Deepak Chhabra

Staged authenticity and heritage tourism.

Abstract Much of today’s heritage tourism product depends on the staging or re-creation of ethnic or cultural traditions. This study analyzes the role of perceived authenticity as a measure of product quality and as a determinant of tourist satisfaction. The event studied was the Flora Macdonald Scottish Highland Games held in North Carolina (United States). Tourists and event organizers were asked to evaluate the authenticity of specific festival events on a Likert scale. The study revealed that high perception of authenticity can be achieved even when the event is staged in a place far away from the original source of the cultural tradition. Important differences in perceived authenticity were observed among various groups of visitors.

The Significance of Festivals to Rural Economies: Estimating the Economic Impacts of Scottish Highland Games in North Carolina

Festivals are often part of the economic development strategy of rural areas. This study estimates the economic impacts of visitor expenditures at two Scottish festivals in rural North Carolina, using tourist survey data and an input-output model. While local restaurants and lodging and festival vendors and sponsors benefit from substantial visitor expenditures, the multipliers are relatively small, and hence the total economic impact of the festivals represents only a small percentage of economic activity in the two regions considered. Lodging expenditures have the greatest impact on the region with a multiple-day festival, while expenditures on food and beverage have the greatest impact on the region with a single-day festival. The magnitude of the economic impact depends on characteristics of both the festival (number of days) and the local economy (other attractions and linkages).

Back to the past: a sub-segment of Generation Y's perceptions of authenticity

To date, authenticity conceptualizations have taken into account the views of both suppliers and tourists. However, most studies, at the a priori stage, have not taken a market segment perspective but considered tourists to be a homogeneous population. This study challenges that by focusing on a distinct market segment based on age and life experience: Generation Y, drawing out an a priori-based sub-segment of Generation Ys perspectives of authenticity. It investigates if authenticity ideologies influence decisions to become a heritage tourist. Additionally, it determines other factors that predict differences between a heritage tourist and a non-heritage tourist. The study unveils interesting findings. With the exception of the objectivist and negotiation stance, other authenticity ideologies fail to inspire this generation to be heritage tourists. Intervention factors such as party size (and with it a social experience) and ethnicity prove to be better predictors of heritage preference. The results offer important implications for the heritage industry. For instance, “time travel” demand based on purely objective or negotiated versions can help promote conservation efforts and the sustainable development of heritage. This can lead to enhanced opportunities for partnership between the tourism industry and cultural/heritage site managers, and help revive discontinued or forgotten traditions.

Proposing a sustainable marketing framework for heritage tourism

This study tests a sustainable marketing protocol for heritage tourism institutions. The marketing plans of 20 museums across the United States are examined to grasp the empirical reality of the proposed model. The model is crafted along strategic marketing criteria, including measures such as environment analysis, level of local community involvement, partnership, and maintenance of traditional preservation-based objectives of the museums. A gap between the philosophical underpinnings of the proposed model and the existing marketing strategies is found. It is noted that the contemporary museum ethos in many regions of the United States is centered on short term plans and current survival. Additionally, regardless of locations, funding and short-termism dictate the core elements of all marketing plans. Overall, the results indicate that dedicated efforts and more awareness are needed to sustain the core purpose of contemporary museums. Using an applied approach, this study offers a unique and realistic perspective to a conceptually drawn framework. The results enhance the marketing literature, offer suggestions on how museum marketing plans could include sustainable elements and become part of a sustainable heritage tourism paradigm.

Estimating Benefits and Costs of Casino Gambling in Iowa, United States

This study estimates benefits and costs of casino gambling in the state of Iowa. The results indicate that the combined economic impacts of gambling and its ancillary activities are positive overall for Iowa. The measurable benefit–cost ratio for the state is estimated to be between 1.78:1 and 3.18:1. While the majority of Iowans participate responsibly in casino gambling, this study enumerates a prevalence rate of at-risk, problem, and pathological gamblers combined to be between 7.3% and 8.4% of the adult population. This percentage transforms to significant cost approximations. This study further reveals that statewide computation of net benefits is not universal. The differing benefit–cost ratios across casino counties show that not every region is situated to benefit from gambling. Several factors, such as location, resort nature of the casino facility, monopolistic situations, and competitors from out-of-state need to be taken into consideration to understand the benefit–cost dynamics of casino gambling and the viability of future expansion.

