2) 27 (10.7)
Over 5 days 6 (2.5) 9 (3.5)
Internet 15 (6.7) 11 (4.4)
Other 3 (1.3) -
4.2 COMPARISON BETWEEN EXPECTATION LEVELS OF JAPANESE AND CHINESE

TOURISTS
The independent T-test was applied to verify the differences in expectation among foreign
tourists of different nationalities who visited Jeju. The result of verifying the differences in tourists'
expectation by nationality is shown in the Table 3. Above all, there were noticeable statistical
differences in all questionnaire items, particularly differences between Japanese and Chinese tourists'
advance expectations, with the level of Chinese tourist expectations higher than that of Japanese
tourists. In the case of Chinese tourists, 90% of them were visiting Jeju for the first time. This is seen
as the primary reason why expectation levels for Jeju was higher among Chinese tourists than among
the Japanese.
4.2.1 Activities
There were significant differences between the expectation level of visitors from the two
countries (p<0.05), particularly in regards to the variables of tourist activities, with the exception of
leisure and sports activities in Jeju. Chinese tourists had high expectations for sightseeing (M=3.96),
having gourmet cuisine (M=3.81), and attending folk events & festivals (M=3.72). Chinese tourists
regarded Jeju as an island destination that offered a tranquil view of nature, so they expected to see
the island’s natural beauty. The inclination among the Chinese to enjoy gourmet was reflected in their
Jeju tour activities. On the other hand, the Japanese tourists expected more out of gourmet cuisine
(M=3.46), sightseeing (M=3.32), health and beauty tourism-such as hot spring bathing, beauty
treatments, and message- (M=3.29). Japanese tourists expected to engage in more special interest
tourism than Chinese tourists.
4.2.2 Facilities
The expectation level of Chinese tourists and that of Japanese tourists also differed (p<0.05)
in facility variables. Chinese respondents expected a larger variety of entertainment facilities
(M=3.40) such as amusement parks or theme parks, and various leisure and sports facilities (M=3.40)
such as golf courses and casino facilities (M=3.33). On the other hand, Japanese tourists expected
more from leisure and sport facilities (M=3.20) such as golf courses or shooting ranges, etc.
4.2.3 Food & Accommodation
In terms of food and accommodation, the expectation levels between the two countries
revealed statistical differences (p<0.001). Among the Chinese tourists, expectations were higher for
an availability of large variety of food (M=3.92) and the availability of one’s own country
food(M=3.75). On the other hand, Japanese tourists had higher expectations on the availability of
large variety of food (M=3.36) and the quality of accommodations (M=3.35).
4.2.4 Shopping
There were significant differences found in the expectation levels for shopping purchases
between the two countries (p<0.001). For shopping, Chinese tourists’ level of expectation was much
higher than that of Japanese tourists. On their Jeju tour, they expected first, a variety of goods
(M=3.79), next, convenience and accessibility of shopping facilities (M=3.71), then various shopping
439
opportunities (M=3.70), quality of goods (M=3.65), and finally, an attractive price (M=3.65). On the
other hand, Japanese tourists had expectations first for various shopping opportunities (M=3.28),
second, the variety of goods (M=3.26), and third, convenience and accessibility of shopping facility
(M=3.19).
4.2.5 Others
Responses for other items showed significant differences (p<0.001) by country as well. For
most of the items, the Chinese tourists’ expectation level was considerably higher than that of the
Japanese tourists. Chinese tourists’ expectation level was notably higher for safety and hygiene
(M=4.00), attitude or service quality of residents and employees (M=3.88), convenience of
transportation (M=3.82). Japanese tourists expected higher levels of safety and hygiene (M=3.36),
communication and interpretation services (M=3.32), and attitude or service quality of residents and
employees (M=3.32).
Table 3
Mean differences between expectations of Japanese and Chinese tourists
Item Japanese Chinese T-value P-value

Activities
Experiencing traditional culture of Jeju island 3.13 3.66 -7.056 0.000
Attending folk events & festivals 2.92 3.72 -10.543 0.000
Sightseeing 3.32 3.96 -8.199 0.000
Health and Beauty tourism 3.29 3.83 -6.815 0.000
Gambling 3.07 3.28 -2.295 0.022
Entertainment activities 2.95 3.27 -3.765 0.000
leisure and sports activities 3.30 3.44 -1.732 0.084
Gourmet cuisine 3.46 3.81 -4.653 0.000
Attending various exhibitions or fairs 2.77 3.45 -8.749 0.000
Night tours 2.94 3.69 -9.244 0.000
Facilities
Availability of casino 3.14 3.33 -2.285 0.023
Various entertainment facilities 3.01 3.40 -5.175 0.000
Various leisure and sports facility 3.20 3.40 -2.505 0.013
Food & Accommodation
Quality of accommodation 3.35 3.64 -3.759 0.000
Hotel rates 3.22 3.41 -2.594 0.010
Availability of large variety of food 3.36 3.92 -7.347 0.000
Availability of one's own country food 3.21 3.75 -6.715 0.000
Shopping
Various shopping opportunities 3.28 3.70 -5.370 0.000
Convenience and accessibility of shopping facilities 3.19 3.71 -7.523 0.000
Variety of goods 3.26 3.79 -7.356 0.000
Quality of goods 3.03 3.65 -9.207 0.000
Attractive prices 3.13 3.65 -7.809 0.000
Others
Communication and interpretation services 3.32 3.76 -5.923 0.000
Tourism information services 3.20 3.71 -7.675 0.000
Attitude or service quality of residents, employees 3.32 3.88 -7.933 0.000
Comfort of local transportation 3.27 3.82 -8.085 0.000
Safety and hygiene 3.36 4.00 -9.668 0.000
Note : The negative t-values mean that Chinese tourists have higher mean scores than Japanese tourists for the related
expectation items.
440
4.3 COMPARISON BETWEEN SATISFACTION LEVELS OF JAPANESE AND CHINESE
TOURISTS
As for the tourist satisfaction factors, Table 4 gives the results comparing the satisfaction
levels of respondents from the two countries. There were no distinguishable differences for
entertainment activities, leisure and sports activities, entertainment facilities, the items of food &
accommodation. But the other items had prominent statistical differences, with Chinese tourists'
satisfaction shown to be high overall. Although Chinese tourists’ expectation level is higher than that
of Japanese tourists, in the same vein, their satisfaction level is generally higher than that of Japanese
tourists.
4.3.1 Activities
For tourist activities, satisfaction levels showed significant differences (p<0.05) between the
two countries, except for a few activities. Chinese tourists showed satisfaction with sightseeing
(M=3.86) and experiencing traditional culture of Jeju Island (M=3.66). For Japanese tourists,
respondents are satisfied with gourmet cuisune (M=3.45), sightseeing (M=3.42), and health and
beauty tourism (M=3.38).
4.3.2 Facilities
In terms of facilities, looking at the satisfaction level of using various leisure and sports
facilities indicated statistical differences (p<0.05) between the two countries. Japanese tourists
(M=3.37) are more satisfied with facilities than Chinese tourists (M=3.22). Chinese tourists enjoy
simple tourism activities, for example sightseeing of natural sites, gourmet cuisine, etc. On the other
hand, Japanese tourists prefer active tour activities, for example, utilizing various leisure and sports
facilities.
4.3.3 Food & Accommodation
There were no significant differences between the two countries in the satisfaction level for
food and accommodation. Both tourists are satisfied with the quality of accommodation and
availability of a large variety of food.
4.3.4 Shopping
There were significant differences in the variety of goods and quality of goods for shopping.
Both Chinese and Japanese tourists are most satisfied with the variety of goods (M=3.25, M=3.12)
and quality of goods (M=3.16, M=2.97).
4.3.5 Others
For other variables, the level of satisfaction showed significant statistical differences between
the two countries. Chinese tourists are satisfied the most with safety and hygiene (M=3.98), attitude or
service quality of residents and employees (M=3.89). On the other hand, Japanese tourists are
satisfied first with attitude or service quality of residents and employees (M=3.47) and next with
communication and interpretation services (M=3.44).
441
Table 4
Mean differences between satisfactions of Japanese and Chinese tourists
Item Japanese Chinese T-value P-value

Activities
Sightseeing 3.42 3.86 -6.489 0.000
Gambling 3.00 3.14 -1.983 0.048
Leisure and sports activities 3.29 3.26 0.406 0.685
Gourmet cuisine 3.45 3.26 2.605 0.009
Attending various exhibitions or fairs 2.75 3.23 -6.451 0.000
Night tours 2.75 3.05 -3.748 0.000
Facilities
Availability of casino 3.20 3.07 1.837 0.066
Various entertainment facilities 3.12 3.07 0.572 0.567
Various leisure and sports facility 3.37 3.22 2.018 0.044
Hotel rates 3.25 3.34 -1.231 0.219
Availability of large variety of food 3.32 3.44 -1.726 0.085
Shopping
Various shopping opportunities 3.19 3.16 0.384 0.701
Convenience and accessibility of shopping facilities 3.13 3.21 -1.090 0.276
Variety of goods 3.12 3.25 -1.690 0.092
Quality of goods 2.97 3.16 -2.650 0.008
Attractive prices 3.10 3.17 -0.956 0.340
Others
Note : The negative t-values mean that Chinese tourists have higher mean scores than Japanese tourists for
the related satisfaction items.
4. 4 COMPARISON BETWEEN EXPECTATIONS AND SATISFACTION LEVELS OF

JAPANESE TOURISTS
This study looked into whether there are differences between the expectation level before a
tour service and the satisfaction level after a tour, for tourists of the same nationality. According to the
expectancy disconfirmation theory, the satisfaction level will be lower if the expectation level of the
tourists before the tour does not correspond with that of the perceived tour. Thus, drawing from the
items showing satisfaction levels, this study could make suggestions on the management of tourist
attractions and inducement of tourists.
442
Table 5
Analysis of differences between expectation and satisfaction of Japanese tourists
Item Expectation Satisfaction T-value P-value

