Alan Fyall

Managing heritage tourism

Abstract This article discusses the findings of a Delphi survey of owners and managers of historic properties, officers of heritage-based organizations, consultants, and academics from across the United Kingdom. The purpose of the study was to investigate the major constraints and imperatives relating to the long-term management of built heritage attractions. Three related issues were assessed: the fundamental mission of heritage attractions; the factors which impact upon decisions relating to charging for tourist entry; and the perceptions of heritage managers as to the respective roles of such attractions and public agencies in funding tourism management and heritage conservation programs. The paper then considers the significance of these issues in assessing potential strategies for moving heritage tourism toward sustainability.

Beyond the rhetoric of sustainable tourism

Abstract Recent years have witnessed an upsurge of interest in the concept of sustainable tourism. For the most part, attention has focused on defining the concept. Authors have reasoned that in order to achieve sustainable tourism, a sound understanding must first be gained of what the concept means. This article does not take issue with this general approach, but nevertheless argues that the time has now come to move on from defining sustainable tourism, to begin to consider how it may best be implemented in practice. An approach based on the methodology of environmental economics is suggested as a possible way forward.

Tourism marketing: a collaborative approach.

Fyall, A., Garrod, B. (2004). Tourism Marketing: A Collaborative approach Aspects of Tourism, Channel View Publications, 383 pp. ISBN:187315089X.

Relationship Marketing: The Challenge for Destinations

Abstract Despite its increasing maturity in the literature, relationship marketing remains an untested concept for destination marketers. This article explores the opportunities and challenges faced by managers of destinations in their attempt to engender loyalty and repeat visitation in a product domain traditionally considered highly complex, fragmented, and difficult to manage. Further, the article analyzes the degree of implantation of relationship marketing in two contrasting destinations: Stockholm and Barbados. The study concludes that the peculiarities of the destination product complicate the building of relationships with the tourist and diminish the suitability and value of such efforts, while promoting the value of greater interorganizational collaboration.

Heritage tourism: at what price?

Heritage and sustainability share a common theme of inheritance. Heritage tourism is, as an economic activity, predicated on the use of inherited environmental and socio-cultural assets in order to attract visitors. Sustainability requires that those assets are carefully managed to ensure that future generations inherit a resource base that is sufficient to support their needs and wants. The purpose of this paper is to consider how sustainability principles might best be applied in the context of heritage tourism, with particular reference to the management of historic properties and gardens. In doing so, the paper considers the findings of a postal survey in the UK of owners of historic properties, heritage consultants, visitor attraction managers and heritage industry representatives. The survey results suggest that while overcrowding, wear and tear, pilfering, graffiti and traffic problems were all significant and widespread causes for concern, the principal dilemma for heritage attractions is how to s...

Destination marketing: future issues - strategic challenges

Although pivotal to the travel and tourism system, the destination is widely acknowledged to be one of the most difficult products to manage and market. Over the coming decade, the challenges facing destination marketers are likely to be even greater with a whole host of issues likely to impact on the future marketing of destinations. This paper seeks to utilise an exploratory framework that brings together those issues deemed to be of significance to the future marketing of the destination product and examine the extent to which the framework can be applied to the marketing of two major destinations in the UK: London and Edinburgh. Both London and Edinburgh represent significant destinations for both domestic and international tourists and have been impacted by forces external and internal to the UK in recent years. For example, externally, 911 in the United States and SARS in South East Asia have both impacted on international travel patterns while the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in 2001 and the devolution and ‘regionalisation’ of tourism within the UK has impacted on the management and marketing of destinations within the UK at the local, sub-regional, regional and national levels. In addition to conducting a thorough review of the relevant literature and organising focus group sessions within their working environments, the authors also conducted a series of face-to-face interviews with appropriate stakeholders in the two destinations to identify and explore those future issues and strategic challenges facing those marketing destinations in the future generally, and specifically to the two destinations representing the focus of enquiry in this study. The one consistent finding — and the one that perhaps best encapsulates those 15 challenges identified in the proposed framework — is the issue of collaboration and the need for those within the destinations to work together in solving problems deemed too demanding to solve in isolation. For collaboration to succeed in the context of destinations, the destination management organisation needs to act as a strong unifying force that is able to bring all component parts of the destination together and develop the wider destination in its entirety. To conclude, both London and Edinburgh have ambitious growth targets for the future. Collaboration is key to the achievement of such targets as is the need to continue to diversify markets. The need to be cognisant of all those issues and forces impacting on their future direction is, however, vital if both destinations are to keep abreast of competing destinations; both at home and overseas.