How They See Us: Perceived Effects of Tourist Gaze on the Old Order Amish

Although abundant literature focuses on tourism impact perspectives, folk communities’ perceptions of tourist gaze and its effects on the cultural fabric of host communities as a subject of inquiry has received scant attention. To shed new light on this discourse, this study investigates perceived impacts of tourist gazing within the framework of resistance theory. The Old Order Amish (OOA) are positioned on a resistance scale, with an open-resistance stance at one end and a full-cooperation stance at the opposite end of the spectrum. This study gathers data from 42 OOA families residing in the state of Iowa, United States. The results show mixed reactions by the OOA and indicate a middle approach of resistance, termed as “negotiated reciprocity” on the resistance continuum.

Marketing of ethnic food experiences: authentication analysis of Indian cuisine abroad

This study aims to examine how Indian restaurants outside of India negotiate and project authenticity onto toured markers (both tangible and intangible) in ‘restaurant/eatertainment’ experiences. Using predetermined authenticity criteria and an a priori list of authenticating markers, this study to scrutinizes the online promotional content of north Indian food in the USA. Based on the results, it is noted that the restaurant owners use preferred and theoplacity-negotiated versions to inculcate meanings of object authenticity.

Gender Equity and Social Marketing: An Analysis of Tourism Advertisements

ABSTRACT This study applies a social marketing approach to study the gender equity issue in tourism advertising. Using a geographic strata approach, vacation guides of destination marketing organizations from all the states in the United States are examined to investigate gender image representations. A total of 394 pictures are visually analyzed and coded using Goffmans framework on gender and media relations. Mixed results in terms of both blatant and subtle visual cues depicting relationships between men and women are reported. Thereafter, important implications for social marketing are drawn and a means-end quality-of-life framework is suggested.

Life dynamism explorations on perceived quality of life and social exchange paradigms in casino settings

This study explores quality of life (QOL) perceptions associated with casino gambling and examines the causes of variations in those perceptions using an integrated version of age-graded phenomenon and life characteristics. This study further examines the affects of gaming activity participation as a leisure activity on subsequent support for the casino gambling activity within the context of social exchange theory (SET). Data were collected from local residents residing within a 50-mile radius of existing casinos in a U.S. midwestern state. Results indicate similar gambling activity participation behavior across age groups. In addition, more subtle affects of age and life characteristics across age groups for the casino gambling activity are noted. Traces of similarities in perceptions, participation, and SET behavior are found to be more notable than absent.

Social Exchange Theory in Resort and Non-resort Casino Settings

Gambling tourism has become a conspicuously large industry and its impacts continue to evolve in tourism literature. Literature has demonstrated that support for all types of existing casinos and their further expansion is increasingly influenced by resident attitudes toward the casino industry (Chhabra and Gursoy 2007; Snaith and Haley 1995). It is an established fact that residents’ attitudes and perspectives are directly related to successful gambling tourism initiatives and these are positive as far as the expected benefits exceed the perceived costs (Back and Lee 2005; Perdue, Long and Kang 1999). Such trade off is the premise of the social exchange theory (SET) framework which postulates that ”an individual’s attitudes toward the tourism industry, and subsequent level of support for its development, will be influenced by his or her evaluation of resulting outcomes in the community” (Gursoy and Rutherford 2004). Although extant literature has confirmed the theoretical basis of SET (Back and Lee 2005; Perdue et al. 1999), explorations based on casino types are sparse. Much research has focused on the homogeneous structure of the casino-style gaming industry (Hsu, 2000) without distinguishing between different kinds of casinos. Missing is the need to determine whether certain kind of casinos garner more support than the others. For instance, it has been pointed out that impacts generated by destination resort casinos differ from those of nonresort casinos (Eadington 1998; D’Hauteserre 2000). For instance, Nichols, Stitt and Giacopassi (2000) contends that destination resort casinos generate lower social costs such as bankruptcies because of the non-local nature of the higher proportion of casino patrons. Eadington (1998) notes that resort casino communities are more likely to generate positive economic effects in terms of employment, tax revenue, etc. It is no surprise then that the gambling tourism analogue to look ahead is said to reside in resort casinos. This study extends previous research through its comparative analysis of resident perceptions between a resort casino and a non-resort casino. Using the SET paradigm, resident perceptions of socioeconomic impacts associated with a destination resort casino (Lakeside casino in Osceola County) are compared with a non-resort casino (Isle of Capri, Marquette) in the State of Iowa, United States. The Lakeside casino resort is the only existing casino enterprise in Iowa that includes non-gaming entertainment while the Isle of Capri, Marquette, is one of thirteen non-tribal casinos in the State focusing solely on gambling-related entertainment. The Isle of Capri was selected because its host county characteristics in terms of population and demographics were