Activities
Sightseeing 3.32 3.42 -1.816 0.071
Gambling 3.07 3.00 1.058 0.291
leisure and sports activities 3.30 3.29 0.442 0.659
Gourmet cuisine 3.46 3.45 0.077 0.939
Attending various exhibitions or fairs 2.77 2.75 0.428 0.669
Night tours 2.94 2.75 2.896 0.004
Facilities
Availability of casino 3.14 3.20 -0.848 0.397
Various entertainment facilities 3.01 3.12 -1.740 0.083
Various leisure and sports facility 3.20 3.37 -2.611 0.010
Hotel rates 3.22 3.25 -0.737 0.462
Availability of large variety of food 3.36 3.32 0.182 0.856
Shopping
Convenience and accessibility of shopping facilities 3.19 3.13 0.915 0.361
Variety of goods 3.26 3.12 2.336 0.020
Quality of goods 3.03 2.97 0.903 0.367
Attractive prices 3.13 3.10 0.135 0.893
Others
Note : The negative t-values mean that satisfactions have higher mean scores than expectations.
Table 5 showed differences between the level of expectation and satisfaction of Japanese
tourists. Many items in terms of satisfaction level are higher than that of the expectation level. There
are significant differences at a significance level of 0.05, in the items of experiencing traditional
culture of Jeju, night tours, various leisure and sports facilities, variety of goods, communication and
interpretation service, and attitude or service quality of residents and staff.
There are significant differences (significance level of 0.1) for sightseeing, health and beauty
tourism, and various entertainment facilities. For most of these items, the satisfaction level is higher
than the expectation level. But the satisfaction level is lower in some items, having a discrepancy with
the level of expectation before visiting. In the case of night tours, the satisfaction level (M=2.75) is
lower than the expectation level (M=2.94). For shopping, the satisfaction level (M=3.12) is lower than
the expectation (M=3.26) in terms of the variety of goods.
The satisfaction level of Japanese tourists in Jeju is lower for tour activities, such as the night
tours, and the variety of shopping goods, compared with their expectation level. These areas of Jeju
tourism need to be improved.
443
4.5 COMPARISON BETWEEN EXPECTATIONS AND SATISFACTION LEVELS OF CHINESE
TOURISTS
In the case of differences found among Chinese tourists, there is a significant difference in the
items, with the exception of experiencing traditional culture of Jeju island, hotel rates, attitude or
service quality of residents, employees, comfort of local transportation, and safety and hygiene (Table
6). Unlike Japanese tourists, whose satisfaction level is higher than their expectation level, Chinese
tourists’ satisfaction level is lower than their expectation level prior to their visit.
As Japanese tourists’ expectation level is lower than that of Chinese tourists(Table 3), the
difference between their expectation level and satisfaction level is not quite large(Table 5). While
Chinese tourists’ expectation level is very high, the difference between the levels of expectation and
satisfaction is significant.
Especially, when we estimate t value for various items, (various shopping opportunities,
convenience and accessibility of shopping facilities, variety of goods, quality of goods, attractive
price, availability of large variety of food, availability of one’s own country food, gourmet cuisine,
and night tour) the value of these items is differs significantly. Chinese tourists are dissatisfied with
shopping, meals, and the night tours when visiting Jeju. These areas must be improved.
Table 6
Analysis of differences between expectation and satisfaction of Chinese tourists
Item Expectation Satisfaction T-value P-value
Activities
Experiencing traditional culture of Jeju island 3.66 3.66 0.212 0.832
Attending folk events & festivals 3.72 3.40 5.454 0.000
Sightseeing 3.96 3.86 1.924 0.055
Health and Beauty tourism 3.83 3.65 2.849 0.005
Gambling 3.28 3.14 2.448 0.015
Entertainment activities 3.27 3.08 3.137 0.002
leisure and sports activities 3.44 3.26 2.751 0.006
Gourmet cuisine 3.81 3.26 8.051 0.000
Attending various exhibitions or fairs 3.45 3.23 3.755 0.000
Night tours 3.69 3.05 9.350 0.000
Facilities
Availability of casino 3.33 3.07 3.904 0.000
Various entertainment facilities 3.40 3.07 5.337 0.000
Various leisure and sports facility 3.40 3.22 2.801 0.006
Quality of accommodation 3.64 3.48 2.662 0.008
Hotel rates 3.41 3.34 0.804 0.422
Availability of large variety of food 3.92 3.44 7.364 0.000
Availability of one's own country food 3.75 3.31 7.490 0.000
Shopping
Convenience and accessibility of shopping facilities 3.17 3.21 7.538 0.000
Variety of goods 3.79 3.25 8.391 0.000
Quality of goods 3.65 3.16 7.110 0.000
Attractive prices 3.65 3.17 8.115 0.000
Others
Communication and interpretation services 3.76 3.63 2.126 0.035
Tourism information services 3.71 3.59 1.803 0.073
Comfort of local transportation 3.82 3.75 1.383 0.168
Safety and hygiene 4.00 3.98 0.424 0.672
Note : The negative t-values mean that satisfactions have higher mean scores than expectations.
444
5. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
Jeju Island, one of Korea’s major tourist attractions, boasts several natural advantages and
modern facilities, but the number of tourists visiting Jeju from other countries is very low compared to
other tourism sites around the world. Moreover, demand from the main markets targeted by Jeju---
Japan and China---has recently fallen. To overcome these difficulties, this study is intended to provide
current insights for the marketing strategy of international tourism by analyzing the differences in the
tourists' expectation and satisfaction between Japanese and Chinese tourists visiting Jeju.
Based on the empirical survey, the conclusion of the study can be summarized by the
following. First, the analysis of sample demographic profiles of tourists visiting Jeju Island revealed
differences between tourists from two different countries. Among Chinese tourists, there are many
young and middle-aged tourists, particularly white-collar employees or civil servants. In case of
Japanese tourists, there are tourists of a variety of different ages who are predominately self-employed
or employees in the sales or service fields.
Second, there was a great difference between the type of travel undertaken by Japanese and
Chinese tourists. In the case of Japanese tourists, tourism is the main purpose of their visit, with
business and visiting friends or relatives following. Japanese tourists on their first visit to Jeju form
the majority, but the proportion of those revisiting the island is also high. In terms of type of travel,
most of them are on a group tours organized through travel agencies and individual tours, and their
length of stay is three days and two nights. For Chinese tourists, tourism is the main purpose of tour,
representing 93.1%. The length of stay for the majority of Chinese visitors is two days and one night,
so their visits are shorter than that of Japanese tourists.
Third, the level of tourists’ expectation and satisfaction differs by nationality. Chinese
tourists’ expectation and satisfaction levels are higher than those of Japanese tourists. Japanese
tourists expect the most for various leisure and sport facilities such as golf course, gourmet cuisine,
various meals and shopping opportunities, safety and hygiene. Chinese tourists expect sightseeing,
various entertainment facilities, availability of a large variety of food, variety of goods, safety and
hygiene. In terms of level of satisfaction, Japanese tourists are satisfied with gourmet cuisine, various
leisure and sports facilities, service quality of residents and employees. Compared with Japanese,
Chinese tourists are satisfied with sightseeing, variety of goods, quality of goods, and safety and
hygiene.
Fourth, while comparing the tourists’ expectation with their satisfaction, the results also differ
by nationality. As Japanese tourists’ satisfaction is higher than their expectations, their expectations
are not as high before visiting. Compared with Japanese tourists, Chinese tourists’ expectations are
very high, but their satisfaction is very low after visiting, when compared with their initial
expectations.
We can find various implications from the aforementioned findings of the study.
First, there were important differences in expectation and satisfaction levels between tourists
from Japan and China, the main target markets of Jeju. Therefore, more distinctive, thematic tourism
development strategies must be set up for each market segment.
Second, the expectations of Japanese tourists before visiting is not higher than their
satisfaction levels and Chinese tourists’ satisfaction after visiting Jeju is low compared with previous
expectations. Thus, the level of tourists’ previous expectation and their satisfaction afterwards should
be raised. Competitive factors belonging particularly to Jeju should be found and strengthened in
order to induce more international tourists. Jeju must supplement more systematic preparations for
receiving foreign tourists both on a “hardware” and “software” level. For tourists' convenience, a
systematic guiding service must be implemented, while convenience facilities must be improved,
immigration control simplified, and more dynamic P.R. and Jeju information activities put in place,
445
e.g.
In this study, we investigated the differences in tourists' expectation and satisfaction by

nationality and uncovered important implications. Although this study examined the difference
between tourists’ expectation and satisfaction by nationality, the limitation of this study is that it could
not investigate the cause behind the difference between expectation and satisfaction levels by
nationality. Also, another limitation was that the survey was carried out in a specific period.
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IMAGES OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AS TRAVEL DESTINATIONS
STEREOTYPES AND ASSOCIATIONS OF CHINESE TOURISM STUDENTS
Gerd Schwandner
Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences
Wolfgang Arlt
University of Applied Sciences Stralsund
and
Huimin Gu
ABSTRACT
China will soon represent one of the world’s major generating markets for travel. At present,
Europe is the second most important continent for Chinese travelers after Asia, albeit market share is
only a single-figure percentage. As a significant destination for future Chinese leisure tourism, Europe
is set to be one of the principal beneficiaries of this form of travel. This paper traces the distinct
associations held by young emerging tourism professionals at two universities with regard to the most
prominent European tourism countries, such as France, Britain, Italy, Spain, and Germany. Europe’s
tourism industry has to take greater account of the Chinese mindset in its provision of services and
can no longer rely on the marketing models used for other Asian source markets.
Key Words: China outbound travel, destination images of Europe, Chinese mindset, marketing China
as a source market.
INTRODUCTION
During the final years of the 20th century, China was regarded as something of a sleeping
giant as an outbound market for travel and tourism. But, as many have predicted, the giant is now
awakening – and growing by leaps and bounds (Li, Bai and McCleary, 1996, Zhang, Chong, and Ap,
1999, Arlt, 2004, Arlt 2006). The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) has predicted that China will
provide the world’s fourth largest outbound tourism market by 2020, when 100 million of its
inhabitants will travel internationally each year. According to WTO estimates, China’s outbound
market will be the fastest growing of all the East Asia/Pacific countries until 2020 – at an average rate
of 12.3% per year (WTO, 2000).
In the past eight years (1994–2002), the outbound China travel market to Germany has nearly
doubled and it shows the largest growth of all Asian markets. Preliminary figures for 2005 (January –
October) show an increase in Asian tourists of 6.1%, with visitors from Japan up 0.7%, from China
and Hong Kong up 7.1% (717,297 total overnight stays), and from South Korea up 20.1%. The target
figure set by the German National Tourist Board in its latest forecast from December 15, 2005 is 2.5
million overnight stays by Chinese tourists by the year 2015 (GNTB 2005). Germany is considered
the predominant business travel destination for Chinese travelers in Europe (Davidson, Hertrich,
Schwandner, 2004). Despite the efforts of other European countries, Germany is currently the biggest
beneficiary of Chinese tourists traveling to Europe.
Baloglu and McCleary (1999) found that image has an important influence in the selection of
vacation destinations and that a destination image is formed by both stimulus factors and tourist
characteristics. Bonn, Joseph, and Dai (2005) looked at the various destination attributes that
contribute to forming the destination image of domestic and international visitors. They found clear
differences between international and domestic perceptions of important destination image
characteristics such as service image and environmental image in tourists visiting Florida.
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International visitors to Florida have higher service image expectations and standards, and they place
more importance on environmental factors than domestic visitors.
Various cultural or national backgrounds can result in different interpretations, aesthetic

preferences, or priorities. These differences persist despite globalization, the increased international
travel experiences of people worldwide and the wide use of the Internet, where awareness of cultural
differences might increase and ignorance and lack of knowledge about foreign countries might
decrease.
Chinese consumers are quite different from other Asian consumers. According to a recent
study by the Gallup Organization, in the absence of solid data about China and its consumers, myth
and conjecture have prevailed: “Unlike other surveys, the Gallup effort looked at the habits, hopes,
and plans of all Chinese adults, from rural farmers to city dwellers. Following the baseline survey in
1994, Gallup completed three additional countrywide surveys, each garnering more than 3,000
responses. The data culled from the surveys represent not just a snapshot but a moving picture of the
Chinese people’s changing tastes and desires during a decade of explosive development.” According
to these findings, Chinese workers are demonstrating an increasing desire to express their
individuality – a trend that may just signal the emergence of a new “me” generation. Although this
research only covered consumer goods like computers, magazines, digital cameras and so on, it is
possible that these findings could also hold true for tourism activities – particularly as the survey
shows that “what sells in Turkey or Chile or Thailand may not be what sells in China” (McEwen,
Fang, Zhang, Burkholder 2006).
Understanding Chinese destination images may assist European tourism agencies in

