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486 results in Regional geography

Page 5 of 25

  • 1 - Theoretical approaches of strategic management research and its implementation in tourism

  • from PART II - Strategic directions for tourism development: a case of Slovakia
  • Edited by Małgorzata Bednarczyk, Andrej Malachovský, Ewa Wszendybył-Skulska
  • Book:
    Strategic Directions of Tourism Development
    Published by:
    Jagiellonian University Press
    Published online:
    10 January 2018
    Print publication:
    31 December 2012, pp 27-44

  • Summary

    Tourism is a dynamic sector that requires cooperation of both the private and public sector. To this point arise the following questions: how to identify suitable ways to manage a sector that lacks a stable organisational structure and what management tools to apply. It is no longer questionable that management theories and strategic management theories are applicable not only in company management, but also in the management of various organisational entities with different legal forms and internal structures. Strategic management is an answer to the dynamically changing external environment. In the recent decades, the internal environment of all economic sectors has significantly changed, too. The development of strategic management has therefore gradually advanced from long-term planning to strategic planning and later to strategic thinking. In developed countries, this process has led to the transformation of business environment into the phase known as knowledge-based economy.

    Positive outcomes of tourism policy in different countries in Europe and across the world demonstrate the successful application of strategic management in tourism theory and practice. Tourism policy has thus become a tool that enforces the application of strategic management with the foremost outcome – the strategy. Prior to strategy development are: mission formulation, objectives formulation, internal and external environment analysis, determination of strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. These strategic management components are present in different documents of national or regional institutions with an influence on tourism management. Therefore, we have decided to pay particular attention to this field, in order to emphasize its factual significance in regard to a correct approach towards the specific strategy of tourism development.

    Schools of thoughts and content of strategic management

    The theory of strategic management principles was formulated as an answer to the existing managerial problems of large companies. These were in need to ensure stability not only through traditional, well-established tools and methods, but also in a long-term perspective. Globalization and internationalization have vigorously influenced rapid and dynamic changes of the external environment and have led to the advancement of competition into superb competition. The necessity to establish stability by implementing strategic management tools has become the most significant reaction towards dramatic changes of the external environment.

  • 2 - Analysis of tourism sector innovation in Poland

  • from PART III - Innovation as a key success factor of the tourism development strategy in Poland
  • Edited by Małgorzata Bednarczyk, Andrej Malachovský, Ewa Wszendybył-Skulska
  • Book:
    Strategic Directions of Tourism Development
    Published by:
    Jagiellonian University Press
    Published online:
    10 January 2018
    Print publication:
    31 December 2012, pp 125-144

  • Summary

    A reliable interpretation of results of the research on the tourism industry in Poland can be made against the background of the foregoing considerations on innovation in tourism. The results of the studies are part of much broader diagnostic analyses of the knowledge-based tourism economy in Poland, which is due to competitiveness of small and medium-sized tourism businesses, carried out by the team of the Faculty of Management in Tourism at the Jagiellonian University between 2008 and 2010. In these analyses, competitive factors were grouped into external and internal ones according to the source of increase/decrease of competitiveness of SMEs, and regarded as external and internal levers of growth/decline in their competitiveness (fig. 1).

    In the progress of the studies undertaken by the team of the Faculty of Management in Tourism at the Jagiellonian University in the project no. N N115 3730 33, it was assumed that the SMEs serve as an economic background and foundation of the tourism sector and a basic element of knowledge-based tourism economy, and its effectiveness is not affected by single isolated tourism businesses and surrounding entities. Still, it is an effect of synergy of interactions of all factors, i.e. tourism enterprises, units of government, local business, other business units and local communities in shaping tourism products based on local potential of knowledge.

    Innovation is phrased as an internal lever of competitiveness. Thus, the subject of the research was innovation of tourism enterprises in Poland measured according to the following factors:

  • – frequency of introduction of new products to the market,

  • – sources of innovation, i.e. for instance employees, suppliers, customers, competitors, business consultants and others,

  • – staff development possibilities.

    • In the course of the study, the factors were estimated to watch their intensity. First, the respondents were asked to rate the selected factor in comparison with the major competitors. It allowed to indication of the level of the competency gap. The range of acceptable values of the gap was set between 1 and 4:

  • – < 0.0 ; 0.8 > – Very little

  • – < 0.8 ; 1.6 > – Little

  • – < 1.6 ; 2.4 > – Medium big

  • – < 2.4 ; 3.2 > – Big

  • – < 3.2 ; 4.0 > – Very big

    • However, the assessment of innovation made by the analyzed businesses in comparison with the competitors was not enough.