Scottish visitor attractions: managing visitor impacts

The visitor attraction sector in Scotland plays a vital, if often overlooked, role in the wider Scottish tourism industry. Yet the sector presently faces a host of internal and external threats. In terms of external threats, the sector is currently experiencing heightened competition not only from overseas tourism markets but also from domestic leisure activities such as sport and shopping. Meanwhile the sector is widely acknowledged to have an oversupply of visitor attractions. In terms of internal threats, it is increasingly being recognised that the sector is susceptible to a range of negative visitor impacts. Even at current visitor levels such impacts could seriously compromise the resources upon which the sector draws and ultimately depends. This paper presents the findings of a postal survey of all of Scotlands 510 paid admission attractions in 1999. The survey explored perceptions of the range and severity of visitor impacts, relating these impacts to factors such as attraction type, admission prices, visitor numbers and ownership status. The paper concludes that predictions of future external trends do not bode well for the Scottish industry in its current form, and that an internally focused, quality-oriented strategy is required if the majority of attractions are to survive and prosper in the coming decade. This, in turn, means developing more effective ways of managing visitor impacts. While the focus of this study is on Scotland, some important lessons are identified for visitor attractions more generally.

Marketing effectiveness and business performance in the financial services industry

The purpose of this exploratory empirical study was to examine the link between effective marketing practices and business performance in the financial services industry. Based on a multi‐item construct of marketing effectiveness, data were generated from 52 banks and building societies. The effects of different marketing effectiveness dimensions upon profitability and growth as well as customer‐based performance indicators were investigated. Our results suggest that organisational variables such as customer philosophy, operational efficiency, marketing information and integrated marketing organisation are generally, significantly and positively associated with business performance. To conclude, managerial implications of the findings, study limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Generation Y: opportunity or challenge - strategies to engage Generation Y in the UK attractions' sector.

This study examines the extent to which Generation Y (Gen Y) serves as an opportunity or challenge for visitor attractions in the UK and the corresponding strategies adopted to seek engagement with this generational segment. A multiple-case study design was adopted with face-to-face interviews undertaken with senior personnel at leading visitor attractions across the UK. The paper advances a number of marketing and experiential strategies before advocating that further research is required to explore the growing pains of Gen Y from ‘adolescence’ to ‘adulthood’ if the industry is going to be able to understand, meet and hopefully exceed their needs, wants and expectations in the challenging years to come.

Theoretical perspectives applied to inter-organisational collaboration on Britain's inland Waterways.

Summary The increasing need to forge partnerships to accomplish collective and organisational goals in tourism has been theorized at length in recent literature. However, limited research has been published to apply such ideas to existing collaborative forms. Within the context of inland waterway boating holidays in Britain this paper explores the inter-organisational behaviour of a contemporary case, the inland Waterways consortium, an initiative led by the British Tourist Authority. The paper considers the findings of a series of in-depth interviews and survey work with members of the inland Waterways consortium, which is comprised of local authorities, government agencies, and private firms. Theoretical contributions from the literature are used throughout to identify predictive possibilities and advance existing knowledge of the internal dynamics of an inter-organisational collaborative tourism initiative. The first half of the paper compares theoretical perspectives on the origin and development of collaborative action to the genesis and development of the Waterways case. The second half of the paper addresses the inter-organisational dynamics and structure of the inland Waterways consortium with consideration of the future potential of this new collaborative entity. The paper concludes with a set of specific recommendations for the consortium as well as offering general directions for future research.