Nancy Gard McGehee

Factors Predicting Rural Residents’ Support of Tourism

This study examined the factors predicting attitudes toward tourism of residents from a dozen communities in Arizona, generally following the model developed by Perdue, Long, and Allen, using social exchange theory as the foundation. Findings indicated that in general, personal characteristics did not predict attitudes toward tourism, but community dependence on tourism was a predictor. Personal benefit from tourism predicted both positive and negative effects of tourism and support for additional tourism among residents of the Arizona communities; this was consistent with Perdue, Long, and Allen. Positive effects of tourism, however, did not predict tourism planning. Although support for additional tourism did predict tourism planning, it was a positive rather than a negative relationship as reported by Perdue, Long, and Allen. As expected, support for social exchange theory was mixed; the existence of personal benefit from tourism was not a significant predictor of support for tourism planning.

Motivation for Agri-Tourism Entrepreneurship

The purpose of this study was to reveal the motivations for agri-tourism entrepreneurship among Virginia farm families and to explore Weber’s theory of formal and substantive rationality as a possible theoretical framework for agritourism entrepreneurship motivation. Results of this study support the use of Weber’s theory of formal and substantive rationality as a framework for the dynamic nature of motivations for agri-tourism entrepreneurship between formal (primarily economic) reasons and substantive (primarily socio-cultural) reasons. Respondents indicated that Virginia farm families owned small farms, utilized farming as a secondary income source, and indicated their most popular agritourism activities to be pick-your-own produce, Christmas tree sales, hayrides, children’s educational programs, petting zoos, and on-farm festivals. Agri-tourism planners should be aware that acres owned, economic dependence on farming operation, and perceived popularity of agri-tourism activities are influential factors to motivate agri-tourism entrepreneurs.

An Agritourism Systems Model: A Weberian Perspective

Agritourism is growing as a form of agricultural diversification in rural communities in the United States, as is research targeting the impact of agritourism on its various stakeholders. This paper examines the needs and obstacles of farm families acting as agritourism providers, Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs), and agritourists, and develops a model to address each of these three stakeholder group’s unique motivations and needs for participating in an agritourism system. The model features the three stakeholders communicating successfully with each other and engaging in mutually beneficial relationships, primarily due to the application of Weber’s formal and substantive rationality. Ultimately, the model will be applied in the field, and specific strategies recommended for improving the agritourism system’s success. These strategies could serve as decision-support tools for entrepreneurial farms and firms leading to an improved quality of life and community as well as economic sustainability.

Tourism-related Social Capital and Its Relationship with Other Forms of Capital: An Exploratory Study

The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine tourism-related social capital and its relationship with other forms of capital. The concept of social capital has emerged from several disciplines. Social capital has been used extensively among communities exploring a variety of economic development options, including sustainable agriculture and entrepreneurship. As part of a larger project, 307 tourism stakeholders in a four-county region of Virginia are identified and surveyed regarding their (1) perceptions of tourism-related social capital of the area and (2) perceptions of built, financial, natural, cultural, human, and political capital. Using structural equation modeling, analysis of the results shows that there is a relationship between length of residence and tourism-related social capital as well as a relationship between tourism-related social capital and cultural capital, political capital, human capital, private built capital, and financial capital, but no relationship exists between tourism-related social capital and public built capital or natural capital.

Corporate Social Responsibility Within the U.S. Lodging Industry: an Exploratory Study:

This exploratory study examines corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the lodging industry by measuring the contributions to communities made by lodging properties throughout the United States. This work is significant for two reasons: (a) It attempts to develop a theoretical foundation for CSR within the U.S. lodging industry; (b) it signifies one of the first attempts to quantify one component of CSR, corporate giving, within the U.S. lodging industry. A random sample of lodging properties in the United States was surveyed, and they were asked to report their various contributions to community. Although a limited response prevented generalizability, based on 421 responding properties, regression analysis suggested that the industry made various contributions worth more than

GPS as a Method for Assessing Spatial and Temporal Use Distributions of Nature-Based Tourists:

815 million or 3.6% of total industry profits in 2005. The results also showed that a number of structural variables affected the quantified social component of CSR among lodging properties as well as the existence of CSR written policies, processes, and principles.