developing appropriate marketing strategies for their tourism services. Since Kim and Yoon have
shown that the affective construct has more impact on building destination image than the cognitive
(Kim, Yoon, 2003), marketing strategies have to take more account of these associations and
mindsets. Sakakida, Cole, and Card (2004) showed that Japanese and American students have
different cultural tendencies and travel preferences; for Armstrong and Mok (1995), the perception of
a destination affects destination choice. Some of the most prominent research has looked at the
motivation of mainland Chinese tourists traveling to Hong Kong (Wang, Sheldon, 1995, Zhang, Lam,
1999, Huang, Hsu 2005), Australia (Yu, Weiler, 2001), and Hawaii (University of Hawaii, 2003) and
at the origins of the outbound mainland Chinese traveler. Zhang and Heung (2001) have pointed out
that the current wave of outbound travel has been led by inhabitants from China’s three major cities:
Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. And they believe that although this trend is likely to continue,
China’s outbound tourists will eventually include more people from the more remote areas of China.
Currently, however, only one study (Schwandner, Gu 2005) has been undertaken on the
associations and needs of Chinese travelers to Europe. This is understandable considering no
European country appears in the ranking of China’s top ten destinations (Arlt 2006). Cost factors are
partly responsible for the outbound travel patterns of the Chinese, who still favor short and medium-
haul destinations for this reason. “Typical tours of Europe cost 10,000 to 20,000 yuan, and aim to take
in as many sights – and countries – as possible. One trip offered by a Beijing tour operator costs just
11,900 yuan for a 15-day tour of 11 countries. Day four of a rigid schedule sees travelers breakfast in
Innsbruck, lunch in Venice, and collapse after supper in Bologna. Accommodation is mass-booked in
expensive hotels, and lunch and dinner are strictly Chinese food only, at an average cost per head of
just seven or eight euros.”(Miller 2005) But this might change in the near future, as long-distance
travel becomes increasingly affordable and popular with Chinese people and as their experience as
tourists grows.
Seven days of travel in Germany, with all meals included, for roughly €980 was offered by a
Beijing travel agency targeting young people (Aldenrath 2006). This type of bargain offer and an
increase in the affluence of consumers in general have made it likely that European countries will
seek to benefit from the current market growth in Chinese outbound leisure travel.
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On the other hand, Chinese travelers have already gained a reputation as big spenders when
they travel. Market research company AC Nielsen found that mainland travelers are the world’s most
extravagant shoppers, with average expenditure on outbound trips reaching U.S.$ 987 per head –
exceeding the famously high-spending and luxury-loving Japanese. Travelers to Europe spend even
more, averaging U.S.$ 1,781 per trip (Miller 2005). Internal figures at Global Refund Co. show that
average tax-free purchases by Chinese travelers in Germany amount to €196. Chinese tourists tend to
spend more on shopping than on accommodation. Their shopping behavior has a psychological base
in culture and tradition: souvenirs for friends and relatives are part of traveling. Shopping for famous
brands in their country of origin is an important image factor (Global Refund 2006).
METHOD
This paper will provide figures based on a survey carried out in Beijing with 40 students from
the School of Tourism, Beijing International Studies University (Schwandner, Gu 2005) and 45
students from Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai Campus. The total sample is 85.
Copies of the survey were handed out in October 2004 and December 2005 respectively and
collected during class. The questionnaire was in English and a pilot test showed that BISU tourism
students could easily master the questionnaire. This was the same at Sun Yat-sen University, where
class teaching was already conducted in English by one of the authors.
The first section of the survey covers the different general associations with travel
destinations, on which a qualitative analysis is undertaken. In section two, the questions covered
methods of travel, Germany as tourist destination, and the infrastructure in Germany for Chinese
tourists.
We did not apply sophisticated statistical techniques like cross tabulation in this stage of our
research, as our main focus was on discovering unsupported images and stereotypes. Further studies
can now develop a specific set of distinct images of European countries based on these findings,
where results can then be more statistically evaluated.
FINDINGS
The general association with Europe is that “European countries are romantic and its people
fantastic.”1 The countries “are different” and “we can enjoy the different culture.” Europe is also
considered to be modern – albeit less modern than the U.S. Among its strengths are its long history,
its castles, and, in particular, its medieval architecture. Europe is also seen as “democratic” and its
people are perceived as “warm-hearted.”
In comparison, the U.S. is considered more modern and developed than Europe, but it is
“built with money and discrimination.” “There are more modern things in the USA than in Europe.”
But “Europe is a safer place than USA.” The U.S. is considered “less safe”. It is “richer, unsafe,
black.” The “U.S. is modern,” and it has “high technology, high efficiency.” But it also has “less
culture than Europe!!” The U.S. is considered “too modern, too crowded, too individualistic”. (On
Chinese Images of the United States, see also McGiffert, 2005.)
If students “want to enjoy the old western countries culture,” they want to travel to Europe. If
they want to experience new things, they will choose the U.S. The U.S. is also associated with
business, economics, democracy, and Wall Street.
Other Asian countries are familiar to Chinese students because the people have “similar color
of skin” and they “may see many Chinese.” They “do not have a sense of dealing with an alien
culture” and “we know much more about them than Europe because of the (closer) distance.” In
comparison, “European countries are more developed” but Asia is “more polite” and has “more
humor”. There were also outspoken statements like “I hate Japanese”.
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This may reflect the rising nationalism in China. Especially since 1989, the growing gap
between the socialist ideology and the market economy reality has been answered with an increased
nationalism from the government side and with consumerism, especially from the urban elites.
“One problem for China is that its most active nationalists are drawn from the very middle
class upon whose support the party depends. Peter Gries of the University of Colorado says that many
of those who took part in last year’s protests were ‘savvy urban yuppies’ rather than the losers from
economic reform. Mr Gries describes them as ‘computer-literate cyber-nationalists’, well educated
and exposed to world politics.”(The Economist 2006)
Associations and stereotypes with five distinctive European countries were as follows:
Germany:
A study in late 2004 by TNS Emnid, carried out for the Federal Government and considering
the image of Germans in 11 states (Europe, the U.S., and Africa) highlighted features like serious,
hard-working, and rich (Spiegel, 2004). In another study by the Boston Consulting Group Germany’s
weaknesses were a lack of creativity, dynamism, and entrepreneurial thinking (BCG, 2004).
For Chinese students, the predominant association with Germany was beer. This was
mentioned by nearly all students. A close second in the Beijing sample was the convention industry,
an understandable association for tourism students, perhaps resulting from a lecture about the
convention industry by one of the authors before the survey distribution. German people were
considered to be strict, punctual, rigorous, and precise. The Berlin Wall was mentioned frequently in
the Zhuhei sample, as was football. Mention of Berlin and the Berlin Wall may also be an artifact, as
one of the authors is from Berlin, which may be known by the students and could have raised their
awareness.
It is therefore unsurprising that in his review of travel books on Germany Aldenrath found
that, according to the Chinese author Yan Jingqian, there is no tasty food or nice girls in Germany. In
his portrait of Germans and Germany, the Chinese author saw no sign of romance or warm-
heartedness. “Germans are like a group of machines with square chins who know only obedience and
discipline. Germany resembles a clean polished piece of metal. It (Germany) is cold, hard and only to
melt with a very hot fire.” In another tour guide there were practical tips, like not to walk in the street
in your pajamas and not to yell in a church or use the pews for having a snack. (Aldenrath 2006)
France:
France provides a fairly consolidated picture for Chinese students. It is linked with romance,
the romantic, and a lot of fashion. Paris is the only city mentioned. France’s popularity rating with the
Chinese appears to be considerable. Li Zi, writing in the Beijing Review, notes that “surveys show
that France is the first option Chinese citizens choose when it comes to European tours” (Beijing
Review, 2004).
When asked to rank European countries as destinations, France was voted number one by
nearly half of the respondents. In second place was the U.K., and Germany came in a close third of all
countries. Spain, as the least well-known country, was a distant number five. The Beijing and Zhuhei
sample differ slightly on which country is ranked two to four.
U.K.:
The perception of the U.K. is much broader and less focused. Associations are strongest with
gentle, gentlemen, and friendliness, but also with soccer, education, and lousy weather (rain). These
results are confirmed by the analysis carried out by Visit Britain, where the strengths of the U.K.
include “history and heritage,” and “English as the desired language to learn,” whereas some of the
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weaknesses are the “staid conservative image, poor weather, and unfamiliar food” (Visit Britain,
2003).
In 2004, the U.K. had 60,000 Chinese students. This is compared with 50,000 in Germany.
While these figures may be inflated, Chinese students definitely far outnumber any other source
country of international students in Germany. There were also an estimated 40,000 Chinese students
in France, compared with only 600 in Italy (Rampini, 2005).
Italy:
In Italy the Latin lover still survives – despite Gordon Allport’s description of his decline in
the first half of the 20th century (Allport, G. 1954).
For Chinese students, there are “handsome guys” out there. Italy’s strength is also its image
as a fashion center, its great food, football, spaghetti, and pizza. It also benefits from its medieval
image and its “famous artists”, even though none is mentioned. As cities, Milan and Venice were
mentioned. In late 2005, the University of Siena, in cooperation with the government of Tuscany
region and the regional tourist association, started to develop a coherent strategy based on the
perception of food and wine, culture (archaeological sites, history of the Etruscans), and fashion
(home of Gucci and other luxury brands well-known to Chinese travelers).
As a first result, the Agenzia per il Turismo di Firenze, with its new tour guide in Chinese,
won the Silver Award in Marketing 2006 in the European Chinese Tourists Welcoming Awards, held
each year during the ITB Fair in Berlin. The ECTW Awards are organized by the China Outbound
Tourism Research Project in partnership with the World Tourism Organisation Asia-Pacific
Representative, and with the sponsorship of Global Refund Co. (COP 2006)
Spain:
Spain is the least-known country, with the dominant association of bullfights, soccer (Real
Madrid, Barcelona), and the image that “this country is not so developed as other European
countries.”
In our Zhuhei sample, Switzerland was ranked equal to Spain as a favorite destination. This
may reflect how successful Switzerland is in marketing itself to Chinese travelers or it could be
purely coincidental, as one professor from the school has just returned from a stay in Switzerland and
told his students about the trip.
Marketing Spain as the second largest tourist destination worldwide (for example, Spain is
the second most popular country for Germans) might be hard to sell to Chinese tourists at this point.
Difficult accessibility (lack of direct flights from or to Madrid and Barcelona as the two major
gateways to Spain by March 2006) might be one of the obstacles.
But in recent years Ciudad de Torremolinos (City of Torremolinos) won the ECTW silver
award in Human Resources Development with its training program for staff and Progestur Espana
won the bronze award in marketing, reflecting the increasing efforts of Spain to attract Chinese
visitors.
Other European countries
Only two countries were mentioned in this open question in the Beijing sample: Norway,
which is perceived as clean and cold, and Switzerland, which was mentioned three times and
perceived as rich and as having a well-protected environment. In the Zuhuhei sample a whole variety
of countries were mentioned, but here Switzerland and Spain tied in first place. Switzerland was the
first European country to open a tourist office in Beijing in 1998 and is leading the way in targeting
Chinese tourists with a differentiated marketing strategy.
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Table 1
Preferred Countries (Zhuhei sample)
Countries in italics are countries mentioned by students in addition to the top five countries
(First place is 5 points, second place 4 points …)
Preferred 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Total

countries place place place place place points
France 20 13 5 1 2 171
Germany 6 12 13 6 3 132
United
Kingdom 10 8 6 3 4 110
Italy 2 3 12 11 6 86
Spain 1 1 2 8 7 38
Switzerland 2 2 4 3 2 38
Greece 1 1 0 1 2 13
Finland 1 2 0 1 2 17
Netherlands 0 1 0 1 3 9
Sweden 1 0 0 1 2 9
Norway 0 1 0 1 3 9
Austria 0 0 1 0 0 3
Denmark 0 0 0 1 1 3
Russia 0 0 0 1 0 2
Poland 0 0 0 0 1 1
When adding the results of both samples, France’s lead is even bigger with a total of 299
points. The U.K. comes in second with 225, Germany third with 209, Italy with 183, and Spain with
98 points.
Germany as travel destination
Table 2
Transportation
By air (both samples):

Chinese airline 62.5%
German/European airline 30%
Organization (BJ sample):
Alone 35%
Group 65%
Chinese travelers prefer Chinese Airlines. Lufthansa is a distant second choice.

While Chinese travelers prefer to travel as part of a group, one third is already keen to travel alone.
This might be a good starting point for more individual travel programs, as Chinese travelers will
soon be “experienced” enough to travel on their own. Especially in the Zhuhei sample, more than half
of the respondents wanted to travel with a boy/girl friend (23 out of 45).
When it comes to transportation in Germany, train is the preferred mode of transport (40%);
bus (35%) comes in second. However, one quarter would already prefer to travel in a private car. Here
we found no differences between the samples.
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Table 3
Germany as destination (Beijing sample only)
The five most popular activities were:

1. Culture (65%)
2. Food (55%)
3. Shopping (47.5%)
4. Health (spa, wellness, medical treatment)
(15%)
5. Sport (golf) (5%)
The five most popular interests were:
1. Beach (47.5%)
2. Mountains (the Alps) (42.5%)
3. Medieval cities (40%)
4. Landscape (22.5%)
5. Larger cities (by German standards) (12.5%)
Contrary to conventional wisdom regarding Chinese travel interests, culture is number one,
with food and shopping a close second. At present, Germany is not considered a destination for health
treatments (as it is, for example, for tourists from the Middle East or South-East Asia) or for playing
sport.
Though only Bavaria has significant mountain tourism, this is mentioned by almost half of the
respondents. More surprising is that even more students mention the beach, which might be a sign of
knowledge (North Sea, Frisian Islands, Baltic Sea) or just the opposite. The typical romantic medieval
cities, such as Heidelberg, are also important destinations.
With regard to personal expenditure, spending on travel has top priority (50%), spending on
food, beverages, and tickets for events comes in second with 35%, whereas spending on
accommodation (22.5%) and shopping (15%) ranked much lower.
Table 4
Infrastructure in Germany for Chinese tourists (both samples)
Food and Beverages

German 68.75%
Chinese 25 %
International 18.75%
Beer 30%
Wine 12.5%
Language of communication
In Chinese
1. Travel guide from China 13%
2. Chinese student in Germany 18%
3. Travel agency 9%
In English 38%
In German, with an interpreter 7%
Chinese explanations available in museums, landmarks, places of
interest, etc 15 %
In a survey carried out by the University of Hawaii, “dining in Chinese restaurants” was
preferred by 94.9% of the respondents (University of Hawaii, 2003) and conventional wisdom is that
the Chinese only like to eat Chinese food when traveling. However, the result of our survey
contradicts this. German food was chosen by 68.75% and outnumbers all other cuisine. Beer is
455
preferred to wine, which is a fair reflection of Chinese consumer patterns. “Chinese react highly
positively towards information in their own language, even if they have a working knowledge of
English. This is an example of different cultural values: German tourists flee restaurants that advertise
“Deutsche Speisekarte” and are proud of their foreign language abilities, while Chinese people feel
honored if their culture and language is used and flock to Chinese restaurants when travelling” (Arlt,
2005).
The language of choice is English or Chinese. One of the most interesting results is that 18%
voted for Chinese students in Germany as preferred travel guides. As there is no shortage of Chinese
students in Germany, these students are multilingual and could have a great knowledge of both
Chinese and German customs, which could also help to reduce cross-cultural misunderstandings.
Chinese students in Germany are already working to a large extent as tour guides. However,
they need to be given special training to ensure that the information they provide is factually correct.
Using these students as cross-cultural “mediators” might also be a good selling point in the marketing
strategy for tour operators and agencies in Germany.
CONCLUSION
The two samples in our survey give a good insight into the stereotypes and associations that
emerging Chinese tourist professionals have of travel destinations in Europe. Their perceptions of the
different features of Europe and European countries should be taken into account for distinctive
marketing strategies. The views of these emerging tourism professionals are also important for the
curriculum at the university, as teachers are able to comment on or correct unrealistic expectations in
class.
Tourism professionals as opinion leaders will shape not only the future travel infrastructure;
they will also have an impact both on industry (supply, strategy) and their customers (demand).
With almost one third of the students keen to travel on their own, these demands should be
matched by the provision of more individual travel arrangements by tour operators and organizers.
France is the predominant top destination. A multi-destination marketing strategy, which includes
France, should be developed by the other destinations.
This will facilitate the advance of formal marketing and development strategies. An
understanding of the mainland Chinese national’s expectations and preferences is therefore a
prerequisite in the attempt to lure the affluent Chinese leisure travelers and to meet their demands.
A training program for Chinese students in Germany working as “interpreters” should also be
established.
Further surveys can be conducted with more students to establish a more reliable database,
using adequate statistical methods to develop a clearer picture of destination images and how the
findings will change as Chinese tourists and tourist professionals gain increased travel experience.
For this purpose a set of distinct images of European countries can now developed according to our
results. Although “Europe” is still the headline destination, we have shown that the destination
images of the five largest tourist markets in Europe are different within our sample groups.
A special cross-cultural program in the destination countries should be provided for tourism
professionals because Chinese tourists are currently very different from other international tourists,
mostly due to their lack of experience in international traveling.
Nobody in the German tourism industry can be happy about the current “description” of
Germany in Chinese tour guides. Hopefully, from a German point of view, the perception of people
who have not yet visited the country can be altered by their experience when traveling.
456
European destinations and tourism companies are learning how to cater for a new group of
customers – Chinese travelers – and exchanging their experiences. At the moment, the most
prominent examples for this knowledge exchange are the China Outbound Tourism Research Project
(COP, 2006) at Stralsund University of Applied Sciences, Germany, and the European Chinese
Tourists Welcoming Award (ECTW) that recognizes front-runners and presents best-practice awards
to the industry. The award is in its third year and the latest winners were recognized during the ITB
Fair in Berlin in March 2006, with 15 winners from eight European countries. The gold medals went
to London, Austria, the German Fairy Tale Route, Galeries Lafayette in Paris, and Gassan Diamonds
in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
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458
APPENDICES
1
Quotes from students are in inverted commas
Picture 1
Chinese tourists at the Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy, May 2005
(picture by the author GS)
Picture 2
Chinese tourists in front of the Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, January 2006
459
Picture 3
Chinese tourists at Galeries Lafayette (reading their shopping list), March 2006
460
SELF-REPRESENTATION: THE VISUALIZATION OF FILIPINONESS
IN WOW PHILIPPINES’ POSTERS
Reggy Capacio Figer

Department of Communication
Institute of Arts and Sciences
Far Eastern University
and
Winton Lou G. Ynion