  • 1 - About of innovation in tourism sector

  • from PART III - Innovation as a key success factor of the tourism development strategy in Poland
  • Edited by Małgorzata Bednarczyk, Andrej Malachovský, Ewa Wszendybył-Skulska
  • Book:
    Strategic Directions of Tourism Development
    Published by:
    Jagiellonian University Press
    Published online:
    10 January 2018
    Print publication:
    31 December 2012, pp 89-124

  • Summary

    The sector of toutism is the fastest growing sector of the global economy, as it is confirmed by statistical data of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), noting a steady and continuous growth in number of visitors and revenue from tourism after the World War II.

    Tourism is undoubtedly an important and modern sphere of economic and social activity in many countries in the world, including Europe. Tourism development is a key driver that accelerates socio-economic development of a country. Its great importance is reflected in a high capacity to generate new jobs, improvement of the quality of life of local communities, and increase in competitiveness of the regions.

    Poland is enjoying a growing popularity among tourists. The change in perception of the country by foreign visitors has been a positive change.

    Moreover, Poland is a country which has not been strongly affected by the global economic depression in comparison with the traditional European tourism markets, i.e. Greece, Italy, Portugal or Spain. It does not mean, however, that the Polish economy has not been touched by the global crisis at all. Similarly to other European countries, the number of tourist arrivals has decreased, which resulted in some financial difficulties of tourism enterprises, mostly small or medium-sized ones.

    For many years, the Polish economy has been focused on its efforts to change the image of the country in order to become attractive to tourism. As a result, both foreign tourists and investors are becoming more interested in Poland. An additional element that supports tourism development in Poland is European funds, of which Poland is the greatest beneficiary in the current programming period.

    Changing tourists’ needs, a growing number of more diverse offers of the international tourism market, increasing number of competitors that are becoming more determined and aggressive in pursuing goals, and changes in the broad market environment (demographic, economic, socio-cultural, political, legal and technological changes), all these factors make it necessary to change the strategy of Polish tourism market, and thus, of the whole tourism economy.

    One of the key directions taken by Poland in tourism development is the increase in competitiveness of products, entities and touristic regions.

Coastal Management in Australia
  • Nick Harvey, Brian Caton
  • Published by:
    The University of Adelaide Press
    Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    31 December 2010
  • Coastal Management in Australia introduces the background to the various coastal management systems operating in Australia and illustrates these with 'real world' examples from the different states and territories.

The Malay Archipelago
  • The Land of the Orang-Utan, and the Bird of Paradise. A Narrative of Travel, with Studies of Man and Nature
  • Volume 2
  • Alfred Russel Wallace
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    18 November 2010
    First published in:
    1869
  • Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) was a British naturalist who is best remembered as the co-discoverer, with Darwin, of natural selection. His extensive fieldwork and advocacy of the theory of evolution led to him being considered one of the nineteenth century's foremost biologists. These volumes, first published in 1869, contain Wallace's acclaimed and highly influential account of extensive fieldwork he undertook in modern Indonesia, Malaysia and New Guinea between 1854 and 1862. Wallace describes his travels around the island groups, depicting the unusual animals and insects he encountered and providing ethnographic descriptions of the indigenous peoples. Wallace's analysis of biogeographic patterns in Indonesia (later termed the Wallace Line) profoundly influenced contemporary and later evolutionary and geological thought concerning both Indonesia and other areas of the world where similar patterns were found. Volume 2 covers the Molucca Islands and New Guinea.

The Urban Mosaic
  • Towards a Theory of Residential Differentiation
  • Duncan Timms
  • Published online:
    05 January 2012
    Print publication:
    02 March 1971
  • The concept of the city as a mosaic of social worlds has achieved wide currency: the residential differentiation of the urban population provides the matrix for much human activity. In this detailed study, the author demonstrates that much of the manifold variation in the social characteristics of populations living in different parts of the city may be summarized in terms of a small number of factors relating to social rank, style of life preferences and ethnicity. Residential and social differentiation are seen as intimately connected. At the individual level, it is suggested that questions relating to social rank, style of life, and ethnicity provide the main framework for the choice of residential location. At the societal level, it is suggested that the variations in the inter-relationship of the basic differentiating factors are a function of modernization. Empirical material is drawn from an number of Australian cities.