Experience Expectations of Prospective Volunteer Tourists

Traditional methods of collecting spatial and temporal use data are burdensome to both tourists and researchers, and they often lack needed accuracy. This article examines emergent GPS technology and its application to tracking nature-based tourists. Two applications of GPS presented here demonstrate the usefulness and functionality of GPS for tracking nature-based tourists in most natural recreation environments and in open, complex systems. This study finds that GPS offers advantages over traditional methods for tracking visitors, including more reliable, accurate, and precise data. GPS makes measuring and understanding visitor use patterns even more valuable since actual movements can be investigated instead of reported movements. Also, the accuracy and detail of GPS-collected data allow for analyses and investigations not otherwise possible. Visitor-based GPS surveys represent a useful and potentially powerful tool to help better plan, manage, and monitor nature-based tourists.

Volunteer tourism: evolution, issues and futures

The purpose of this article is to use expectancy theory (which suggests that a travel experience that meets or exceeds tourists’ expectations will be viewed positively) to explore the experience expectations and preferences of prospective volunteer tourists (voluntourists). Survey research is implemented to investigate the experience expectations of potential volunteer tourists and considers aspects of expectations that differentiate various groups. Findings indicate that the primary expectation held by respondents in general is the provision of trip-related information. A primary differentiating experience attribute among potential volunteers is the amount of contact people expect to have with residents. The intensity level of physical or emotional demands is also a differentiator. Information from this study can be useful for volunteer tour operators, NGOs, and community stakeholders in the design of a variety of volunteer tourism experiences that can meet the needs of diverse travelers.

Mobilities, community well-being and sustainable tourism

This paper reviews the 30-year evolution of volunteer tourism as phenomenon, industry, and research area, charting changes in the size, breadth, definition, and the perceived positive and negative contributions of the volunteer tourism industry. Discussion then moves on to how research in volunteer tourism has reflected those changes. Studies have focused on the transition from decommodified to commodified volunteer tourism; participant motivation, including the altruism versus self-development discussion; and the paucity of a unified and cohesive theoretical foundation in volunteer tourism. Fresh debates are now emerging that center upon the potential interface of technology and volunteer tourism, including crowd-sourcing for funding, smart phone apps, and GIS; the importance of monitoring and maintaining quality volunteer tourism experiences through certification and/or other indicators; and the role of religion and spirituality in volunteer tourism. These issues, and others, including the role of transformative learning, are addressed in the papers chosen for this special issue on volunteer tourism which are reviewed here. The papers conclusions include specific recommendations for greater cooperation between researchers and industry to create a more sustainable industry, minimizing its negative impacts while maximizing its potential influence for positive social change, and perhaps becoming the ultimate sustainable form of tourism.

A Case Study of Three Tourism-related Craft Marketing Cooperatives in Appalachia: Contributions to Community

Tourism researchers are beginning to explore the implications of the “New Mobilities Paradigm” for improving our understanding of several aspects of tourism. This paper employs a study conducted at the intersection of this new mobilities paradigm, a consideration of destination community well-being, and the analysis of tourism sustainability through an examination of its positive and negative impacts on destinations. It describes a qualitative investigation of tourism impacts on community well-being in three Australian destinations that revealed six distinct types of tourists each characterised by different patterns of mobility. Types included Archetypal Tourists, Grey Nomads, Green Nomads, Backpackers, Temporary Workers and Amenity Migrants. The study found that patterns of impacts could be connected to these distinct types of tourists. Four key themes were identified and described – the consistent linkages between mobility variables and tourism impacts, the perceptions of tourists and tourism as providing resources for destination communities, the modification of impacts as a result of the physical, social and economic characteristics of destination communities and the emergence of conflicts and collisions between different types of tourists and residents in shared spaces. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for sustainable tourism planners and researchers, and especially for resident perceptions research.