Department of Literature and Humanities
Institute of Arts and Sciences
Far Eastern University
ABSTRACT
Images are the currency of cultures reflecting and thereby reinforcing particular shared
meanings and beliefs and value systems. The Department of Tourism is responsible for the promotion
and production of signs and symbols, as in the case reflected in WOW Philippines’ posters, to
represent and to distinguish Filipinoness. The paper rests on how images of the Philippines have been
established and recreated, thus, deemed to read symptomatically how Filipinos have represented their
culture through the posters. The themes and symbols supporting the creation of particular images of
women, men and tourism landscapes are direct responses to what travelers or tourists expected or
desired from the Philippines.
Key Words: self-representation, Filipinoness, tourism posters, imagery, Western gaze, gender
INTRODUCTION
Filipinoness has been a very popular undertaking in the social sciences. One of the well-
researched topics is the study of images and representations of Filipinos as portrayed by various mass
media. This could be considered by the academe as one of the visible offshoots brought about by the
emergence of national consciousness among Filipino people. Moreover, studies on Filipinoness center
on the multi-faceted aspects of familial relationships, profiles and values, and mores of Filipinos. This
apparent regard for research on the images of Filipinoness highlights the need for more visualization,
this time in tourism posters.
A poster, according to Deza (1995), maybe defined as:
a.) a relatively large printed card or sheet of paper, often illustrated posted to
publicize something; b.) a fairly large piece of paper containing some kind of
brief visual information and usually affixed to a wall, bulletin board or any
hard surface; c.) any pictorial representation contained on a fairly broad sheet
of paper publicly displayed and so designed as to convey ideas and
information which could be understood at a glance; d.) a large placard or sign
that is posted in a public place to announce or publicize something (15).
Posters then are conduit of images designed to convey identities, characteristics, personalities
and distinctiveness. These pictorial representations serve many functions at many different levels and
in tourism, images are used in a number of practical ways to convey ideas and messages. Morgan and
Pritchard (1998) have this to say:
Firstly, images can be used to communicate messages about particular places

and products. Secondly, they can be used to redefine and reposition such
461
places and products. Thirdly, images can be used to counter negative, and
enhance positive, perceptions of products, places and peoples. Finally,
images and representations of products, places and peoples can be used to
specifically target key markets, especially in an age of highly targeted and
sophisticated market segmentation (3).
These, subsequently, are all functional ways of promotion, through tourism imagery and
representation. This is in response to the highly competitive and constantly changing marketplace,
may it be locally or internationally. However, such images and representation are also at work on a
much deeper, and arguably, a much more significant level. Tourism processes have broader cultural
meanings which extend beyond the actual consumption of tourism products and places. Tourism
identities are packaged according to particular dominant value systems and meanings. Just as tourism
sites are associated with ‘particular values, historical events and feelings’, so values, feelings and
events are used to promote such sites, reinforcing dominant ideologies.
At the genesis of the third millennium, images are the currency of cultures reflecting and
thereby reinforcing particular shared meanings and beliefs and particular value systems. Humankind
has now created signs and symbols that identify and represent groups. Symbols associated with
specific cultures or nations are produced through historical conditions and are a representation of
political motives in being the mechanism utilized to distinguish one organized group from another.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) is one agency responsible for the promotion and
production of signs and symbols, as in the case reflected in posters, to represent and distinguish
Filipinoness. It is the primary government bureau charged with the task to encourage, advocate, and
develop tourism as a major socio-economic activity to generate foreign currency and employment and
to spread the benefits of tourism to both the private and public sector (www.dot.gov.ph).
One of the most prominent promotional material used by DOT are the gigantic tourism
posters that hang in central island, on the outer walls of the agency, and other linked spots of DOT, in
regional and provincial places. Aside from these spaces, such posters are also evident in major roads
and highways in Metro Manila and other urban and rural locales. It is significant that it is
government-related billboards that crowd the streets of the space where advertisements would have
been posted only at a great cost. What is the significance and meaning behind the images and
symbols that appear in these public advertisements? The authors would argue that the contents of
these posters provide important clues in understanding contemporary Filipino culture, and
furthermore, lead to a better understanding of the discursive body of representations through which
Filipinos define themselves.
Such as, the slogan WOW Philippines exemplifies more meaning than simply the two words
(the interjection of being awed and the name of the country) printed on the posters hanging at the
entrance of DOT and other strategic areas in the country. It resonates as the official slogan of the
astonishing number and variety of government publications that propagate information about
Philippines and is contained in the millions of posters printed by the DOT distributed throughout the
archipelago and the world. But the more fundamental meaning lies in the fact that slogan alludes to
new stirrings and trends in the systematic representation of self-identity that modern Filipinos assume
for themselves.
With this, the authors believe the move to allot research time and space regarding the images
and symbols in WOW Philippines’ posters, and its representation of Filipinoness is indispensable and
substantive.
The central theme of this research rests on how images of the Philippines have been
established and recreated. The important point is to examine the methods Filipinos, utilizing their
own agency, have employed in envisioning their own nation. For that purpose, this paper examines
and reads symptomatically how Filipinos themselves have represented their culture through WOW
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Philippines’ posters by analyzing the inherent themes, uniqueness, as well as meanings attached to
them.
SURVEYING THE FIELD
On Tourism
According to Goeldner and Ritchie (2003), tourism is defined as the “processes, activities and
outcomes arising from relationships and the interactions among tourists, tourism suppliers, host
governments, host communities, and surrounding environments that are involved in the attracting and
hosting of visitors (5-6)”. It can be gleaned that one has to consider the multidimensional aspects of
tourism and its interactions with other activities to better understand the magnitude of this subject.
Modern tourism is a discipline that has only recently attracted the attention of scholars from many
fields. The majority of studies has been conducted for special purposes and has used narrow
operational perspectives to suit particular needs of researchers or government officials (7).
The most fundamental component of tourism is the natural resources and environment
(Goeldner and Ritchie, 14). Any given destination is primarily and unchangeably characterized by its
physiography (the nature and appearance of its landscape) and its climate (the kind of weather it has
over a period of years, i.e., the conditions of heat and cold, moisture and dryness, and wind. The
people are also a component of the natural environment. In the case of people, there are two
distinguishable categories of individuals: (1) those who “belong” to the destination (its residents) and
(2) those who are current or potential visitors to the destination (the tourist market).
Another dimension of the tourism aspect is the built environment that has been created by
humans (Goeldner and Ritchie, 15). This built environment includes the culture of the residents of the
host region. The culture of a people reflects many dimensions of its past development and its current
way of life. Culture is relatively permanent characteristic of a destination, and one that cannot be
changed simply to enhance tourism development.
On Tourism Image
It has been said that “All tourism is about illusion, or perhaps more kindly, about the creation
of atmosphere” (Dubinsky, 1994). In fact, Crick (1989) has argued that in tourism “the emphasis has
shifted away from production itself to image, advertising and consumption.” It is surprising that, until
recently, the study of tourism promotional imagery has been superficial. In words of Dann (1996),
Considering the sheer size of the international tourism industry today, there is
a remarkable lack of analysis of the many ways it is promoted (61).
Present work has concentrated on the images used to market destinations, their accuracy,
reliability and ability to satisfy or attract tourist demand (Chon, 1990). Too few authors have gone
beyond this to investigate what tourism marketing images reveal about societies’ prevailing views and
beliefs and much of the mainstream tourism literature, particularly that interested in image and
marketing fails to recognize to existence of issues of power. While economic power is addressed in
some tourism texts, the cultural power of tourism imagery and discussions of the discourse of tourism
imagery rarely figure. This is particularly surprising, since tourism is a subject fundamentally
concerned with perceptions of image and identity (Richter, 1995). In view of this, it can be argued
that a tourism image reveals as much about the power relations underpinning its construction, as it
does about the specific tourism product or country it promotes. The images on brochures, billboards
and television reveal the relationships between countries, between the genders and between races and
cultures. As Richter (1995) points out:
The image process socialize{s} visitors and residents alike to a political

impression of themselves vis-à-vis what they are seeing or remembering.
463
Such impressions are not neutral. They imply gradations of power and
influence, of value and dispensability, of what can be brought and what is not
for sale (81).
On Filipinoness
Taking the new criticism outlook that anything could be a text, reading has varying poses of
absorption. The images do not show the dynamic interaction between the ‘reader’ and the ‘text.’ The
act of reading is a live meeting between two active agents during which an exchange of ideas between
texts and reader generates an intercalation of psychic reactions leading to intellectual excitation or
enlightened repose. The world in the text which the reader comes in contact usually, presents a culture
not radically different from the culture of the reader. Nevertheless, where the author of the text is
conscious of responsibilities to its audience, there is always an aspect of that culture which he
emphasizes “to implant an impression, an attitude, or even a perspective in the reader.”
In the context of Philippine society, there is a need to qualify the acceptance of the outlook.
The educational system that continues to mold the texts and the readings grew out of theoretical
assumptions based on the history and critic of the West. Thus, the culture of reading should not
simply to humanize but to strive to “Filipinize” readers (Lumbera, 2001).
Being Filipino according to Landicho (2001) is a “freeing spirit.” Its perspective comes from
the discourse of racial experience through which ethnic concepts flow and grow. The “miseducation”
of Filipinos was identified as “root cause” of the strategic misrouting of the Filipino metamorphosis of
national consciousness. Finding the “national soul,” as Landicho calls, takes a discursive foundation
through understanding the Filipino character. The rooting from the self is the initial step of a correct
reading of the Filipino tradition. Looking at the “Filipinoness” of a text then is a logical method of
getting acquainted with the Filipino perspective, on its depth and zenith of identity.
FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY
Semiotic Approach to Understanding WOW Philippines’ Posters
The semiotic approach is concerned to understand the mechanics or ‘poetics’ of how language
produces meaning (Hall, 1997) and as such, is the study of the language of signs and thus meaning in
culture. Semioticians read culture and central to their approach is the belief that cultural objects and
practices carry and depend on meaning which is communicated via cultural signs and which, like any
other language, can be analyzed and read. Words, images and objects operate as signs which
construct meanings and thus pass on messages which can be interpreted by those who share the same
cultural codes. In this manner, the qualities of any product or place are understood to signify more
than their intrinsic value or use to the consumer just as diamonds, flowers, gold and perfume have all
acquired a ‘because she is worth it’ image and identity through advertising. Based on evoking
emotion through the illusive promise of pleasure, products or places offer happiness or other states of
existence by their mere acquisition.
In search of signifying this promise, products or places are provided with images since
advertisements or promotional materials often serve as substitute products (or places). On hand
images from other realms of life are utilized and adapted to create peculiarities between products or
places and consumers and images and ideas are thus connected with certain products or places rather
than originating from them. In this way, advertisements select particular elements from the world and
rearrange them to present the mythical world of the product (or place) and the advertisement (or
tourism poster).
Sign, signifier and signified are all terms used in the process of decoding the ideological
(Griffin, 2000) meaning of tourism posters. A sign is something that which holds meaning for people,
it may be an object, word or picture. To disentangle the idea of the sign is to understand how the
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process works since the sign is made up of two elements which are inextricably linked - the signifier
and the signified – both of which are needed to produce meaning. The signifier is the object which
features in the tourism posters – the pictures, words and symbols while the signified refers to the
concept or meaning suggested by the signifier.
Denotation and connotation are also concepts in the study of semiotics. Denotation refers to
the basic recognition of an object and is concerned with the simple description of signs. Connotation
links the sign itself to society, to the social ideology, the beliefs, concepts and values which inform
society and the descriptive is transformed by the reader into something which has meaning beyond its
‘objectivity’. So from these, one can see that representations work at a broader socio-cultural level
and as such, can be read to establish their meaning.
Figure 1 illustrates the framework of study to which the decoding and unmasking of symbols
and signs are anchored. It must be articulated that the diagram is the authors’ own conception of how
semiotics can be translated to the inquiry of WOW Philippines’ posters.
The illustration recognizes that language as deciphered in pictures, words and other
significant elements of WOW Philippines’ posters, representation of Filipinoness and meanings do not
exist as isolated concepts but are inexorably intertwined in a continuous circle whereby language
utilizes representations to construct meanings.
SELF-REPRESENTATION:
FILIPINONESS
Femininity
Masculinity
Exoticism
Ethnicity
Gendered-Tourism Landscapes
Signs and Signs and

Symbols Symbols
WOW Philippines’ Posters
Figure 1
Semiotic Diagram on WOW Philippines’ Posters
METHODS AND PROCEDURES
This study is a qualitative research using idiographic and phenomelogical methods in data
construction and analyses. It is an exploratory and descriptive type of research that serves to
document and decipher the signs and symbols in WOW Philippines’ posters for further visualization
of Filipinoness.
465
To complement the study’s main theoretical underpinning, the authors drew on textual
analysis as primordial method for the study. The unit of analysis consisted of 10 WOW Philippines’
posters. Textual analysis is a threefold process, which according to Robert Scholes (1990) involves:
1. Reading, a decoding process based on the commonality of linguistic

practice and cultural and historical information shared by the participants
of the situation.
2. Interpretation which consists of making inferences, drawing out
assumptions and implications, and noting the contradictions or what has
been left out or repressed.
3. Criticism, critiquing the value system and the cultural codes embodied in
the language, in tourism posters (34).
Purposeful sampling was utilized as sampling technique or procedure. The WOW Philippines’
posters, selected as objects of analysis for this paper, among many representatives, Filipinoness are
manufactured under specific conditions, as such carry significant signs and symbols which visualize
representation of Filipinoness.
To provide an extensive panorama on the perspectives and meanings on the visualization of

Filipinoness in WOW Philippines’ posters, the study explored into the following concepts and
indicators.
Guide Matrix for Concepts and Indicator
Objectives Concepts Indicators Method