Through the Yang-tse Gorges
  • Or, Trade and Travel in Western China
  • Archibald John Little
  • Published online:
    05 July 2011
    Print publication:
    31 October 2010
    First published in:
    1888
  • Through the Yang-tse Gorges is Archibald Little's diary (published in London in 1888) of his journey up the Yangtze River from Shanghai to Chongqing by a native junk boat in 1883. Little strongly advocated the introduction of steam travel on the upper part of the river between Yichang and Chongqing, a port open to Western trade. The upper Yangtze was full of gorges and rapids which made travel treacherous; Little's journey by junk boat took a month, whereas the journey by steamship would have taken only 36 hours. He was repeatedly rebuffed in his attempts to introduce steam travel to the upper Yangtze by the Chinese government, which he accused of standing in the way of modernisation. He successfully introduced a steamship on the upper Yangtze river in 1898. Several other books by Little and by his intrepid wife are also reissued in this series.

My Diary in a Chinese Farm
  • Alicia E. Neva Little
  • Published online:
    01 June 2011
    Print publication:
    10 June 2010
    First published in:
    1898
  • Published in Tokyo in 1894, Mrs Little's diary of her summer stay at a local farmhouse in the Chinese interior near Chongqing provides a first-hand account of rural Chinese life in the nineteenth century from a European's perspective. Mrs Little was an accomplished author, having written numerous novels on women's social roles under her maiden name, Bewicke. In My Diary, she continues this theme of women's place in society. Her account also touches on the interactions between Christian missionaries and the local people. She was an active campaigner against the Chinese tradition of binding the feet of young girls, and helped to bring about its abolition. A limited run of only 500 copies of My Diary was originally printed. It contains 26 illustrations and is an invaluable historical source for studying rural life in nineteenth-century China.

  • 1 - An Era of Change

  • Nick Harvey, University of Adelaide, Brian Caton, Flinders University
  • Book:
    Coastal Management in Australia
    Published by:
    The University of Adelaide Press
    Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    31 December 2010, pp 1-18

  • Summary

    Each coastal State should consider establishing, or where necessary strengthening, appropriate coordinating mechanisms … for integrated management and sustainable development of coastal and marine areas and their resources, at both the local and national levels.

    UNCED 1992, chapter 17.6

    Global imperatives for coastal management

    The above quote clearly illustrates the international importance of coastal and marine management. This is one of the major program areas dealt with in Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 (UNCED 1992), which is essentially the United Nations' blueprint for sustainable development (see page 207 for definition and discussion). At the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), often referred to as the ‘Earth Summit’, held in Rio de Janiero in 1992, there was a recognition that the world was beginning to live beyond its ecological means and that rapid action was necessary to avert future disaster (UNCED 1992). In this global context, the coast is particularly important for three reasons.

    First, most of the world's population lives around the coast. There have been various estimates for just how many people live around the coast, and these estimates will differ depending on what definitions of ‘the coast’ are used. Agenda 21 (17.3) stated that in 1992 more than half of the world's population lived within 60 km of the coast, and that by the year 2020 this proportion could rise to two thirds. Hinrichsen (1998) quotes a figure of 3.2 billion people living within 200 km of the coast, on about 10% of the Earth's land area, and two thirds of the world's population already living within 400 km of the coast.

  • 2 - Understanding Coastal Processes

  • Nick Harvey, University of Adelaide, Brian Caton, Flinders University
  • Book:
    Coastal Management in Australia
    Published by:
    The University of Adelaide Press
    Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    31 December 2010, pp 19-125

  • Summary

    It's just the way it changes

    … Like the shoreline and the sea

    Cohen 1968

    The dynamics of coastal systems

    The previous chapter noted the difficulty of finding a single definition for the Australian coast. This becomes more complex when we realise that the modern coast is not a static line, even though it is often used as boundary marker. While some changes are very visible to the human eye, more subtle changes that may be just as important are occurring all the time. For this reason it is necessary to consider the time context for any coastal processes so that we can provide useful information that is relevant to coastal management.

    At time scales of hundreds of millions of years, continental evolutionary processes have less influence on the coast, although many coastal forms may have resulted from older geological processes. For example, the occurrence of large granite erratic boulders along the South Australian gulf coastline does not relate to modern coastal processes but to glacial processes 250 million years ago. Since that time, Australia has split away from Antarctica and is currently drifting north at a rate of approximately 6 cm per year. A coastal classification based on the longer time scale processes of plate tectonics is discussed below.

