Robert C. Mings

The Spatial Configuration of Travel to Yellowstone National Park

While vacation travel to Yellowstone National Park may be considered the epitome of American travel traditions, measurement and analysis of this important national phe nomenon is surprisingly limited. This survey of 600 Yellowstone visitors focuses upon the spatial pattern of their travel movements to and from Yellowstone. Four types of trip configurations are discovered: Direct Route, Partial Orbit, Full Orbit, and Fly/Drive.

Tracking ‘Snowbirds’ in Australia: Winter Sun Seekers in Far North Queensland

Seasonal migration is gaining acceptance as a retirement form among Canadians and Americans. These so-called snowbirds spend their winters in the U.S. Sunbelt as residents of seasonal recreational communities. The three defining qualities of life in snowbird communities are very high levels of recreation activity, social interaction and geographic mobility. This paper explores ‘snowbirding’ in Australia and draws comparisons with North America. The focus is on retirees staying in caravan parks in far north Queensland during the winter of 1995 when 306 couples were interviewed. As expected, many similarities exist between North American and Australian ‘snowbirding’. However, Australian levels of social interaction are appreciably lower, while levels of geographical mobility are higher.

On the Road Again: Seasonal Migration to a Sunbelt Metropolis.

Seasonal migration to Sunbelt locales in recreational vehicles (RVs) has emerged as a major form of cyclical movement among Americans and Canadians. Using Phoenix, Arizona, as a case study, this paper addresses three questions. Who participates in this lifestyle? What are their geographical and temporal patterns of migration? What are the distinguishing characteristics of RV resort communities? Results highlight that older Americans and Canadians are defining new lifestyles and forms of retirement living based on seasonal movement in RVs.

Seasonal migration and health care.

This article examines health care use and issues among seasonal migrants in an urban setting in the Sunbelt. The study, based on a survey of 230 American and Canadian snowbirds in Phoenix, Arizona, complements previous research on health care use among Canadian snowbirds in Florida. Our results show that health care use among seasonal migrants in Phoenix is substantial, and it varies by citizenship (American vs. Canadian), age, number of winter visits, and length of winter stay. We argue that health care use is symptomatic of social and emotional attachments to the winter residence that develop and deepen over a period of years. Phoenix snowbirds view their lifestyles as healthy, they are adept in adjusting to health decrements, and the majority plan to continue spending time in both their summer and winter residences as long as their health permits

Assessing The Contribution Of Tourism To International Understanding

This research explored the capability of tourists to affect international understanding. The study focuses on the question of whether the Barbados hotel employees have greater knowledge and more positive attitudes toward the United States than other Barbadians with less American contact. The results of 400 worker interviews indicate that while hotel employees demonstrate knowledge of and sympathy toward the United States, their performance is not significantly different from other Barbadians outside of the tourist industry.

Recreational Nomads in the Southwestern Sunbelt

In recent years growing numbers of a new type of winter visitor to the Sunbelt has been observed tamping free of charge on public lands. The emergence of this unorthodox type of recreationist onto the recreation landscape raises numerous questions. The purpose of this study is to examine their circulation systems. Data collected at a study site in Arizona indicate that these are extremely mobile people—circulating among the common set of watering holes in the desert Southwest during winter and dispersing northward during summer months.

Emerging tourism in China — the case of Xian

Abstract Following the Third Plenary Session of the Central Party Committee in 1978, the government of the Peoples Republic of China began awarding a high priority to the development of international tourism. Robert Mings, Associate Professor of Geography at Arizona State University, USA, and Wei Liu, Lecturer in the Department of Tourism at Northwest University in Xian, China, review the recent evolution of tourism in Xian, capital city of the central Chinese province of Shaanxi. Then they discuss the liabilities and the assets affecting future growth and the contribution of factors such as growth rates, transport availability, public attitudes, labour quality and supply, and attraction diversification.

The RV Resort Landscape

The recreational vehicle (RV) camp or park has traditionally served as a brief stopover point along an extended route of travel. RV parks continue to serve this function, but in some Sunbelt locales such as Phoenix, RV resorts have blossomed into seasonal retirement communities for large numbers of elderly. This photo-essay examines RV resorts as vernacular landscapes that include elements of suburbia and small town America.

Book Reviews : One Third of our Time? An Introduction to Recreation Behavior and Resources by Michael Chubb and Holly R. Chubb (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016, 1981, 742pp.

. The need for careful research, cooperative planning, imaginative administration, and intelligent management in all aspects of recreation opportunity provision. The book’s stated purpose is to foster improved understanding of these themes so that ... &dquo;tomorrow’s recreation opportunities may be even better than those available today.&dquo; Each chapter is prefaced with six to twelve concepts and problems to be addressed. The conclusion of each chapter provides listings of Discussion Topics and Further Readings. The text is illustrated profusely throughout with photographs, tables, graphs, maps, and diagrams. A lengthy Glossary of Terms, Selected Bibliography, and unusually thorough Index also deserve special acknowledgement. Chubb and Chubb have produced an extremely useful and needed book. They have succeeded in providing a comprehensive and integrated synthesis of the varied components of recreation. Such a holistic approach is of tremendous value to a wide audienceacademics, students, and recreational practitioners. While scholarly in content and methodology, the text is quite understandable even to the novice student of recreation principles. Indeed, the largest demand probably will be from college-level courses dealing with various elements of recreation. A table in the Preface outlines segments of the book that likely will be particularly relevant to selected fields of study (i.e., Recreation Activity Planning, Recreation Resource Management, Tourism Management, Recreation Geography, Urban and Regional Planning, etc.). The greatest strength of this innovative book is its comprehensive treatment of recreation. Other books deal adequately with various components, but Chubb and Chubb insightfully examine the full range of interrelationships surrounding recreation development and management. Herein lies one problem: 742 pages is too much information for most single-term courses. Perhaps this problem could be overcome by using only portions of the book or developing a year-long sequence of