Norma P. Nickerson

Agritourism: Motivations behind Farm/Ranch Business Diversification

Increasing financial strains on family farms/ranches have put pressure on these businesses to look outside agriculture as a means to sustain the operation. One option has been to offer farm/ranch recreation to visitors (i.e., agritourism). Eleven reasons for diversifying were tested while controlling for various demographic variables. Principal components analysis resulted in three factors: social reasons, economic reasons, and external influences. A cluster analysis identified 61% of the respondents who diversified for economic reasons, 23% who diversified due to reasons external to the operation, and 16% who diversified for social, economic, and external reasons.

The influence of children on vacation travel patterns

Travel surveys are conducted worldwide every day, but ignore an important segment of the travel industry: children who travel with parents. This paper provides an insight into conducting surveys on vacationing children, why these should be considered more often, and what can be gained. Results show children have a higher response rate than adults, are slightly more satisfied about conditions at the destination than adults, and provide a perspective about planning and development to increase child satisfaction at the destination.

What Should Tourism Sustain? The Disconnect with Industry Perceptions of Useful Indicators

The issue of sustainability and tourism has become a more widely studied topic in the past few years. However, little of this research investigates the relationship between the two concepts—sustainability and sustainable tourism—and how sustainability should be measured. Ambiguities in what is meant by sustainable tourism as reflected in the questions of how to make the industry sustainable, what should tourism sustain, and what is sustainable tourism further complicate social discourse. Progress on achieving sustainability is also limited by the need for shared definitions of means and ends among those involved in tourism development. This study provides a tourism industry perspective on what items could be sustained and what indicators should be used to monitor for sustainability policies. From the results in the state of Montana, the question of how sustainable tourism should move forward remains problematic because of differences between what should be sustained and appropriate indicators.

Collecting and using visitor spending data.

Visitor spending is a necessary component of economic-impact analysis, but detailed expenditure categories rarely are reported and used as tools for marketing and policy decisions. This article shows that spending by visitors attracted to Montana’s natural resources accounted for 76% of traveler spending in the state. Average daily spending by visitors primarily attracted to fishing was the highest per-group per-trip expenditure (

Traveler Types And Activation Theory: A Comparison Of Two Models

1,641.26) and the longest length of stay (9.3 nights), with fishing outfitters and guides receiving the largest share of these visitors’ dollars. Visitors attracted to Glacier National Park had the highest total contribution of dollars to the state. Implications of the study suggest that conservation of Montana’s natural resources is paramount to a thriving tourism industry. Policies and regulations related to waterways, mountain view sheds, and open space need to reflect the important economic contribution of what attracts visitors to the state.

Measuring Geotourism: Developing and Testing the Geotraveler Tendency Scale (GTS)

This study examined the extent to which Plogs model of allocentrism/psychocentrism and energy traveler types could be explained using Fiske and Maddis activation theory. Survey data were analyzed using the method of linear structural relations (LISREL). Results suggest that the allocentrism and energy of dimensions may be intercorrelated. Based on these results, a revised typology of travelers is proposed.

Branding a state from features to positioning: Making it simple?

Geotourism is tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place, including its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a scale measuring geotraveler tendencies (GTS). The GTS consists of 35 items across eight subscales measuring both attitudes and behaviors of travelers. Confirmatory factor analysis tested each scale for construct validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and nomological validity, and demonstrated that all eight scales of the GTS were valid and reliable measures of the dimensions of geotourism. Standardized factor loadings ranged from .52 to .92 and construct reliability scores ranged from .72 to .94 for the eight attitudinal and behavioral scales. For destinations interested in promoting geotourism, the GTS provides a tool to determine if visitors traveling to their area embrace geotourism values of sustaining and enhancing the geographical character of place.

Tourism and gambling content analysis.

This paper provides an argument for going back to the simplification of branding and positioning based on features expressed by visitors as the attraction to a destination. Research indicates that as a result of visiting a destination, images tend to be more realistic, complex and differentiated. Therefore, an understanding of what attracted visitors can furnish the basis for image development and market positioning. Vacationers were cluster analysed and compared for significant differences based on the attraction features. The ‘attraction package’ portrayed five visitor group types. Within each visitor group a destination-specific icon was identified for market positioning.

Profiling geotravelers: an a priori segmentation identifying and defining sustainable travelers using the Geotraveler Tendency Scale (GTS)

Abstract A newspaper content analysis of tourism and gambling in Deadwood, South Dakota (USA) provides information on the issues portrayed to the general public about gaming. In five years, 712 articles written in three local newspapers portrayed five general categories of information: economics, regulatory concerns, initial questions on gaming, logistics and planning needed, and negatives toward gaming. Trends in newspaper accounts show gaming is a vital player in tourism and the economic growth of the community. However, gaming is continually questioned as the answer for economic development. Social issues and negative issues of gaming tend to become more prevalent after gaming has been initiated in a small community.

The spiritual dimension of the Montana vacation experience.

This study expands research on geotourism by using the Geotraveler Tendency Scale (GTS) to profile geotravelers. The results demonstrate the GTSs ability to effectively identify different levels of geotravelers. An a priori segmentation was conducted using the respondents’ overall geotraveler score from the GTS as the segmenting criterion. The resulting three segments were labeled “minimal geotravelers”, “moderate geotravelers” and “strong geotravelers”. MANOVA and Pearson Chi-square analysis showed significant differences between the three groups on all items within the GTS as well as significant differences between the segments on the variables of gender, income, country of origin and likelihood to visit national parks. This study (1) confirms the usefulness of the GTS for identifying and segmenting travelers, and (2) provides the sustainable tourism field with a more holistic tool for measuring sustainable travelers. Destination managers interested in marketing to geotravelers can use this tool to identify how many geotravelers come to their area, their level of geotraveler tendencies and what the destination can focus on to attract more of this travel segment. Geotourism is positioned as a sustainable marketing strategy that attracts conscientious visitors whose impacts help promote the “character of place” rather than detract from it.