    At time scales of millions of years there have been major changes, such as the rapid climatic and associated sea-level changes of the last two million years during the Quaternary period.

  • 4 - Managing the Australian Coast

  • Nick Harvey, University of Adelaide, Brian Caton, Flinders University
  • Book:
    Coastal Management in Australia
    Published by:
    The University of Adelaide Press
    Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    31 December 2010, pp 194-291

  • Summary

    The first chapter of this book examined some of the global imperatives for coastal management, pointing out that (1) most people live on or close to the world's coast, (2) the global population has a high dependency on coastal resources, and (3) human impact on the coast is already at significant levels and is increasing. The second chapter used a number of Australian coastal examples to stress the need to understand coastal processes in order to formulate effective coastal management strategies. The third chapter then illustrated various forms of human impact on the Australian coast, and noted that many of our coastal problems related to either increased human pressure, a poor understanding of coastal processes and/or inadequate planning and management.

    This chapter turns to coastal management principles and practices, and examines how these operate within the complexity of the different roles of Australian governments and interactions with different community and interest groups. This is further complicated by the range of different legislative mechanisms and instruments for dealing with coastal management in each jurisdiction.

    The need for management

    Given that there is clearly a need for effective coastal management in Australia, how do we go about it? What is coastal management, and what is the difference between that and coastal planning? Are there well-defined methodologies or guidelines for coastal management, and what is considered ‘best practice’ in coastal management?

    The answers to these questions are not simple, since coastal management is not just about dealing with coastal impacts from identified coastal resource uses.

  • 3 - Human Impact on the Australian Coast

  • Nick Harvey, University of Adelaide, Brian Caton, Flinders University
  • Book:
    Coastal Management in Australia
    Published by:
    The University of Adelaide Press
    Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    31 December 2010, pp 126-193

  • Summary

    The previous chapter focused on the importance of understanding coastal processes in order to better inform coastal management. Although the emphasis was on the processes themselves, the eight coastal examples linked the understanding of coastal processes to the management issues for each of the respective examples. This chapter, however, attempts to place a focus on the human impact rather than the processes but, as will become apparent, it is necessary to place this in context of the coastal processes that are being affected by the impact.

    Coastal impacts from our cities

    The great majority of Australians live on or near the coast (see figure 3.1) in the east of the continent, in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. To a lesser extent there is a population concentration at the south-western tip of the continent. Australia has been an urban country for 200 years, and at the start of the 21st century about 70% of its population lives in urban centres of more than 100 000 people. Almost all these centres are at the coast. This includes all capital cities (except Canberra) and large urban centres such as Cairns, Townsville, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, and Wollongong. Smaller towns and cities are also mainly at the coast, and today more than 80% of Australians live within the coastal zone.

    The RAC Coastal Zone Enquiry showed that more than half of the total population growth in Australia between 1971 to 1991 (see table 3.1) took place in capital cities, and that growth rates were most rapid in the immediate coastal divisions (RAC 1993b).

  • About This Book

  • Nick Harvey, University of Adelaide, Brian Caton, Flinders University
  • Book:
    Coastal Management in Australia
    Published by:
    The University of Adelaide Press
    Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    31 December 2010, pp xiv-xv

  • Summary

    This book provides an introduction to Australian coastal management, primarily for university students. It will also be of use to government employees and coastal planning consultants in drawing linkages between coastal processes and management. The book will give a better understanding of Australian coastal issues in a global context and also provide an overview of current Australian coastal management practices. It draws heavily on case studies from different states in order to make the text as relevant and practical as possible.

    The first chapter of this book attempts to place Australian coastal management in a global context by outlining the importance of the world's coasts for humans and illustrating the international concern for unsustainable coastal resource use and development-related pressure on coastal ecosystems. This chapter clearly outlines how there is a growing international consensus of the need for integrated coastal management as the most effective way forward for the sustainable use of coastal resources. The factors influencing the recent reform of Australian coastal management are then examined. It is noted that there have been significant international influences, such as global change, integrated resource management, sustainable development, and a call for greater community participation. This chapter then outlines some of the major changes to Australian coastal management that have taken place in the 1990s and notes the complexity of management responsibilities and legislative mechanisms between the Commonwealth, state and local governments. This introductory chapter of the book then asks the question ‘What is the coast?’ and illustrates the diversity of scientific and management definitions, concluding with management definitions of the Australian coastline.

Page 5 of 25