Determine and describe Symbolic Image Dependent on Textual Analysis
symbolic images dominant objects
projected in WOW depicted in posters
Philippines’ posters
Ascertain and interpret Filipinoness Dependent on signs Textual Analysis
symbolic images and and symbols
representation of projected in tourism
Filipinoness posters
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Arranged by themes, the analysis and interpretation is funneled and clued-up by the Semiotics
approach and the authors’ personal sphere of experiences as they mesh and engage in the negotiated
realm of self (ideas) and text (posters).
Femininity
One of the most evident characteristics of WOW Philippines’ posters is the utilization of
traditional images of women. Out of 10 posters, three of these portray women in conventional and
customary mode. Usually, women wore glamorized bridal gowns with a Hispanic touch and seen with
big smiles. Behind their entities are picturesque spots in the country – cathedral, outside the cathedral
and old house. Two more posters typify women; but this time in a liberal manner - clad in bathing
suits in the beaches of Boracay and Camiguin Island. Women are depicted as “having the best time of
their lives” as they are seen laughing, drinking and dancing. At the rear are white sand beaches of
Boracay and Camiguin. These posters project desirable attributes of women – youthful and beautiful.
Sweetly, submissive, aggressively vibrant and sensual women endorse the country’s scenic places.
The authors believe that the DOT makes use of desired female qualities in the hope of
communicating effectively with their intended target markets. As Cohen (1995) points out:
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The representations in tourism brochures and the promotional videos are
largely self conscious constructions…they are presumably created to be
representative enough of what is being marketed to ensure consumer
satisfaction upon purchase, while sufficiently idealized to attract and perhaps
even to construct a particular tourist gaze.
This gaze clearly emerges as male and heterosexual – the signs, symbols, myths and fantasies
are invariably male-oriented and exclusively heterosexual. Thus, these socially defined features and
characteristics carry messages which have implications for female roles, for instance, through their
idealization of certain roles and relationships. In this case, the sense of femininity that alludes women
in WOW Philippines’ posters is ascribed as mail-order brides.
The discourse of mail-order brides is situated in the historical positioning of Filipinas into a
large scale schema inscribed in colonial and capitalist histories. The discourse is also connected to the
practice of shopping especially when these posters are placed in “strategic” places where tourists are
attracted to buy the products (women) sold in posters. The packaging of women as mail-order brides
links the marketing strategy used in two kinds of melancholy: a nuclear family fantasy that supports
entertainment and pleasure, and colonialist fantasy that brings racial conquest and rescue into
consideration.
These are manifested in terms of sexual or decorative roles and the portrayal of Filipinas as
passive traditionalists (in three posters), uninfluenced by modernity, and as liberalists (in two posters),
predisposed to avant-garde outlook. To say the least, a tourist is given an option as to which side of
the coin he desires to buy – the traditionalists or liberalists.
The authors presuppose that women in these posters are used as paraphernalia for economic
development of the country by placing Filipinas in nontraditional and traditional roles (for tourist to
have a choice of a “bride”) – their youthful attributes, angelic faces and sexy bodies – become the
very requisite for being positioned in this economic situation. This then ensues the landmark,
signpost, of WOW Philippines’ posters significantly creating a discursive mindset among Filipinos
and non Filipinos a sexualized and gendered Filipino woman.
In a patriarchal society, like Philippines, women are seemed to be considered like commodity.
This attitude towards women is a result of continuing mental colonialism: the friars casting indio
women in the belief of virginity for otherwise God will punish them; Uncle Sam staging them in
vaudevilles as well as seeing them impregnated for concrete grounds for a prolonged stay; Japanese
soldiers making them as ‘comforts.’ The history of the Philippine conquests connotes that women are
indirectly the victims, and to further promote tourism, the authors believe that this substantiates the
need to cast women in their capacity for sexual imaginings.
Masculinity
The emergence of women as economic powers in the West and in other parts of the world has
led to the development, as yet small-scale, the articulation of masculinity in one WOW Philippines’
poster - men are bared, muscular body is the norm as they decorate the landscape of Bohol.
The physiques of these men are always often enhanced – muscular bodies of handsome young
men and with clean white teeth. In other words, these men are represented as the ideal type of males,
which are denoted as virile, top and macho. This result also finds its way on images of men in films.
The study of Michael Antigua (1983) revealed that films exhibited values like machismo and
pakitang-gilas (braggadocio) were inherent in Filipino males.
467
The racial identification of these men as Filipino – tan and auburn – indicates the
indigenization of the subject matter worthy of mass consumption. Ethnicity and exoticism (as will be
discussed in the next theme) engage Filipino men to be sexualized and gendered, too.
As these models display their defined muscles and photogenic faces lead, presumably, in
utility for their audiences (women and gay tourists alike) to salivate over. For gay and queer
audiences, these male models become epitomes and objectified indices of an ideal man lover. For
women, they are also the ideal man lover who one wishes to bed with, to have children with or to wed
or simply to have fun.
The image of masculinity depicted in one WOW Philippines’ poster considerably connotes the
“purchasable” male body (virtual or real). This undeniably a result of the increasing numbers of
mobile Filipino and foreign women, and linked to this is their gradual hold of economic powers as
they pronounce empowerment and non-marginalization in the global realm. Filipinos love the idea of
machismo. In fact, to be considered worthy of respect and emulation, one has to ‘magpakalalaki’(be a
man). The term has become synonymous to positive values. In the advent of technology, however, the
pagkalalaki (being a man) has to adopt the changing prerequisites. This time, pagkalalaki means
muscles and bare bodies. The patriarchal culture of the country believes that men do not have
anything to lose, and so to paste them in tourism posters does not matter really.
Ethnicity (and Exoticism)
Another blaring theme of WOW Philippines’ posters is the promulgation of the concept of
ethnicity and exoticism. Three posters bear such thematic supposition. Women clad in ethnic and
exotic clothes and accessories evidently exemplify these posters. The authors underscore the need for
full understanding that these constructions are critical to the production of the concept of Filipinoness,
as defined and circumscribed by DOT.
In point of fact, ethnicity is a disputed concept – as Max Weber said, ethnicity like its close
relative, the nation cannot easily be defined precisely for sociological purposes (Jenkins, 1997). This
was also the thoughts of Landicho (2001) when he said that Filipinoness is a “freeing spirit.” Its
perspective comes from the discourse of racial experience through which ethnic concepts flow and
grow. Hughes (cited in Morgan and Pritchard, 1998), meanwhile, underlines that:
An ethnic group is not one because of the degree of measurable or observable

difference from other groups; it is an ethnic group, on the contrary, because
the people in it and the people out of it know that it is one…if it is easy to
resign from the group, it is not truly an ethnic group (211).
As such ethnicity then leads to the construction of an identity – thus involved with the “outs”
as well as the “ins”, and as a result, a minority group, which is of course, cannot be isolated from the
majority. Yet in tourism, work has concentrated on the minorities – itself an illustration that ethnicity
is related to the power of some to define it as such, or to exclude others. The authors suppose that
DOT is still encircled and bordered on the tainted edifice formation of foreign or ascendant thoughts
of Filipinoness.
Exoticism comes also into play in WOW Philippines posters. Images of the remote and
unfamiliar are exposed in posters. However, it should be stressed that these concepts of remoteness
and unfamiliarity are inherently contradictory because while retaining exoticism, these places and
peoples need to be accessible to tourists.
Since women are clad in ethnic clothes and wares, this representation leads women as being
represented as exotic but more than this, as an exoticism which is there to be experienced - the more
exotic, in other words, the more enticing and beguiling they become to tourists. This certain kind of
468
exoticism that exudes among Filipina women in WOW Philippines’ posters made way for undeniable
kind of mystery or magic among tourists which eventually draw them to visit and explore the country.
This jarring finding only goes to show that the construction of ethnicity and exoticism
becomes a characterization of people rather than themselves – meaning that each one participates in
the social construction of Filipinoness, as ethnic and exotic; and that DOT plays a primordial role in
the development of such faint conception.
Once these posters are generated, distributed and posted or lynched, the ethnic and exotic
identity undergoes a transformation into a living representation of Filipinoness. Essentially, DOT has
to carefully initiate sensitivity on the production of posters so as to avoid distorted perceptions from
people around the globe. Not only do these posters create and foster ethnicity which is consumed by
tourists, these also contribute to the shaping of the way of life of those who are in the posters.
The authors ruminate that posters sculpt the ideological concept of ethnicity and exoticism as
deployed by DOT. This, in essence, obscures the reality of cultural norms of Filipinoness, which are
never static. The ideas of ethnicity and exoticism are inherent, by and large, on the concept of
tradition. The concept of being ethnic is very important in the discussion of Filipino culture. It is sad
that with the Filipino’s submission to foreign magnet, the idea of ethnicity was mixed with the
‘uncultured,’ ‘uncivilized,’ and ‘savage.’ These points of view became more relevant in the advent of
postcolonialism where being exotic does not necessarily mean ‘the original and the ethnic,’ but the
one that is yet to be colonized. There is nothing wrong with the WOW Philippines’ posters being
never static; however, there is a little danger, for the glad show of this ethnicity, the Filipinos open
their uncolonized culture to the capacity of tourism and commerce to reinvent the culture according to
the need of the economy.
Tourism Landscapes
The authors discern that concepts of femininity and masculinity correspond to specific
tourism landscape. To elucidate, “woman becomes nature, and nature woman”…while volcanoes and
rivers are represented by men. The feminization and masculinization of nature and landscapes are
indeed grounded in the gender relationships which characterize a society. This gendered tourism
landscapes offer feminine seduction and masculine adventure – attractions which seem to be
considered to appeal to tourists. As Kinnard and Hall (1994 cited in Morgan and Pritchard 1998: 197)
have argued that tourism landscapes, just like tourism activities, are gendered:
…different landscapes take on gendered perception…the rough rugged

natural environment of wild national parks, Arctic tundra or high mountains
are there to be ‘conquered’, usually by men. Similarly, family-orientated
entertainment or ‘shopping’ as a leisure pursuit are often marketed toward
women in their role as careers of the family.
Female landscapes proliferate in WOW Philippines’ posters which significantly highlight

exotic tourism products (women, wares, men, clothes, and landscapes). Tourists are lured to ‘discover
nature’s little secrets’ while marketing focuses on the island of Boracay. Another for Boracay is
‘Boracay is simply irresistible’ with movie and sexy star on the side. One may wonder, who is truly
irresistible – Boracay? or the sexy star? The language and atmosphere of seduction is greatly apparent
on these posters. Terms laden with innuendo are used liberally to describe the Boracay tourism
product – a product which is at one and the same time tempting, seductive, teasing and sensuous.
With such kind of marketing concept, tourists are invited to participate on these stimulating scenarios,
a place where tourists can let their imaginations run wild. A place that defines the word ‘vacation’, in
whatever tourists may define it – Boracay has it to offer for them.
Indeed such offers are particularly appealing if tourists want to be freed from “standards
imposed by respectable women back home” to indulge in the imagined pleasures of the exotic.
469
In this context, therefore, the association of travel with tourists search for adventure and
discovery of the exotic is juxtaposed with the passive, virginal, irresistible and feminine landscapes
waiting to be explored.
While some tourism researchers have begun to discuss sexualized and feminized landscapes,
the authors argue that gendered landscapes are by no means exclusively feminine, it is also masculine.
In contrast to the passive, seductive feminine landscapes, male landscapes are active, wild,
untamed and often harsh and even penetrative. ‘Sugar…and more’ and ‘wild over water’ depict male
landscapes. What is significant is that these wild landscapes have no place for female exploration.
Thus, the images and themes used to promote Philippine tourism are grounded in a masculine
country. Tourists are invited to revisit their childhood fantasies and to relive the bygone era of the
gold rush and retrace a route marked with rafting and surge of energies. These themes of adventure,
excitement and exploration are offered as an experience of a lifetime. Moreover, these also speak of
an environment in which tourists can rediscover themselves and reacquaint themselves with the real
and natural world.
Here, the authors draw a parallel between the construction of these gendered landscapes and
Edensor and Kothari’s (cited in Morgan and Pritchard, 1998: 203) work on the masculinization of the
heritage of Stirling in Scotland. They have described the ways in which
heritage production, interpretation and consumption are gendered…these

processes articulate masculinized notions of place and identity, and male
dominated versions…experience and activity.
These themes and constructions in WOW Philippines’ posters raise serious questions about
how marketers and image creators use and construct images and who they perceive as their intended
audience because these posters definitely breed Filipinoness. As Sharp (1996) comments, “National
identity…is constructed in particular times and places through relations of power already existent in
society.” He also reveals how the:
making of Canada in its symbolic dimension entailed representational

practices that were deeply saturated with race and gender concepts…out of
which a dominant imagined geography of nation grew.
On Visualization of Filipinoness
In the discussion of Filipinoness, it is necessary to tackle its origin. It is obvious that it came
from ‘Filipino’ which is both a term for the people residing in the Philippines and is the national
language. To visualize it, then, is to imagine the kind of residence and socio-linguistic experience. It
is interesting to be reminded that the term ‘Filipino’ did not just come easy in the roads of history.
The term replaced the degrading term ‘indio,’ and for the nervousness of the friars that they would be
attacked by their subjects, a governor used ‘Filipino’ to avoid more uprisings.
The term, which is ‘pagka-Filipino,’ is hard to be coined in terms of its indicators. The basic
question – what is Filipino – encompasses all roads of colonialism that marked the country to its pride
of being a conducive site of the practice of foreign empire.
The beginnings of ‘Filipinoness’ coincided with the height of mental colonial imperialism.
The term has evolved from the engenderment and sexualization, specifically to the US colonialism.
This feminine genderization become integral to the imperialist project of enlightenment and
modernization. Colonialism gets codified in rhetorical practice of enlightenment; and by rhetorical,
the authors do not only refer to verbal representations but also to material forces that substantiate
language and other signs of representation. Carved in the language of machismo and patriarchy (for
470
example, wild over water, sugar and more, conquer), colonialism is materialized not only through
political institutions but also through a covert practice of a superior race – culturally represented as
the virile colonialist male – saving and conquering the inferior race. To visualize, therefore, the
materials that are considered ‘Filipino’ is also rejuvenating its colonial strengths and weaknesses.
The authors find it necessary that to identify ‘Filipinoness’ is to map out timeline of
colonialism; and from there, one has to strain the juices of ethnicity. It is not an easy task to perform
the identification test. By and large, it is necessary to go back to the prehistoric stage. The term
prehistoric is even negatively suggestive of the Philippines not having a valid existence before the
Spanish invasion. The authors believe that the large concept of Filipinoness relies in the idea of what
is ethnic; and where can ethnic be found but on the pre-Spanish moments. This clears the plotting
form of the areas – the nature (which is virgin, the spice islands), the religion (which Philippine
history considers the Spanish gateway idea to conquest), and the peoples (which are the submissive
savages). These three points are the essential forms of the indigenous.
These points are directly in showing in WOW Philippines’ posters. The country’s nature is
exposed – the beaches, the hills, the mountains, and are subjected to tourist fate. The historical places,
like churches, do not only project the nation’s past but also the peoples’ fragility towards foreign
capacity to rule. The men and women are presented not exactly to promote the product (the tourist
spot) but to commodify their beauties and assets. Typically, there is a bargain in self-representation.
Exposing one’s identity is accepting the return of its de-indigenized form.
The exposition of one’s ethnicity is an opportunity for an ‘outside’ force to overtake which
results the one’s self-representation as the ‘other’ in the discourse of culture. The superiority of ‘the’
culture is an imposition which explains that to visualize Filipinoness is to see what is still left to be
conquered.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Images are produced according to particular values and ideologies and are also used as a
means to project those values. The purpose of this research was to examine not how Filipinoness is
viewed from the outside but how Filipinos themselves actively created its own images. It was through
tourism posters, a site closest to the view of outsiders in terms of strategy that this paper attempted to
analyze how images of Filipinoness are created.
The visualization of Filipinoness in WOW Philippines’ posters demonstrates a process

through which being a Filipino became exoticized and ethnicized and duly decontextualized and
gendered. Such images then play a vital role in creating and maintaining everyday perceptions of
accepted Filipinoness, which in effect are limiting and degrading, would contribute significantly
towards legitimizing such visualization.
The authors recommend that the DOT should redefine and reconstruct their presentation of
WOW Philippines’ Posters in the construction of Filipinoness. These reformations should provide
venue for realistic documentations of Filipinoness. These representations then can configure as points
of empowerment, rather than of marginalization and oppression.
REFERENCES
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Undergraduate Thesis, College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines-Diliman.
Chon, K.S. (1990). The role of destination image in tourism: A review and discussion. Tourist
Review, 45 (2), 2-9.
471
Cohen, C.B. (1995). Marketing paradise, making nation. Annals of Tourism Research, 22 (2), 404-
421.
Crick, M. (1989). Representations of international tourism in the social sciences: sun, sex, sights,
savings and servility, Annual Review of Anthropology, 18: 307-344.
Dann, G. (1996). The people of tourist brochures, 61-82 in Selwyn, T. (ed). The Tourist Image: Myths
and Myth Making in Tourism. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.
Deza, A.B. (1995). The poster handbook: An orientation to visual communication. Manila: Asian
Social Institute.
Dubinksy, K. (1994). The pleasure is exquisite but violent: The imaginary geography of Niagara
Falls in the nineteenth century. Journal of Canadian Studies, 29 (2), 64-68.
Goeldner, Charles & J.R. Brent Ritchie. (2003). Tourism: Principles, practices and philosophies.
Ninth edition. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Griffin, Em. (2000). A first look at communication theory. USA: McGraw Hill.
Hall, Stuart. (1997). Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. London: SAGE
and Open University.
Jenkins, R. (1997). Rethinking ethnicity, arguments and explorations. London: SAGE.
Landicho, Domingo. (2001). Diskurso sa pilipinismo: Pagsilang ng inangbayan. Quezon City:

University of the Philippines Press.
Lumbera, Beinvenido. (2001). Writing the nation. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press.
Morgan, Nigel and Annette Pritchard. (1998). Tourism promotion and power. England: John Wiley
and Sons Ltd.
[Online] Retrieved from www.dot.gov.ph
Richter, L.K. (1995). Gender and race: Neglected variables in tourism research. 71-91 in Butler, R.
and Pearce , D. (eds) Change in tourism, people, places, processes. London: Routledge: 72.
Scholes, Robert (1990). Textual power: Literacy theory and the teaching of English. New Haven:
Yale University Press.
Sharp, J.P. (1996). Gendering nationhood’, 97-108 in Duncan, N. (ed.) Bodyspace: destabilizing
geographies of gender and sexuality. Routledge, London.
472
SENSORY EVALUATION ON THE DEVELOPED GINSENG SAUCES
BY AMERICAN CONSUMERS
Hyun-A Lee
Eun-Jung Lee
Kyung-Soo Han
and
Sang-Pil Hong
ABSTRACT
The physically stable Ginseng paste was made using steaming and homogenization technique,
and its rheological properties was controlled with xanthan gum, and the Ginseng base was established
with sugars, salts, acids, spices and others through consumer tests. Using ginseng base, salad dressing,
chicken sauce, and steak sauce were made and their quality were improved through evaluation by
FGI(focus group interview) or NGT(nominal group technology). In the evaluation of the American
people by 9 point hedonic scale, all the sauces provided recorded high level of liking in all the
attributes with liking at above 6.0 points. Steak sauce and salad dressing recorded highest liking
indicated by 6.70 and 6.0 points, respectively. The chicken sauce also recorded similar level with
steak sauce or salad dressing, recording a means of 6.30 points for overall acceptance. Through
storage tests of Ginseng sauces with heat treatment, no significant changes were observed by 4 weeks
at 37℃ in the pH, titratable acidity and total microbial counts including sensory evaluation,
suggesting commercial market distribution.
INTRODUCTION
Ginseng, a medicinal herb, has long been used in maintaining physical vitality throughout the
Korea and China. Korean ginseng is substantiated to be effective to control diabetes mellitus, to help
prevent cancer development, to normalize blood pressure, to prevent atherosclerosis, to be an agent
for anti-fatigue and anti-stress and anti-aging, to enhance brain activity and the immune system, and
to inhibit the AIDS virus, etc. The production scale of ginseng was 13,000 M/T and the domestic
needs was 153,000 million Won, and export scale was $ 80 million in 2002. As export scale tends to
decrease compared with past several years, development of various ginseng products is needed for the
enlargement of export. Ginseng can be applied to chicken, hamburger, hot dog, ham and vegetables
like mustard sauces. We studied on the development of ginseng base and its variety which is
acceptable to the American consumers through survey on Ginseng for American, preparation of
Ginseng base, optimization of rheological property, focus group interview by trained panels,
consumer test, and shelf-life assay of the products.
473
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Fresh Ginseng(4-6 years) was purchased from local grocery store and was washed with clean
water and was treated with various methods. FGI and cosumer test was conducted using 10 trained
panels and recruited 88 respondents, respectively, at Iowa state university. Data were analyzed using
the generalized linear model procedure of SAS software (SAS Institute Inc. 1995); Student-Newman-
Keul’s multiple range test was used to compare the mean values of among sauces. Shelf life of the
sauce products were evaluated using PCA counts, pH, titratable acidity, color values and sensory
evaluation to establish optimum condition.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1) Survey on the ginseng for American
Almost all the respondent(54%) considered ginseng as a medicinal herb and 40% of
respondents pointed out health benefit to try. They favored in the order of chicken(15%), beef
steak(13%), salad and pork(12%) as a fellow food with ginseng, and hoped to reflect brown (49%) or
yellow color(49%), viscosity like mustard sauce(36%), A1 sauce (29%) or tomato ketchup(27%) level,
moderate sweetness, sourness, saltiness, and mild ginseng aroma and flavor. Basil, rosemary, thyme,
oregano as proper herbs, ginger or garlic as spices, honey as a sweetner, apple or balsamic vinegar as
vinegars were chosen, respectively.
n e ve r trie d
32%
h e a lth b e n e fits
a ll 40%
5%
ta s te fla vo r/o d o r
18% 5%
s tro n g g in s e n g o th e rs
fla vo r 5%
17%
k e e p in g m ild
m a s kin g g in s e n g
g in s e n g fla vo r fla v o r
20% 58%
474
o thers
so up fried ch icken
3%
10% 15%
p o rk
12% stea k
13%
sp ag hetti
2%
p izza
3%
sa la d s
ham b urg er
ham and sausag e 12%
5% ho t d o g eg g ro ll a n d b a co n
1%
6% 13%
b arb ecue
5%
c o lo r
deep o th e rs
b ro w n 2%
27%
y e llo w
25%
b ro w n
22% deep
y e llo w
24%
v is c o s ity
m u s ta rd je lly
ja m
36% 4%
4%
A1
sauce
k e tc h u p 29%
27%
n o id e a
23%
b itte rn e s s
2% m e d ic in a l
h e rb
g in s e n g fla v o r 54%
7% v a lu a b le
e ffic a c y
14%
Fig 1
Survey on Ginseng for American
475
2) Homogenization of ginseng
Various methods were tried to get a ginseng homogenate which can avoid mouthfeeling of
the ginseng particles. The simple homogenization method using fresh ginseng with 2 to 4 times of
water was not effective in reducing particle size. When ginseng was gelatinized by boiling at 70-80℃,
the particle size of ginseng was reduced to the acceptable level by the above homogenization method
though it caused much foam, brown color and off flavors which is not acceptable as a base sauce.
These problem could be solved by using steamed ginseng at 100℃ for 20-30 min and simply
homogenizing it with hot water. As shown in Fig. 2, the homogenate showed better ginseng flavors
without foam and brown color unlike other treatments, and the mean diameter of the particles were
191.49µm.
C: Raw/milled, T1 : Boiled/milled, T2 : Steamed/milled
Fig. 2
Appearance of homogenized ginseng according to treat ments
3) Thickening of Ginseng homogenates
Various hydrocolloids such as pectin, xanthan gum, guar gum, and starch were used to get
acceptable rheological properties like mustard sauce. The combination of 2-3% starch and 0.3%
xanthan gums or each use gave the ginseng base the similar rheological properties like mustard sauce
which is a concept of ginseng sauce product to develop in this study. In the rheometer analysis of the
treatments, the G' value of 0.3% xanthan gum treatment increased from 20 dyne/cm at 0 Hz to 100
dyne/cm at 10 Hz while G'/G'' values tended to decrease from 5.0 at 0 Hz to 1.5 at 10 Hz.
476
160
140
0%
120 0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
100
0.4%
G'(dyne/cm )
2
80
60
40
20
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Frequency(Hz)
5 0%
0.1%
0.2%
0.3%
4
0.4%
Tan(delta)
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Frequency(Hz)
Fig 3
Changes of rheological properties of ginseng paste by xanthan gum
4) Making varied sauce using ginseng paste and American consumer test
To investigate the availability of ginseng paste(base) to different sauces, salad dressing,

chicken sauce and steak sauce as varied sauce were prepared by the modified general recipes using
ginseng paste, and its quality was improved through evaluation and comments by FGI (focus group
interview) at Iowa state university.(Table 1) In the evaluation of the American consumers(88
477
respondents, Table 2) by 9 point hedonic scale, all the sauces recorded high level of liking in all the
attributes with liking at above 6.0 points. Steak sauce and salad dressing recorded highest liking
indicated by 6.70 and 6.0 points, respectively. The chicken sauce also recorded similar level with
steak sauce or salad dressing, recording a means of 6.30 points for overall acceptance. (Table 3)
5) Changes of ginseng sauces during storage time
Gingseng sauces were treated by heat, and stored at 37℃ for 28 days, and the pH, titratable
acidity, color and total microorganisms were assayed. For all the samples, no significant changes were
observed in the pH, titratable acidity and total microbial counts including sensory evaluation during
28 days.
With above results, we propose that Ginseng base and its sauce products are applicable to
various food market, and especially for Americans as an acceptable healthy food products.
Table 1
Results of Focus group interview on Ginseng sauces
Sauce Products Comments Remark

Bitterness, soil odor Ginseng flavor masking
Base
No problem as a base for use lime flavor
Recipe change
Salad dressing Color, ginseng odor, bitterness, sourness
pepper, garlic, onion
Recipe change
Chiken sauce Viscosity, bitterness, odor, flavor,
mustard, honey, garlic
Recipe change
Steak sauce Bitterness, thickness, flavor
Herb and spice, smoke flavor
Table 2
Age
>64 Total
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64
Respondents 12 14 18 27 14 3 88
% 13.6 15.9 20.5 30.7 15.9 3.4 100
Table 3
Attributes Salad dressing Chicken sauce Steak sauce

Color 5.9±1.8b 7.0±1.6a 7.3±1.2a
Aroma 6.0±1.8 6.3±1.7 6.5±1.7
Flavor 6.7±1.8 6.3±2.3 6.5±2.1
Overall acceptance 6.6±1.8 6.3±2.2 6.7±1.9
478
REFERENCES
Agriculture and Fisheries and Livestock News, Annual Report of Korea Food (2004)
Choi, S.K (1997). Theory of sauce and application. Hyeonseol pub. com
Hong, S.P. (2002). Development of Kochujang sauce, KFRI report.
Jeong, D.H (1998). Food biological activity, Seonjin Pub. Com
Jeong, H.B et al (2003). Strategy of globalization of Ginseong industry, Ijin Pub. Com
Kim, K.O. (1993). Sensory evaluation technique and application, Shinkwang pub. Com.
Kim, U.J., & Ku, K.H. (2001). Sensory evaluation tehchnique, Hyoil pub. com.,
KT&G (1994) Korean Ginseong.
Mun, H.Y. (1994). Standardization of assorted cuisine for the globalization of Korean food. Food
Sci.& Ind., 27(2), 38
Park, S.H., Medicinal Ginseng Entrée, Korea food service information
Kim, H.J., Nam, S.H., & Kim, H.S., & Lee, S.K. (1977). Studies on the Panax Ginseng , C.A.
Meyer. , Korean J Food Sci. Technol., 9(1), 19
479
THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ALL-INCLUSIVE AND
NON-INCLUSIVE RESORT HOTELS IN TURKEY
Hakan Yilmaz
Anadolu University
ABSTRACT
Today companies that are exposed to highly competitive environment are trying and
developing different applications in order to primarily survive and also differentiate themselves.
When mentioned about hotels, they are looking for the ways of being different from others by
controlling costs and decreasing prices, and offering packages. All-inclusive is a hospitality system
which offers all products and services as a part of accommodation price. The system has commonly
been used at the coastal resorts of the Turkey after 1997, depending on growing demand and pressure
from tour operators and travel agencies. By its peculiar applications, the all-inclusive system has
replaced offerings, consumptions and costs of the hospitality product.
Key Words: All-inclusive system, resort hotels, tourism, Turkey, food & beverage costs.
1. INTRODUCTION
This paper explores the dissimilar effects of all-inclusive and non-inclusive (half-board)
hospitality systems especially on the costs of food and beverage department, which is composed of
raw material, labor and indirect production costs. It is probably said that all-inclusive concept is used
in literature by two different meaning such as all-inclusive package tours and all-inclusive hospitality
system (maybe all-inclusive plan).
The package tour, package holiday and package travel are all-inclusive tours, often with flight
transportation, all with limited flexibility and with the same purpose (Hanefors and Mossberg, 1999;
186). An extended definition was made by European Union Package Travel Directive which was
adopted in June 1990 and should come into force in all member states by 31 December 1992. Package
means the pre-arranged combination of not fewer than two of the following when sold or offered for
sale at an inclusive price and the service covers a period of more than 24 hours or includes overnight
accommodation; transport, accommodation, other tourist services not ancillary to transport or
accommodation and accounting for a significant proportion of the package (Middleton, 1991; 186).
This means that the package stands for at least two of the following services that are sold or offered
for sale at an inclusive price: flight transport, accommodation, guides, activities and sometimes food
(Hanefors and Mossberg, 1999; 187).
The other meaning of all-inclusive concept is a hospitality system which offers all products
and services as a part of accommodation price. Poon (1998; 63), points out that the idea of the all-
inclusive club holiday began with Butlins and Pontins in the UK during the 1930s. But they were not
cashless. Drinks, tips and other services were paid for in some form of currency. In the 1950s, Club
Meditarranee, the French company popularly known as “Club Med”, started to expand the concept of
the holiday camp around the globe (Issa and Jayawardena, 2003; 167). Club Med’s also pioneered the
all-inclusive concept in the Mediterranean as long ago as the 1950s. Horner and Swarbrooke (2004;
226) stated that in recent years, it could seen a massive increase in the development of new all-
inclusive resorts, and the adoption of older traditional hotels into all-inclusive properties, notably in
the Mediterranean. It is inevitable that Turkey as a Mediterranean country influenced more and more
by this change.
It is important to recognize in this paper, the all-inclusive concept is using the concept as a
hospitality system, not as a package tour. While the term “all-inclusive” in this paper will refer solely
to hospitality system, non-inclusive means also a hospitality system but offers only breakfast and
dinner. The first used of all-inclusive hospitality system in Turkey started with Marco Polo Holiday
480
Village. Then the system has commonly been used at the coastal resorts of the Turkey after 1997,
depending on growing demand and pressure from tour operators and travel agencies. Boxill (2004;
270) alleged that the rapid development of the all-inclusive system, while good for the short-run, has
had significant long-run negative effects on the expansion of the industry. There is a need to
understand the effects of this evolution in Turkey. By achieving this intention, this paper reviews how
and in what ways hotels have implemented these hospitality systems and analyses reasons of
advantages and disadvantages of these systems. That is to say that this study aims to reveal the
different effects of all-inclusive and non-inclusive hospitality systems. There is another important
issue that the research conclusions can be useful for hotel managers both in evaluating their
hospitality systems’ strategies and also their marketing applications.
All-inclusive hospitality system is not a new application, but some aspects of the system is
still undergoing in a discussion. However, some practitioners and academicians stressed that the
system has also beneficial sides both tourists and hotels. Boxill remarked that (2004; 270) the all-
inclusive system has been able to bring in tourists, to shield and protect them from the perceived
crime or security problems which existed in the wider society. Horner and Swarbrooke (2004; 226)’s
view supports this approach, with the growth of long-haul travel to unfamiliar destinations, many
tourists do not feel confident about traveling off site to buy meals in countries, whose language they
don’t understand. On the demand side, Horner and Swarbrooke also stated that tourists like the idea of
paying one price and not having worry about what “extras” they will have to pay, for that will inflate
the total cost of their holiday. Besides this, because all drinks, activities and entertainment are
included in most of all-inclusive systems, customers believe that they are receiving good value for
money.
Despite all the apparent and much vaunted advantages, Naylor and Frank (2001; 270)
examines the importance of delivering an all-inclusive price bundle to consumers. Bundled pricing,
the selling of two or more products or services for a single price, is becoming increasingly common in
the service industry (Naylor and Frank, 2001; 270). The hospitality industry commonly bundles goods
and services (Gourville and Soman, 2001; 29), which can be called all-inclusive hospitality system.
Naylor and Franks findings propounded that providing an all-inclusive price, even if actual outlay is
higher, will significantly increase perceptions of value for first-time consumers. An other important
evidence suggests that, tourists would rather pay more an all-inclusive price than deal with separate
changes, even if the bill is less. Although these findings, Gourville and Soman (2001; 37) underlined
that bundling also has a direct, substantial negative relationship with consumption. They also stated
that bundling tend to mask the cost of individual items within a bundle, allowing consumers to treat
the purchased item as it was free. That is consumers feel less sunk-cost pressure to consume the item
than they would have had they purchased the item in an unbundled.
From the operator’s or agency’s point of view, Swarbrooke (1999; 331) emphasized that the
all-inclusive system makes financial planning easier, because they knows how many meals they will
need to make and estimate the demand for drinks. According to Poon (1998; 73) this would be major
strengths also for resorts, because the all-inclusive system has brought to management is certainty in
planning and inventory control. In an other words, the resorts knows at all times how many meals will
be needed on a particular day and can, therefore, plan for the purchase and inventory of food and
beverages with greater assurance than at other non-inclusive resorts.
Swarbrooke (1999; 331) expressed that the main criticism of all-inclusive resort complexes is
that they greatly reduce the spin-off benefits of tourism for local business. As the all-inclusive
package tends to include meals, drinks, entertainment and all or most sporting activities, tourists do
not spend money on eating out in local restaurants, drinking in bars and watersport activities
(Swarbrooke, 1999; 331). A parallel view but a different side was propounded by Jayawardena (2002;
91) pointed out that despite expectations a typical all-inclusive hotel guest may spend very little time
visiting attractions, meeting local people, taking tours and experiencing the local culture. By taking
481
Boxill (2004; 270)’s view into consideration, that is to say, the rapid growth of the all-inclusive
system, which constitutes a significant proportion of the rooms, is probably preventing other aspects
of the tourism industry from growing.
An other negative aspect of all-inclusive system was emphasized by Swarbrooke (1999; 331).
According to Swarbrooke, the all-inclusive system can also make the resorts complexes themselves
too complacent because they already have the tourist’s money and do not need to impress them to
ensure that they do not go off and spend their money elsewhere in the area. This can therefore result
in poor quality standards in relation to food and drinks.
Comparing all-inclusive and non-inclusive hospitality systems, the main differences between
them can be seen in their meal plan which they offer as a part of hotel price. At the same time, in all-
inclusive system the fact that tourists know everything is paid for many encourage them to eat and
drink too much (Swarbrooke 1999; 331). Therefore it is probably that there can be dissimilar effects
of all-inclusive and non-inclusive hospitality system on the costs of food and beverage department.
Turksoy (1998; 41) divided food and beverage costs into three categories. These are raw material and
labor that both are direct, indirect production costs.
3. METHODOLOGY
3.1. Development of the instrument and final questionnaire
The fieldwork was designed to answer questions relating to find out the dissimilar effects of
all-inclusive and non-inclusive hospitality systems especially on the costs of food and beverage
department. This was in order to develop recommendations to improve current use of hospitality
systems, enabling managers to make more effective decisions. A prototype questionnaire was
developed and modified with inputs by several hotel managers and academicians to investigate the
advantages and disadvantages of hospitality systems. After pilot testing and subsequent revisions were
completed, the questionnaires were taken to one manager of each hotel in the sample. Questionnaire
guide stated that the results were confidential and anonymous, and that the manager’s participation
was appreciated greatly. Respondents were assured that the results would be available, if requested,
and all results would be reported only in aggregate form to protect individual privacy.
A three-page questionnaire, -consisting 36 questions- was either sent to respondents by e-mail

or fax, or was administered through face to face interviews. A questionnaire which is composed of
three parts was design to define the research aims. First part of the questionnaire is questioning
general structure of hotels. Second part is formed to reveal viewpoints of hotels’ managers about the
hospitality systems’ advantages and disadvantages. Last part of the questionnaire is investigating the
effects of different hospitality systems on food & beverage costs and occupancy rate. Data were
analyzed with univariate descriptive statistics including frequencies and mean ratings.
3.2. Sampling
Purposive sampling was used to determined research population. Since the use of all-inclusive
hospitality system use is widespread in south coastal resorts, five stars hotel in Antalya were selected
as a research population. The 2003 directory of Turkey Tourism Ministry, from a total of 87 five star
resort hotels in August 2003, 64 five star hotels responded to data provision requests, thus resulting in
a 74 % response rate for the study. The reason for the non-completion of the survey included no
interest in the survey and too busy in the summer time. Forty three (67 %) of these hotels were used
all-inclusive and twenty one (33 %) of these hotels were used non-inclusive hospitality system.
482
4. RESULTS and FINDINGS
4.1. Profile of the Respondents
The demographic profile of the respondents is presented in Table 1. It shows that males
constituted 95.3 % (n 41) of respondents in all-inclusive hotels and 81 % (n 17) of respondents in non-
inclusive hotels. About 60.4 % of the respondents had postsecondary or above education level in all-
inclusive’, while 85.7 % had a postsecondary or above education level in non-inclusive’. In terms of
occupation, the majority of the respondents from both were food and beverage managers (65.1 % all-
inclusive, 76.2 % non-inclusive). General manager came second in both respondents, followed by
accounting manager and human resources manager. Although the actual job titles varied from hotel to
hotel, all the main study interviews included managers responsible for: food and beverage
management, general management and accounting management. More than half of the respondents in
both systems had a work experience in tourism between 11-20 years. Experienced managers’ answers
can be regarded as more confidential for explaining advantages and disadvantages of hospitality
systems.
Table 1
Demographic profile of the respondents
Number of Respondents Percentage of Respondents

Characteristics
All-inclusive Non-inclusive All-inclusive Non-inclusive
Sex
Male 95.3 81 41 17
Female 4.7 19 2 4
Education Level
Primary or below - 4.7 -
2
Secondary
Postsecondary or
15 3 34.9 14.3
26 18 60.4 85.7
above
Occupation
F & B M. 28 16 65.1 76.2
General M. 6 3 14 14.3
Accounting M. 5 1 11.6 4.8
Human Resources M. 2 1 4.6 4.8
Sales & Marketing M. 2 - 4.6 -
Experience in Tourism
- 10 year 9 5 20.9 23.8
11- 20 year 24 13 65.8 61.9
21 and above year 10 3 23.3 14.3
4.2. General Structure of Hotels
Table 2 shows the general structures of respondents’ hotels. The majority of the hotels from
both were established between the years 1991-2000. But the main difference is that the numbers of
all-inclusive hotels have constantly decreased. This was the result of the adoption of older traditional
non-inclusive hotels into all-inclusive properties. This findings concurs the view of Horner and
Swarbrooke (2004; 226). Twenty five of forty three all-inclusive hotels started with non-inclusive
hospitality system but later adopted all-inclusive. This was more than half (58 %). However it is
another significant finding that none of the all-inclusive hotels transformed their hospitality system to
non-inclusive. With regards to frequency of room numbers, approximately more than half of the
respondent’s hotels had between 251-500 room numbers. This could be the same result of adoptions.
Finally the occupancy rates show that all-inclusive hotels had higher occupancy rates than non-
inclusive hotels. There is a relationship between this finding and Poon (1998; 70)’s assessment. Poon
stated that the success of all-inclusive hotels derives from the fact that travel agents make more
483
commission from selling them, which provides a powerful incentive for travel agencies to recommend
and sell all-inclusive.
Table 2
General Structure of Hotels
Number of Respondents Percentage of Respondents

Characteristics
All-inclusive Non-inclusive All-inclusive Non-inclusive
Date of establishment
1971-1980 1 2 2.3 9.5
1981-1990 7 5 16.3 23.8
1991-2000 20 12 46.2 67.1
2001- 15 2 34.9 9.5
Room Numbers
0 -250 6 7 14 33.3
251-500 27 10 62.8 47.6
501-750 7 3 16.3 14.3
751-1000 3 1 7 4.8
Occupancy rates
61-70 1 2 2.3 9.6
71-80 2 5 4.7 23.8
81-90 9 4 21 16
91-100 31 10 72.1 47.6
4.3. Characteristics of the Hospitality Systems
Results of the analyses of all-inclusive system concept revealed that there were different name
of all-inclusive system such as ultra, maximum, deluxe and super. There is a fact that many hotels
offer all-inclusive hospitality system, but it is important to look what is being offered. For the purpose
of this study, their concepts were compared in order to find out whether there were any differences.
Naturally, activities and facilities vary from hotel to hotel, but there were great similarities especially
between the offerings of food and beverage services.
Regarding the reasons why resort hotels are using all-inclusive hospitality system; majority of
all-inclusive resort hotels, 35 percent, preferred for incentives of travel agencies and tour operators
while 27 percent were stimulated by tourist’s demands, followed by 27 percent for taking advantage
of competitive and 22 percent for direction of their business policies. With respect to reasons why
resort hotels are using non-inclusive hospitality system, more than half of all non-inclusive hotels, 54
percent, preferred for direction of their business policies, 20 percent for tourists’ demands, 13 percent
for both competition and incentives of travel agencies and tour operators.
Table 3 reveals the advantages of hospitality systems. It shows that 28 percent of all-inclusive
hotels experienced that the advantages of their system was high occupancy rates, 26 percent
marketing ease, 20 percent for both competition and increased income. However majority of the non-
inclusive hotels experienced that the advantages of their system were quality such as service, tourists’
profile and staff. 12 percent regarded as satisfaction of tourists. Since there is no prepaid price for
hotels’ offerings, 15 percent of non-inclusive hotels’ regarded this system for the advantage of making
more extra sales.
Table 3 also indicates the disadvantages of hospitality systems. It indicates that majority of
the all-inclusive hotels experienced that the disadvantages of their system were poor quality such as
34 percent for unqualified service, 20 percent for tourists’ profile and 14 percent for staff. In addition
to this 24 percent of all-inclusive hotels regarded that the disadvantages of their system were
increased costs. This disadvantage of hospitality system was also accepted by non-inclusive hotels, 14
percent. Since there is a prepaid price for hotels’ offerings, 8 percent of non-inclusive hotels’ regarded
this system for the disadvantage decreasing extra sales. Meantime, 43 percent of non-inclusive hotels
484
considered that the disadvantages of their system were uncompetitive. This disadvantage was
followed by 29 percent for low occupancy and 14 percent for pricing policies.
Table 3
Characteristics of the Hospitality Systems
Percentage of Respondents
Characteristics
All-inclusive Non-inclusive
Reason of choosing the system
Business policy 22 54
Choice of tourists 27 20
Competition 16 13
Incentives of agencies & operators 35 13
Advantages of the systems
Quality service 28
Quality of tourist’s profile 17
Quality of staff 12
Tourist satisfaction 12
Extra sales 15
Other 6 14
High occupancy rate 28
Marketing ease 26
Competition 20
Increased income 20
Disadvantages of the systems
Unqualified service 34
Unqualified tourist profile 20
Unqualified staff 14
Low extra sales 8
Increased costs 24 14
Uncompetitive 43
Low occupancy 29
Pricing policy 14
4.4. Characteristics of the Food and Beverage Costs Hospitality Systems
Table 4 reveals the general structures of food and beverage of hotels’ hospitality systems.
Results of the analyses of food and beverage costs of the hospitality systems revealed that there were
no significant differences between all-inclusive and non-inclusive system. In an other words, the
amount of food and beverage costs in total amount costs was almost the same. While analyzing the
cost of food and beverage, the result was not the same. In terms of raw material costs, 52 percent of
F&B costs were occurred in all-inclusive hotels, while 33 percent of F&B costs were occurred in non-
inclusive hotels. With respect to labor costs, 29 percent of F&B costs were occurred in all-inclusive
hotels, while 47 percent of F&B costs were occurred in non-inclusive hotels. Finally, 19 percent of
indirect costs were occurred in all-inclusive hotels, while 20 percent of indirect costs were occurred in
non-inclusive hotels.
485
Table 4
Food and Beverage Costs Hospitality Systems
Number of Respondents
Characteristics
All-inclusive Non-inclusive
Costs
Food&Beverage costs 34 35
Others 66 65
Total 100 100

Food&Beverage costs
Raw material costs 52 33
Labor costs 29 47
Indirect costs 19 20
Total 100 100
5. CONCLUSION
The all-inclusive resort concept is more than 50 years old, but it has grown very rapidly in
recent years (Horner and Swarbrooke, 2004, s.231). That is the fact that it could seen a massive
increase in the development of new all-inclusive resorts, and the adoption of older traditional hotels
into all-inclusive properties, notably in the Mediterranean. It is inevitable that Turkey as a
Mediterranean country influenced more and more by this change. Regarding the reasons why resort
hotels are using all-inclusive hospitality system indicated that tour operators and agencies forced
them. This finding entirely support earlier finding of Horner and Swarbrooke’s (2004, s.231) which
stressed that in many cases resort hotels have changed their hospitality system under pressure from
tour operators who dominate their market.
The major strengths of all-inclusive hospitality system can be regarded as increased

occupancy. This is the result of all-inclusive resort hotels are supported by agencies and operators
who makes more commission from selling them. However poor quality such as alcohol, food, and
staff quality were the main weakness of all-inclusive hotels. While quality was such disadvantage for
all-inclusive hotels, it was an opportunity for non-inclusive hotels. Non-inclusive resort hotels
experienced that the major advantages of their system were quality such as service, tourists’ profile
and staff.
By its peculiar applications such as unlimited food and beverage offerings, all-inclusive
hotels’ raw material costs were more than non-inclusive hotels’. This was the result of excessive food
and beverage consumption in all-inclusive resorts. However non-inclusive hotels’ labor costs were
more than all-inclusive hotels’. Because non-inclusive resorts offer a la carte service, they have to
work with quality staff. Finally, because indirects composed of fixed costs such as electric
consumption, there were quite similarities between their indirect cost.
REFERENCES
Boxill, I. (2004). Towards an Alternative Tourism for Jamaica. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management 16(4), 269-272.
Gourville, T. J., & Soman, D. (2001). The Potential Downside of Bundling How Packaging Services
an Hurt Consumption. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, June 29-37.
Hanefors, M., & Mossberg, L. L. (1999). Package Tourism and Customer Loyalties, in: Consumer
Behavior in Travel and Tourism Edt: Pizam Abraham and Mansfeld Yoel. New York: Haworth
Hospitality Press.
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Horner, S., & Swarbrooke, J. (2004). International Cases in Tourism Management, Oxford: Elseviser
Butterworth-Heinemann.
Naylor, G., & Frank, K. E. (2001). The Effect of Price Bundling on Consumer Perceptions of Value.
Journal of Services Marketing, 15(4), 270-281.
Issa, J. J., & Jayawardena, C. (2003). The All-Inclusive Concept in the Caribbean. International
Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 15(3), 167-171.
Jayawardena, C. (2002). Mastering Caribbean Tourism. International Journal of Contemporary

Hospitality Management, 14(2), 88-93.
Middleton, T.C. Victor (1991). Whither the Package Tour?, Tourism Management, September 185-
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Poon, A. (1998). All-Inclusive Resorts. Travel & Tourism Analyst, 6, 62-77.
Turksoy, A. (1998). Otel Yonetim Muhasebesi, Ankara: Turhan Kitabevi.
Swarbrooke, J. (1999). Sustainable Tourism Management. New York: CABI Publishing.
487
AUTHOR INDEX
ABD. AZIS, M. M. : pp. 330 ARLT, Wolfgang : pp. 449

ASSENOV, Ilian : pp. 61, 337 BAUM, Tom : pp. 1
CHAN, Andrew : pp. 71 CHANG, Jui Chi : pp. 19, 282, 371
CHAO, Chih-Liang : pp. 292, 350 CHEN, Cheng : pp. 136
CHEN, Chia-you : pp. 310 CHEN, Ching-Fu : pp. 173
CHEN, Hui-Jung : pp. 292 CHEN, Pei-Chun : pp. 173
CHEN, Yong : pp. 9 CHEN, Yungkun : pp. 310
CHIU, Chui-Peng : pp. 282 CHO, Myunghwan : pp. 164
CHO, Soonjae : pp. 102 CHOI, Hwan-Suk Chris : pp. 112, 164
CHOI, Nak Hwan : pp. 423 CHUO, Hsin-You : pp. 150
COLLINS, John R. : pp. 136 CRUTSINGER, Christy : pp. 1
DEVINE, Frances G. : pp. 1 FENG, Xuegang : pp.
FIGER, Reggy Capacio : pp. 461 GU, Huimin : pp. 449
GUO, Yingzhi : pp. 9, 222, 399 HAN, Kyung-Soo : pp. 302, 391, 473
HIRUNRAKS, Anek : pp. 360 HONG, Sang-Pil : pp. 302, 473
HSIEH, Tsuifang : pp. 310 ISHAK, Nor Khomar : pp. 154
JANG, Heejung : pp. 164 JIANG, Jingxian : pp. 222
JO, Deokhyun : pp. 232 JOGARATNAM, Giri : pp. 380
JOPPE, Marion : pp. 112 JOSIAM, Bharath M. : pp. 1, 55
KANG, Banghoon : pp. 102 KIM, Hyang-ja : pp.407
KIM, Hyung-Mi : pp.432 KIM, In-Hwa : pp.209
KIM, Jinsun : pp. 102 KIM, Jong-Hyeong : pp. 45
KIM, Kakyom : pp. 380 KIM, Samuel Seongseop : pp. 9
KIM, Yen-Soon : pp. 423 KU, Edward C. S. : pp. 192
LADKIN, Adele : pp. 4 LAI, Kun : pp. 269
LEE, Eun-Jung : pp. 391, 473 LEE, Hyun-A : pp. 302, 391, 473
LEE, Junghun : pp. 6 LEE, Yeong-Hye : pp. 302
LI, Yiping : pp. 269 LIMSAKUL, Kawin : pp. 360
488
AUTHOR INDEX
LIN, Jia-Ying : pp. 319 LIU, Abby : pp. 93

LYNN, Jamieson : pp. 45 MA, Ai-ping : pp. 216, 388, 417
MCGAHEY, Stan : pp. 366 MOON, Sung-Jong : pp. 432
NOPAKHUN, Supachee : pp. 61 NORFEZAH, M. N. : pp. 330
OH, Ick-Keun : pp. 380 PARK, Changsoo : pp. 232
PARK, Nak-Jong : pp. 407 PENG, Lanya : pp. 399
PHILIPSENBURG, Jens : pp. 122 PHO, Eun-Yong : pp. 391
QU, Hailin : pp. 222 QUACK, Heinz-Dieter : pp. 122
RAAB, Carola : pp. 423 REYNOLDS, Johnny Sue : pp. 1, 55
SAAD, Shahrin : pp. 154 SANGHAVI, Punit : pp. 55
SANTOS, Jocelina : pp. 136 SCHWANDNER, Gerd : pp. 449
SEO, Kyung-Mi : pp. 209, 302 SEZGIN, Erkan : pp. 36
SJUKRIANA, Juke : pp. 181 SONG, Jae-Il : pp. 432
SUN, Jonggab : pp. 380 TANG, Chao-Yun : pp. 19
TANTIVIT, Arisara : pp. 337 THARAKAN, Y G : pp. 83
THOZHUR, Sumeetra : pp. 1 TOH, P.S. : pp. 330
TSE, Tony S M : pp. 29 TSEN, Shu-Hsiao : pp. 256, 319
TSENG, Wan-Yu : pp. 319 WALL, Geoffrey : pp. 93
WANG, Kuo-Ching : pp. 399 WEBER, Karin : pp. 4
WONG, Alan : pp. 71 WU, Man-Ping : pp. 350
YANG, Tun-Jen : pp. 256 YEN, Tsu-Hong : pp. 136
YILMAZ, Hakan : pp. 480 YNION, Winton Lou G. : pp. 461
YOON, Eunjoo : pp. 246 YOON, Yoosik : pp. 232
YU, Pei-Yun : pp. 192 YUN, Dongkoo : pp. 112
ZURAINI, M.I. : pp. 330
489

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ISBN No.

The 7th Biennial Conference on Tourism in Asia

Professor Kaye Chon, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Conference Sponsors and Collaborating Organizations:

Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research

Organizing an international conference with published proceedings takes collective team

Professor Kaye Chon Dr. Holly Hyun-jung Im

Proceedings Co-Editors: Kaye Chon, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Editorial Assistant: Antonia Wong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Paper Review Committee:

 Ilian Assenov, Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus

Attitudes to Work of Generation Y Students in Hospitality Management in the USA: An 1

Career Development of Tourism & Hospitality Academics 4

Consuming Popular Culture, Consuming Places: The Transnational Impact of Popular 6

A Study on Current Features and Affected Factors of Outbound Tourism Market by 9

Analyzing Japan’s Outbound Tourism Policy 29

Brand Image Perceptions of European Travel Companies in Single Tourism Market 36

Classificatons of Asian Complainers in Full Service Restaurants 45

Customer Perceptions of Variable Pricing in the Lodging Industry: An Investigation of 55

Factors Affecting Passengers’ Selection of Low-Cost Airlines in Thailand 61

Grooming Future International Hospitality Leaders: The Importance of Context 71

Human Resource Policy for Tourism 93

Indicator Establishment for Resources Management in Sustainable Rural Tourism 102

Market Positioning Analysis of Asian Countries of Destination by Canadian Travellers 112

Measuring Risk 122

Measuring the “Dining Experience” 136

Normative Influences on Theme Park Visitors’ Impulsive Merchandise-Buying Behavior 150

Quality Management Practices in Hotel and Lodging Organizations 154

Revolution in Food Industry: Transform the Paradigm of Conventional to Advanced 181

The Analysis of Korean Traditional Color Range on Bibimbob 209

The Characteristics of Rural Tourism Development in China 216

The Impact of Tour Leaders' Service Performance: An Issue of Tipping 282

The Study on Implementing HR Scorecard to Enhance the Organizational Performance 319

Tourism and Cultural Food Heritage of Malaysia 330

Tourism Economic Impact: The Perception of Phuket Residents 337

Tourists’ Psychophsiological Benefits from Recollection of Indigenous Ecotourism 350

Travel 101 – A General Education or Elective Tourism Course 366

Underlying Activity Dimensions of Cultural Festival Participants 380

A Study of the Positioning Analysis of Broth Products 391

An Analysis of Competitive Advantages in the Development of Travel Service Value 417

An Overview of Hospitality Programs in South Korea 423

Comparative Analysis of Expectations and Satisfaction of International Tourists by 432

Images of European Countries as Travel Destinations 449

Self-Presentation: The Visualization of Filipinoness in WOW Philippines’ Posters 461

Sensory Evaluation on the Developed Ginseng Sauces by American Consumers 473

Author Index 488

Johnny Sue Reynolds

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Based on a review of pertinent literature on career development, a questionnaire was

Evans, M., Pluggin into TV routism, Insights, March, pp. D35-D38.

Griffin, M. (2002). From Cultural Imperialism to Transnational Commercialization: Shifting

Samuel Seongseop Kim

CURRENT FEATURES OF OUTBOUND TOURISM MARKET BY MAINLAND CHINESE

Feature of Rapid Market Growth Rate without a Large Market Share

However, it had demonstrated some valuable characteristics in Chinese outbound tourism

Year Germany America Britain China Canada France Italy Japan

Feature of Self-supported Outbound Travel Dominated the Market

Outbound Package Tours by Travel Agencies Have a Considerable Market Share

Total number of Package outbound tourists by

AFFECTED FACTORS OF MAINLAND CHINESE OUTBOUND TOURISM MARKET

Affected Factor of Tourism Policies

Affected Factor of Legal Factors

Affected Factor of Managerial Factors

Ilian Assenov, Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus