Advances in Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol.2

PREFACE Volume 2 contributes to the general theme of this Advances series by offering original, eclectic theories and fie...

Author: Arch G. Woodside

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PREFACE Volume 2 contributes to the general theme of this Advances series by offering original, eclectic theories and field studies that focus on culture, tourism, and hospitality research. Volume 2 includes chapters without length restrictions, giving authors the opportunity to provide more nuanced explorations of theory, method, and their findings, and so create articles that sharpen and deepen thinking to a greater extent than is usually possible in journal-length articles. Unlike handbooks of original essays, this Advances series aims to include chapters on topics and coverage heretofore missing from the literature, but that nevertheless build on prior scholarly contributions. Consequently, the primary objective for Volume 2 is to provide must-read chapters unavailable from other sources – a wellspring providing exceptional insights and tools for applied researchers and scholars focusing on culture, tourism, and hospitality. The members of the Editorial Board and the Editor of this Advances series encourage the reader to respond with review comments and by sending a chapter for consideration for publication in future volumes in this series. Please send chapters and review comments to the Editor as well as to one or more members of the Editorial Review Board. Chapters in Volume 2 appear in alphabetical order by the lead authors’ names. The first chapter, by Antońia Correia, Adriano Pimpaõ, both of the University of Algarve, and Geoffrey Crouch, La Trobe University, presents a revolutionary contingent view of how perceived risk can have both a positive and negative power in affecting destination tourism behavior. The author presents some curious results regarding tourists who seek high novelty yet return to the same destination – a chapter particularly worth reading for honing opposing mind views of culture, tourism, and hospitality research. In the second chapter, Elspeth A. Frew, La Trobe University, defines and exemplifies industrial tourism research. Industrial tourism involves visits by tourists to operational industrial sites where the core activity of the site is non-tourism oriented. The chapter serves to explain the paradox of firms in the same industry embracing versus rejecting industrial tourism. Frew offers a continuum perspective for understanding the occurrence and management of industrial tourism operations. xiii

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PREFACE

In the third chapter, Kenneth F. Hyde, AUT University, offers a multiple view, theoretical and empirical report on independent-traveller decisionmaking. Hyde presents an intellectual feast in reviewing the literature – along the way the advanced theory includes useful explanations of simple and effective tourism heuristics to apply to pre-trip and on-the-journey problems and opportunities. In the fourth chapter, Rhonda L. P. Koster, Lakehead University, provides an organizational and sociological study on mural tourism, looking at how mural tourism creation occurs and makes profound contributions to the well-being of rural Canadian communities, this makes for inspiring reading. Koster provides a landmark contribution that relates well to Frew’s and Hyde’s chapters. In the fifth chapter, Chien-Wen Tsai, Ming-Hsin University of Science and Technology, provides a thorough explanation of the multiple relationships affecting leadership style and employee job satisfaction in international tourist hotels. Where executives treating employees as team members, this proves to be a particularly effective leadership style – at first blush, a finding of no great surprise. However, Tsai provides tools to achieve this valuable but illusive mode of executive thinking and action. The final chapter offers action and outcome metrics for measuring the management performance of destination marketing organizations. Arch Woodside, Boston College, and Marcia Sakai, University of Hawaii, Hilo, build on their prior work by reviewing a series of studies that provide a longitudinal view of a continuation in poor performance assessment at both a DMO and a State Audit Office responsible for doing management audits for the legislative branch of government. What should be done when little or no change in executive behavior and poor performance outcomes occurs following continuously from one DMO management audit to the next? Woodside and Sakai review such audits and offer template tools to improve both DMO performance and auditor field research. Reminder: please send comments on specific chapters and your own chapter for publication consideration for the next volume in this Advances series. Thank you for considering sharing your experiences and expertise in advancing the field of culture, tourism, and hospitality research. Arch G. Woodside Editor

ADVANCES IN CULTURE, TOURISM, AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH Series Editor: Arch Woodside Volume 1:

Advances in Culture, Tourism, and Hospitality Research – Edited by Arch Woodside Katherine W. Phillips

ADVANCES IN CULTURE, TOURISM, AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH VOLUME 2

ADVANCES IN CULTURE, TOURISM, AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH EDITED BY

ARCH G. WOODSIDE Carroll School of Management, Boston College, USA

United Kingdom – North America – Japan India – Malaysia – China

EDITORIAL BOARD Editor Arch G. Woodside Boston College

Editorial Board Members Nancy Albers-Miller Berry College

Sara Dolnicar University of Wollongong

Luisa Andreu University of Valencia

Larry Dwyer University of New South Wales

Pierre Benckendorff James Cook University

Paul Fallon University of Salford

Enrique Bigne´ University of Valencia

Daniel Fesenmaier Temple University

Graham Brown University of South Australia

Peter Forsyth Monash University

Karin Carlisle Saint Mary’s College

Donald Getz University of Calgary

Jack Carlsen Curtin University

Juergen Gnoth University of Otago

Laurence Chalip University of Texas

Ulrike Gretzel Park & Tourism Sciences

John Connell University of Sydney

Wei Guo The Hong Kong Polytechnic University ix

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EDITORIAL BOARD

Mark Havitz University of Waterloo

Philip Pearce James Cook University

Cathy H.C. Hsu The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Penelope J. Prenshaw Millsaps College

Tzung-Cheng (T.C.) Huan National Chiayi University

Mark Rosenbaum Northern Illinois University

Songshan (Sam) Huang University of South Australia

Haiyan Song The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Colin Johnson San Jose State University Robert J. Johnston University of Connecticut Richard S. Lytle Abilene Christian University Drew Martin University of Hawaii at Hilo Jerome L. McElroy Saint Mary’s College Ady Milman University of Central Florida

Ray Spurr University of New South Wales Robert D. Straughan Washington and Lee University Peter Tarlow Tourism & More, Inc. John E. Timmerman The Citadel Timothy J. Tyrrell Arizona State University

Gianna Moscardo James Cook University

Natan Uriely Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Laurie Murphy James Cook University

Thiep Van Ho Monash University

William C. Norman Clemson University

Muarizio Vanetti Fribourg University

Danny O’Brien Griffith University

Adam Weaver Victoria University of Wellington

xi

Editorial Board

Karl Wo¨ber Wirtschaftsuniversita¨t Wien Ipkin Anthony Wong Macau University of Science and Technology

Marian H. Wooten Eastern Illinois University Zheng Phil Xiang University of North Texas

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Antońia Correia

University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro, Portugal

Geoffrey Crouch

School of Business – Faculty of Law and Management, La trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Elspeth A. Frew

School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia

Kenneth F. Hyde

AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand

Rhonda L.P. Koster

School of Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism, Lakehead University, ON, Canada

Adriano Pimpaõ

University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro, Portugal

Marcia Y. Sakai

College of Business and Economics, University of Hawaii, Hawaii, USA

Chien-Wen Tsai

Ming-Hsin University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, Republic of China

Arch G. Woodside

Department of Marketing, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA

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JAI Press is an imprint of Emerald Group Publishing Limited Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK First edition 2008 Copyright r 2008 Emerald Group Publishing Limited Reprints and permission service Contact: [email protected] No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the text, illustrations or advertisements. The opinions expressed in these chapters are not necessarily those of the Editor or the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-0-76231-451-5 ISSN: 1871-3173 (Series)

Awarded in recognition of Emerald’s production department’s adherence to quality systems and processes when preparing scholarly journals for print

PERCEIVED RISK AND NOVELTY-SEEKING BEHAVIOR: THE CASE OF TOURISTS ON LOW-COST TRAVEL IN ALGARVE (PORTUGAL) Antońia Correia, Adriano Pimpaõ and Geoffrey Crouch ABSTRACT Risk is a major concern among tourists and the objective of this chapter is to investigate how different factors contribute to the overall perceived risk and how novelty motivations moderate this risk. The sample population of the study consists of 4,057 international tourists on low-cost travel visiting the Algarve, Portugal in 2005 and 2006. The research findings show that the sensibility towards the occurrence of any type of risk vary with the tourist’s age, familiarity with the destination, and travel experience as well as their propensity to seek novelty. Furthermore, it finds that younger tourists are more apt to be novelty seekers and, simultaneously, less sensitive to risk, than older tourists are. Familiarity with the destination derives from previous visits, diminishes the sensibility to the risk, and increases the degree of novelty-seeking. This chapter discusses specific managerial and theoretical implications. Advances in Culture, Tourism, and Hospitality Research, Volume 2, 1–26 Copyright r 2008 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1871-3173/doi:10.1016/S1871-3173(08)02001-6

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ANTOŃIA CORREIA ET AL.

INTRODUCTION Since its emergence in the United States in the mid-1970s, growth in the lowcost airline sector has been substantial. This new form of selling/buying travel has had a substantial impact on tourism, increasing the number of tourists all over the world, because of the explicit link between tourism and the cost of air transport, especially in the context of leisure travel. Tourists on low-cost travel are rational passengers who give priority to value for money, often book trips over the internet, and actively collect information about the products they want to buy. Despite the information he/she has, risk is still present in their choice. Effectively, the role of risk in daily life is part of human experience and its importance is even more evident in tourism due to the characteristics of tourism products, especially their intangibility (Roehl & Fesenmaier, 1992) and the fact that the tourist places themselves in unfamiliar environments. Previous research on perceived risk focuses on negative outcomes that follow from high risk-taking behavior. The focus of these studies is on whether or not, and if so, by how much, consumers perceive risk in particular buying or consuming decisions and how they deal with that risk. Raju (1980) assesses risk as a behavior construct that has unexpected consequences that may be negative or positive (Reisinger & Mavondo, 2005). This assumption of risk derives from Kahneman and Tversky’s prospect theory (1979), which argues that individuals perceive possible choice options as potential gains and/or losses. Raju (1980) introduces the concept of optimum stimulation level (OSL) that stipulates that each individual has a preferred level of stimulation regarding environmental stimuli, governed by the degree of novelty-seeking, ambiguity, and complexity. The main assumption is that there is some optimum level of risk that the tourist is willing to take, and that this is the result of his or her personality and socio-demographic characteristics (Slovic, 1964). Welker (1961) argues that the level of novelty-seeking depends on past exposure and familiarity with the stimulus. Thus novelty-seeking is an exploratory behavior. The exploratory behavior perspective of risk assumes that consumers may seek risk to increase stimulus complexity in order to escape boredom (Cox, 1967; Dowling, 1986; Hoyer & Ridgway, 1984). In fact, novelty-seeking is important in understanding tourist behavior in general (Petrick, 2002). In this two-dimensional framework, the assessment and perception of risk is a mix between, on the one hand, the risk that the tourist desires or is willing to take (such as eating new foods or styles of cuisine) and, on the other hand,

Perceived Risk and Novelty-Seeking Behavior

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risks associated with vacation consumption that a tourist may prefer to avoid (such as drinking contaminated water). Most studies on tourists engaging in some type of travel risk generally focus on why individuals are ready to take risks while on vacation when such behavior is not normally typical in everyday life. These studies argue that people perceive tourism as a framework of time and space which offers the opportunity to feel less restrained and more adventurous. This perspective follows Cohen’s (1972) novelty-seeking scale. Lee and Crompton (1992) develop a 21-item instrument that measures the novelty-seeking construct for the tourism context. They define novelty-seeking as a multidimensional construct which consists of six overlapping dimensions: change from routine; escape; thrill; adventure; surprise; and boredom alleviation. These studies, although of valuable insight, are limited, however, providing insight into only one-side of risk behavior. While emphasizing conduct marked by excitement, these studies ignore the mechanisms that might constrain novelty-seeking behavior. The assumption that tourist behavior, characterizing some level of risktaking, is limited derives from the works of Beck (1992, 1995) and Giddens (1990, 1994, 1998) who raise the issue of a risk society. Specifically, Beck and Giddens emphasize the increasing awareness of current consumer risk and worry. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that consumer awareness of risk is not absent even when he or she is on vacation. This leads to the need to develop a better understanding on how tourists perceive risk. Jacoby and Kaplan (1972) identify five types of perceived risk (financial risk, performance risk, physical risk, social risk, and psychological risk) since adopted by several authors (Cheron & Ritchie, 1982; Mitra, Reiss, & Capella, 1999; Stone & Gronhaug, 1993; Stone & Mason, 1995). Roselius (1971) introduced time risk. Some studies (Stone & Gronhaug, 1993; Stone & Mason, 1995) apply these six dimensions. Additionally, satisfaction risk appeared in a study regarding perceived risk and leisure activities (Cheron & Ritchie, 1982). In addition to the seven perceived risk types in the study of Roehl and Fesenmaier (1992), So¨nmez and Graefe (1998b) added three other types of risk: health risk, the possibility of becoming sick while traveling to or at the destination; political instability risk, the possibility of becoming involved in the political turmoil of the country being visited; and terrorism risk, the possibility of being involved in a terrorist act. The present study examines how novelty-seeking construct, representing a risk the tourist is willing to take (Lee & Crompton, 1992), influences the construct-perceived risk, which corresponds to risk tourist prefer to avoid (see, for instance, Mitchell & Vassos, 1997; Roehl, 1988; So¨nmez, 1994;

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Um & Crompton, 1992). Additionally, this study assesses the role of previous experience, familiarity with the destination, and socio-demographic characteristics in terms of perceived risk and novelty-seeking behavior. This chapter includes an exploratory and confirmatory analysis that depicts what the dimensions relating to novelty-seeking and perceived risk are in tourists on low-cost travel. Further, it shows a structural model that characterizes how socio-demographics, familiarity, and previous experience affect novelty-seeking behavior and the perceived risk. Therefore this chapter contributes to the literature, by means of a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), to show that the antecedents of novelty-seeking and perceived risk are not well understood and require further research (Lepp & Gibson, 2003; Petrick, 2002). Further, a structural model assesses whether perceived risk varies according to novelty-seeking, previous travel experience, familiarity with the destination, and the socio-demographic profiles of participants. Previous research has shown evidence that these variables are antecedents of perceived risk and novelty-seeking, but has produced varied findings regarding the direction of the influence (Carr, 2001; Lepp & Gibson, 2003; Roehl & Fesenmaier, 1992; So¨nmez & Graefe, 1998a, 1998b). Furthermore, the influence of these variables on novelty-seeking and perceived risk, to the authors’ best knowledge, has never been tested by means of a structural model.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The concept of risk first arises in economic theory in the 1920s (Knight, 1948). This concept is a critical factor in the decision-making processes (Dowling & Staelin, 1994). Expected utility theory (EUT) supports the central role that risk plays in decision making (Von Neumann & Morgenstern, 1947). It states that utility is a subjective judgment about the value of choices in the context of uncertainty and risk. A variant of EUT is prospect theory of Kahneman and Tversky (1979), which states that individuals perceive possible choice options as gains and/or losses. Prospect theory introduces the value function and argues that decisions are not solely rational. In fact, individuals tend to perceive losses more intensively than they perceive gains. In terms of the attitude towards risk, both theories assume that risk affects the shape of the utility or value function (Weber, Blais, & Betz, 2002) of the consumer and, therefore, that the level of risk aversion or risk seeking underlies different shapes of the utility function.


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The value function from prospect theory defines deviations from a reference point, which is normally concave for gains (implying risk aversion) and, commonly, convex for losses (risk seeking); being generally steeper for losses than for gains (risk aversion). According to this theory, risk averse choices relate to prospects perceived as gains, and when the prospects are perceived as losses, the choice is more likely to be risk seeking. This theory shows that irregularities in consumer behavior relate to the way that a consumer perceives risk. Bauer (1960) defines perceived risk in terms of the consumer’s perceptions about uncertainty and possible adverse consequences. Although researchers widely accept perceived risk as an important construct in the decision process, and therefore in applied marketing and consumer research, perceived risk has been neglected in tourism behavior contexts (Lepp & Gibson, 2003; Verhage, Yavas, & Green, 1990; Yavas, 1987).

LITERATURE REVIEW Risk perceptions directly affect the decision-making process (Lepp & Gibson, 2003; Mitchell, 1999; So¨nmez & Graefe, 1998a) at its various stages (Moutinho, 1987). Bauer (1960) argues that consumers face the purchasing process with a myopic view, based on his/her perceptions of risk. The concept of risk has been widely studied in marketing (Cunningham, 1967; Mitchell, 1994; Stone & Gronhaug, 1993). However, this concept is still an emergent concept in the tourism research field. Tsaur, Tzeng, and Wang (1997) define tourist risk as the possibility of unfortunate events during travel, particularly at the destination. Moutinho (1987) provides a comprehensive analysis by establishing a relationship between travel behavior and perceived risk that is ‘‘a function of uncertainty and consequence’’. He also identifies four aspects of perceived risk: (1) uncertainty inherent in the product; (2) uncertainty in the place and mode of purchase; (3) degree of financial and psycho-social consequences; and (4) the subjective uncertainty experienced by the tourist. Most of the previous research assumes that perceived risk is necessarily regarded as a negative outcome. In contrast, Bauer (1960) suggests that people are willing to take risk and adjust their behavior to suit this target, although, individuals do not seek objective dangers per se, but rather attempt to match their skills and competence with the situational risk (Martin & Priest, 1986). This assumption shows that there are two levels of risk: the risk that tourists are willing to take and the perceived risk that

6


concerns the probability of not getting what they expected. Several authors assume that experiencing risk is an inevitable motivation for those involved in adventurous activities (Ewert, 1989), meaning that these tourists seek novelty or excitement. Novelty-seeking appears in the literature as a motivation. However, in terms of its association with perceived risk, few research studies are available (Lepp & Gibson, 2003). Cohen (1972) explored the construct of novelty-seeking in depth by developing a widely accepted tourist typology that identified four types of international tourists based on their preference for novelty-seeking or familiarity. Since the work of Cohen (1972) other researchers have also investigated the construct of novelty-seeking as a motivation, but few have considered the role of novelty-seeking as a measure of perceived risk (Lepp & Gibson, 2003). Novelty-seeking is a curiosity/exploratory drive that counters the desire for familiarity (Jang & Feng, 2007). The arousal of a desire for novelty-seeking may relate to personal traits and psychological characteristics influenced by socio-demographic and psychographic variables. Previous studies have investigated the perceptions of risk based on personal characteristics (Roehl & Fesenmaier, 1992; So¨nmez & Graefe, 1998b). Lepp and Gibson (2003) explore tourist role or type and Lepp and Gibson (2003), So¨nmez (1998), and So¨nmez and Graefe (1998a, 1998b) examine the role of previous travel experience. So¨nmez and Graefe (1998b) report on how information search and education affected perceived risk. Other variables investigated include life-cycle stage and age (Gibson & Yiannakis, 2002; Lepp & Gibson, 2003), gender, destination image, familiarity (Lepp & Gibson, 2003), and nationality (Hurley, 1988; Seddighi, Nuttall, & Theocharous, 2001). Perceived risk relates to novelty-seeking (Lepp & Gibson, 2003), and tourists differ in terms of the degree of familiarity they have with, and novelty they seek in, a destination (Pearce, 1982, 1996). Although, research on novelty-seeking behavior focuses primarily on the role of motivation (Crompton, 1979; Dann, 1981), more recently research provides scales to measure novelty-seeking behavior, and exploratory and risk-taking behavior (Lee & Crompton, 1992; Mo, Howard, & Havitz, 1993; Yiannakis & Gibson, 1992). According to Lepp and Gibson (2003), differences among tourists in terms of novelty-seeking behavior transpose into differences in the level of perceived risk. Surprisingly, the hospitality and tourism domains do not yet integrate perceived risk and novelty-seeking, which are likely to influence the tourist’s current and future decisions.


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CONCEPTUAL MODEL The conceptual model consists of two phases of analysis: an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) followed by a CFA. This allows for the identification of two latent variables: perceived risk and novelty-seeking. Next, a structural model evaluates how the latent variable, novelty-seeking, and the three observed variables, familiarity, previous experience, and age, influence perceived risk. The dependent variable of this model, perceived risk attempts to establish the extent to which tourists on low-cost travel perceive the level of risk associated with their travel to Algarve, Portugal – the context for this particular study. The EFA extracts the latent variables, novelty-seeking and perceived risk, as two multidimensional constructs derived from the literature, leading to the following hypothesis. H1. a set of novelty-seeking dimensions comprises the latent variable, novelty-seeking. Novelty-seeking behavior appears as a multidimensional concept that comprises thrill, adventure, surprise, and boredom alleviation (Lee & Crompton, 1992). Studies based on this scale, in general, show that the dimensions of the novelty-seeking construct are consistent with Lee and Crompton (1992) with minor differences in terms of surprise and thrill (see for instance, Petrick, 2002; Chang, Wall, & Chu, 2006). H2. a set of risk dimensions comprises the latent variable, perceived risk. Previous studies adopt the five dimensions identified by Jacoby and Kaplan (1972): financial risk, performance risk, physical risk, social risk, and psychological risk (Cheron & Ritchie, 1982; Mitra et al., 1999; Stone & Gronhaug, 1993; Stone & Mason, 1995). Beside these dimensions, other studies introduce new factors such as, satisfaction (Cheron & Ritchie, 1982) and political instability (McCleary & Whitney, 1994; Seddighi et al., 2001; So¨nmez & Graefe, 1998a), showing that the perceived risk is a multidimensional concept. Fig. 1 depicts a hypothetical causal model of the interactions among the latent variables perceived risk and novelty-seeking and the observed variables of familiarity with the destination, travel experience, and age. The hypotheses deriving from the structural model are as follows. H3. The age of the tourists on low-cost travel relates negatively with the amount of novelty they seek.


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n2

n1

…

r1

r2

…

H2

H1 Novelty seeking

H3

Age

H8

Perceived risk

H4 H7

H6

H5 Travel experience (a) Familiarity (b)

Fig. 1.

Conceptual Model and Hypotheses.

Weaver, McCleary, Lepisto, and Damonte (1994) find that age is a discriminating demographic variable that influences the choice of destination. Petrick (2002) finds that younger golf players are more likely to display novelty-seeking behavior. Carr (2001) and Elsrud (2001) find that noveltyseeking and perceived risk are not homogeneous within tourist age groups. H4. The age of the tourists on low-cost travel relates positively with the amount of risk they perceive. Gibson and Yiannakis (2002) show that perceived risk tends to increase with the age. Similarly, Pearce (1988, 1996) describes a career ladder in tourism that follows an individual’s life stage, suggesting a further hypothesis that relates age with travel experience and familiarity with Algarve destinations, as follows. H5. The age of tourists on low-cost travel relates positively with (a) their travel experience and (b) familiarity with the destination. Apart from the research of Pearce (1996), Cho (2001) also shows that familiarity and expertise are strongly correlated in a tourism context.


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Similarly Gursoy (2001) tests the relationships of familiarity and expertise with information search behavior. Although these studies provide evidence that familiarity and travel experience are related, no one, to the authors’ best knowledge, has assessed this hypothesis by means of a structural model. H6. The (a) travel experience of tourists on low-cost and (b) familiarity with the destination relate positively with the amount of novelty they seek. Pearce (1996) argues that the more experience a tourist has, the greater is his demand concerning destinations; therefore, it can be anticipated that his experience leads him to seek increased novelty. However, Petrick (2002) shows that golf players with more experience tend to be more novelty avoiders than the less-experienced golf players. Jang and Feng (2007) show that novelty-seeking is positively related with mid-term revisit intention. These authors argue that the tourist could search for novelty-seeking in a familiar destination with the sense that they control the situation. This assumption follows the theory of planned behavior of Ajzen (1991). H7. The (a) travel experience of tourists on low-cost travel relates positively with the amount of risk they perceived. Inversely (b) familiarity with destinations relates negatively with the amount of risk they perceive. Lepp and Gibson (2003) argue that familiarity and experience negatively correlate with risk. Similarly, Cheron and Ritchie (1982) show that perceived risk has a strong inverse relationship with familiarity. H8. The amount of novelty which tourists on low-cost travel seek, relates positively with the amount of risk they perceive. Lepp and Gibson (2003) argue that in the actual international context of political instability and terrorism, tourists feel safer in more familiar destinations, whereas novel environments present higher risks. Elsrud (2001) concludes that the perception of risk increases with the degree of novelty-seeking behavior.

METHOD Sample The empirical study was undertaken at the Faro Airport, in the Algarve, southern Portugal. The Algarve is the main tourist region of the country

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attracting 46% of the total tourists visiting Portugal in 2005. The survey took place in the low season (winter 2005) and the high season (summer 2006) using a stratified, random sample of British and German tourists on low-cost travel returning home, with the central aim of determining how they perceived the risks of international travel and their novelty-seeking behavior. This survey considered different types of risk derived from the literature, and employed the novelty-seeking dimensions developed by Lee and Crompton (1992). The random sample of passengers on low-cost travel departing from the Faro Airport was stratified by lowcost airline and country of origin of the passengers. These airlines transport more than 46.3% of the passengers on low-cost travel in Faro Airport with British and German tourists representing more than 38.6% of the tourists visiting the Algarve during 2005 (Correia & Pimpaõ, 2007). To ensure the validity, reliability, and generalizability of the data, several steps were undertaken. First, the point of departure was a questionnaire comprising the dimensions already applied in tourism studies about noveltyseeking behavior and perceived risk (Lee & Crompton, 1992; Petrick, 2002), which were adapted for the present purpose, ensuring that prior research in the field was considered and face validity established. Second, all relevant literature was taken into consideration. Third, the questionnaire was pretested with a sub-sample of 150 passengers. These procedures were followed to ensure the validity of the questionnaire. The survey returned a total of 1,978 questionnaires from the 4,057 distributed, representing a response rate of 49%. This corresponds to a sampling error of 2.7% with a confidence interval of 95% – an acceptable standard according to Dillman (1978). This procedure ensures the generalizability of the data, meaning that the findings are applicable to a more general population. Tables 1 and 2 present a characterization of the sample in terms of nationality, age, education, social status, gender, income, travel experience, and familiarity with the Algarve (measured by past visits). The sample comprises British (81.9%) and German (18.1%) tourists who represent the two main markets to the Algarve traveling mainly with EasyJet (47.4%) and Monarch (15.7%). In this sample, gender was roughly equally represented. Most respondents are of a high social status (58.1%), with an average monthly income over 5,070.9 Euro. They are mainly middle-aged tourists with a superior level of education, since they have an average age of 40.6 years and 13.5 years of schooling. Most of the respondents are married (61.1%). Table 2 also shows tourists engaged in low-cost travel more than twice a year. Additionally, they are familiar with the Algarve destination, since more than 61.3% have visited this region before.

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Table 1.

Sample Stratification by Airlines Companies and Nationality.

Airlines Companies

Sample Frequency

%

Passengers

%

EasyJet Monarch Hapag Loyd Air Berlin Channel Express Others Total

937 311 207 153 124 246 1,978

47.4 15.7 10.5 7.7 6.3 12.4 100.0

288,903 165,748 127,669 75,217 65,583 406,131 1,129,249

25.6 14.7 11.3 6.7 5.8 35.9 100

Market (country)

Frequency

%

Tourists

%

1,621 357 1,978

81.9 18.1 100.0

790,517 266,309 1,056,826

74.8 25.2 36.8

British Germany Total Total of Tourists in Algarve

2,871,810

Source: Faro Airport (ANA) and INE (National Institute of Statistics) (2005).

Survey The survey instrument includes three parts. Part 1 covers socio-demographic variables (gender, age, family status, income, social status, years of education), travel experience, and familiarity with the Algarve. Part 2 contains 13 items that represented a modified version of Lee and Crompton’s novelty-seeking dimensions (1992) adapted to the reality of the Algarve as a tourism destination and anchored in previous research that comprised items usually used to measure the dimensions of novelty-seeking. In the process of pretesting and main analysis, the dimensions, escape, and adventure were found to exhibit little explanatory power. As with the research by Petrick (2002), the dimension, surprise, shows a very low reliability coefficient, therefore this dimension was discarded, with the final version of the scale reduced to three dimensions (boredom alleviation, change from routine, and thrill). This may be due to the degree of familiarity of the Algarve as a destination to British and German visitors. Part 3 comprises 15 items of operationalized risk factors derived from the literature review. Each statement was modified according to the Algarve reality comprising, in each dimension, at least a positive statement and a negative one, which allowed analysis of risk as a negative or positive outcome, according to Weber (1998). The scale for measuring the risk construct is based on operational definitions of the varieties of perceived risk


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Table 2.

Profile of Survey Respondents. Frequency (%)

Gender Female 49.1 Male 50.9 Age Age groups Up to 25 years old 13.4 From 26 to 40 years old 39.5 From 41 to 55 years old 32.9 More than 56 years old 14.2 Education (total number of years at the school) Marital status Married 61.1 Unmarried 38.9 Monthly income (in Euro) Social status High 58.1 High-medium 32.5 Medium 8.1 Low 1.3 International travel experience This is my first trip 0.7 Once a year 26.9 Twice a year 33.2 More than two times/year 39.2 Have you visited the Algarve before? Yes 61.3 No 38.7

Average

Standard Deviation

40.6

12.6

13.5

3.3

5,070.9

1,960.1

as suggested by Lepp and Gibson (2003). This scale contains five domains of risk; namely, financial risk, physical risk, satisfaction risk, terrorism risk, and psychological risk. The dimension social risk was discarded after subsequently being found to have been misunderstood in pre-test. Roehl and Fesenmaier (1992) similarly found that social risk had the lowest correlation with the other types of risk. Therefore this dimension was excluded in further analyses. This part of the survey was pre-tested to ensure that respondents clearly understood the scale. Measurement of the novelty-seeking behavior and the dimensions of perceived risk were measured using a five-point Likert scale varying from 1, not important/strongly disagree, to 5, very important/ strongly agree. Table 3 shows the variables used in this study.

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Table 3. Variable

Characterization of the Variables. Description

Age

Age groups

Travel experience

How many times do you travel abroad in a year on holidays? Have you visited the Algarve before?

Familiarity

Scale 1, less than 25 years; 2, from 26 to 40 years; 3, from 41 to 55 years; 4, above 56 years 1, this is my first trip; 2, once a year; 3, twice a year; 4, more than three times a year 0, No; 1, yes

How important was each reason to you in deciding to take this trip? Work Routine Crowds Things Nature Novelty Culture Amusement New Others Adventure Remote area Emotions

To To To To To To To To To To To To To

Scale

escape the pressures of my workplace escape from routine run away from the crowds try as many things as possible learn more about nature seek novelty and change learn about cultures and lifestyles 1, not important; 5, very important amuse myself discover new things do what most others have not done have an adventure visit a remote area that is hard to access stimulate emotions

Perceived Risk How likely are you to agree with these statements when you decide to travel? Uncertainty Complicated Costs

Substitutes

Comfort Sick Natural disasters

When one purchases a vacation, one is never certain of one’s choice Choosing a vacation destination is rather complicated When making decisions about holidays, it is important to get as much information as possible regardless of the time or cost involved With the exception of the price, there is not much difference between one vacation destination and another I would feel very comfortable traveling anywhere When I choose a destination I’m afraid to become sick Travel to natural areas is risky now because of natural disasters


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Table 3. (Continued ) Gift Importance Achievement

Annoying Upset

Risk International Without terrorism Terrorism

Buying a vacation is like buying a gift for myself I attach great importance to a vacation The type of vacation one takes often represents his/her level of personal achievement It is really annoying to purchase a vacation that is not suitable If, after I bought a vacation, my choice proves to be poor, I would be really upset Traveling is risky right now International travel is just as safe as domestic travel Tourists are not likely to be targets of terrorism Because of terrorism, some destinations must be avoided

1-strongly disagree 5-strongly agree

Research Design The present study follows three main stages of statistical data analysis. The main objective of this study is to test a structural equation model (SEM) that allows understanding of how tourists perceive risk. SEM evaluates how well a conceptual model containing observed and latent variables explains and fits the data (Yoon & Uysal, 2005). The technique adopted in this study also allows measurement of causal relationships among latent constructs, estimating the amount of unexplained variance (Yoon & Uysal, 2005). This SEM analysis comprised two stages. First, an EFA was used as a preliminary technique to find the underlying dimensions or constructs in the data. The extraction method employed was maximum-likelihood estimation, with a VARIMAX rotation method. The analysis considered a latent root criterion of 1.0 for factor inclusion. To extract factors, the cut-off of 0.5 was the criterion adopted. A subsequent CFA allowed for evaluation of the resulting scales. This analysis specifies the relationships of the observed variables to the latent constructs, and suggested that all the constructs can be inter-correlated freely. Alpha (Cronbach, 1951) coefficients measure the reliability of the obtained factors, with independent analysis carried out to confirm


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the goodness-of-fit for each construct. Validation of the scales allowed the estimation of the structural model. Having identified the factors that contributed most to the formation of each construct, SEM estimation allowed for the assessment of the research hypotheses. The factors obtained by means of EFA served as indicators of the latent constructs: perceived risk and novelty-seeking. AMOS 6 (Arbuckle & Wothke, 1999) was used to estimate the model, evaluating the model fit by following the approach suggested by Hair, Anderson, Tatham, and Black (1998); that is, assessment of the overall model fit, followed by individual measurement and structural modeling (Correia, Valle, & Moc- o, 2007).

EMPIRICAL MODEL AND RESULTS The empirical model is a structural equation system with latent variables and the model has two components: the measurement model and the SEM. The aim of the former is the measurement of the latent variables, while the latter shows the structural equations.

The Measurement Model The development of the measurement scales was performed with EFA, in order to reduce the dimensionality of the data and to identify the main factors relating to novelty-seeking and perceived risk. Following this, a CFA evaluated the resulting scales. The reduction of the initial thirteen push motives into three new factors, together accounted for 49.2% of the total variance (KMO ¼ 0.9; Bartlett test: p ¼ 0.00). Table 4 presents these findings. Considering the meaning of the novelty-seeking factors grouped with higher loadings and the literature, the novelty-seeking factors are boredom alleviation, change from routine, and thrill. The internal consistency of these factors was measured by the corresponding Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, which are good (they are at least equal or superior to 0.7 in all cases). Boredom alleviation is the first factor and is particularly related to try as many things as possible, be an adventurer, and to discover new things. For the factor, change from routine, the principal motives were connected to escape from routine and to escape the pressures of my workplace. The third factor, thrill, was found to be comprised primarily of, to learn about the nature and to visit a remote area that is hard to access.


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Table 4.

Exploratory Factor Analysis for Novelty-Seeking (After Varimax Rotation).

Novelty-Seeking Factors

Boredom alleviation Seeking novelty and change To try as many things as possible Be an adventurer Know different cultures and lifestyles To discover new things To stimulate emotions To amuse myself Change from routine To escape the pressures of my workplace Escape from the routine To get away from the crowds Thrill Going places my friends have not been To learn about nature To visit a remote area that is hard to access

Loadings

Mean

Standard Deviation

0.5 0.7

2.7 2.8

1.1 1.1

0.7 0.5

2.7 3.2

1.1 1.1

0.6 0.5 0.4

3.1 2.9 3.2

1.1 1.1 1.1

0.7

3.7

1.3

0.9 0.5

3.9 3.0

1.1 1.2

0.5

1.9

1.0

0.7 0.7

2.3 1.9

1.1 1.1

Reliability (Alpha Cronbach) 0.8

0.7

0.7

Table 4 also shows the mean importance level of novelty-seeking factors. The importance ranking was based on the mean scores of each statement. In general, the factor structure that was extracted is consistent with Lee and Crompton’s (1992) study but with minor divergences that result from the fact that the Algarve is a familiar destination, since more than 60% of the visitors are repeat visitors. As discussed above, however, the major difference is the lack of the surprise dimension that appears either to be inappropriate for the kind of tourist included in this study, or due possibly to a misunderstanding about these survey statements which addressed this dimension. Further research is necessary to clarify this dimension (Petrick, 2002). In the case of the Algarve, the main motivation is change from routine, since escape from routine and escape from the pressures of the workplace have high mean scores. However, the boredom alleviation motivations also explain their choice. In fact, this dimension, in the case of the Algarve,

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relates to amusement and trying as many things as possible, which accords with the reality of tourism development in the Algarve, where there are many touristic resources to explore. The least explicative dimension is thrill, which differs most from the scale of Lee and Crompton (1992). The item, be an adventurer, loads in this study with boredom alleviation rather than the thrill factor as proposed by Lee and Crompton (1992), since the Algarve is not very rich in adventurous activities of a thrilling nature. The perceived risk responses to the statements in the third part of the questionnaire load into four factors (Table 5). To find the underlying constructs associated with risk, the research involved an EFA in order to reduce the 15 perceived risk statements to a more manageable number. The remaining nine statements, having eigenvalues greater than 1 and explain 44.4% of the total variance, group into four factors labeled as follows: security, uncertainty, psychological risk, and financial risk. The risk items most strongly associated with each factor appear in the loadings listed under each. Reliability coefficients were computed for each factor, all with an Table 5.

Exploratory Factor Analysis for Perceived Risk (After Varimax Rotation).

Perceived Risk Factors

Financial It is really annoying to purchase a vacation that is not suitable If, after I bought a vacation, my choice proves to be poor, I would be really upset Security I would feel comfortable traveling anywhere Vacation travel is perfectly safe International travel is just as safe as domestic travel Psychological Buying a vacation is like buying a gift for myself I attach great importance to a vacation Uncertainty When one purchases a vacation, one is never certain of one’s choice Choosing a vacation destination is rather complicated

Loadings

Mean

Rank

0.9

4.4

1.1

0.9

4.4

1.0

0.6

3.2

1.3

0.9 0.7

3.3 3.3

1.1 1.2

0.9

3.7

1.1

0.8

4.1

1.0

0.9

2.8

1.1

0.9

2.5

1.2

Reliability (Alpha Cronbach) 0.7

0.7

0.7

0.7

18


acceptable reliability coefficient above 0.7, ranging from 0.7 to 0.8. Furthermore, with respect to the reliability of the scale, the KMO ¼ 0.8 and the Bartlett test of sphericity is significant (p ¼ 0.00). Four factors have statistical validity (Table 5). Table 5 also shows the mean importance level of perceived risk. Although this research tries to assess most of the items related to risk found in the literature (Table 3), only nine items condense into four factors, two of which are in accordance with previous studies, namely psychological risk and financial risk. As Roehl and Fesenmaier (1992) report, social risk is discarded due to a misunderstanding of the questions set in the pre-test of survey. In fact, the tourists on low-cost travel to the Algarve apparently are concerned that the experience is not good value for money. These results are also in accordance with other empirical research on low-cost travel that shows that these tourists get good value for money and are experienced tourists. Two further factors of risk are security, which is the third more important risk factor and comprises items such as, ‘‘I would feel comfortable traveling anywhere; vacation travel is perfectly safe, and international travel is just as safe as domestic travel’’. These perceptions show the level of confidence these tourists have in the travel system. The second label, uncertainty, provides evidence of the doubts tourists have when deciding to travel. In fact, uncertainty can be defined as ‘‘the extent to which people feel threatened by uncertainty and ambiguity and try to avoid these situations’’, Hofstede (1991, p. 113). Similarly, Stone and Gronhaug (1993, p. 40) define uncertainty as ‘‘when no probabilities can be attached for each possible outcome’’, meaning that the uncertainty around the decision highlighted in the statements relate to the ambiguity and doubts about the possible outcomes. Terrorism, health, and physical risks are not concerns of tourists who travel to the Algarve. Since the main purpose of this investigation was to determine the ways in which the three novelty-seeking factors influence the four most important perceived risks, the following analysis imposed constraints on the loadings as they emerged from the EFA. A CFA model assessed and validated the measurement model of the antecedents of the perceived risks. This model fits the data well, as can be seen by the values of several fit-indices: GFI ¼ 0.988, AGFI ¼ 0.974, NFI ¼ 0.815, RMR ¼ 0.033, RMSEA ¼ 0.052, and a w2 ¼ 83.343 (df ¼ 13; p ¼ 0.000), a value that is significant because of the sensitivity of this indicator to large samples. The regression parameters and the factor co-variances are all significant at the 5% level, and even at the 1% level. Therefore, the measurement model is acceptable, showing that H1 and H2 are not rejected, and we can therefore move on to the estimation of the SEM.


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The Complete Model Fig. 1 examines the nature of the relationships among novelty-seeking, age, travel experience, familiarity, and overall perceived risk, the study estimated the SEM. Fig. 2 shows the estimated standardized path coefficients on the model itself. The complete model was estimated by using the asymptotically distribution-free procedure in the AMOS package. The retained model is the model in which all regression coefficients are significant at the 5% level and even at 1% level. All the variances and factor co-variances are significant at the 1% level. Concerning the model fit, the w2 statistic has a significant value 2 (w ¼ 337.835 with 31 degrees of freedom, p ¼ 0.000) as expected due to the large sample size. However, the other indicators show acceptable values, suggesting an adequate incremental and parsimonious fit, as shown by the following goodness-of-fit indicators: GFI ¼ 0.996, AGFI ¼ 0.993, NFI ¼ 0.872, RMR ¼ 0.050, and RMSEA ¼ 0.051. The model has all the paths significant at the 1% and 5% levels.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS AND HYPOTHESES H3, H4, H6, and H7 hypothesize that age, travel experience, and familiarity with the destination, were expected to be correlated with novelty-seeking and the perceived risk of travel by tourists on low-cost travel. These hypotheses build on the literature review and on the tourism career-ladder theory of Pearce (1996) which expects age to be positively correlated with the travel experience and familiarity with the destination (H5). Furthermore, hypothesis H8 contends that novelty-seeking is expected to be positively correlated with the perceived risk. Since the path from age to novelty-seeking is negative and statistically significant at the 1% level, this results in the non-rejection of hypothesis H3. This result suggests that younger tourists are more likely to seek novelty than older tourists. This is in accordance with previous research of Carr (2001), Elsrud (2001), and Petrick (2002) who show that the degree of novelty tourists seek tends to decrease with age, highlighting that age is negatively correlated with novelty-seeking. Since the path from age to perceived risk is positive and significant at the 1% level, the result suggests that older tourists tend to be more sensitive to the risk, in support of hypothesis H4. This is also in accordance


20

.61

.32

.75

Boredom alleviation

Change from routine .76*

1.11

Thrill

.17*

.22* .39

Novelty -.26*

Travel experience

.14*

.26* .77

Age

.29*

-.24*

Familiarity

.09** .16*

.12

.23

Perceived risk .25*

.76*

.12*

.37*

Trust

Psychological

Uncertainty

Financial

.75

.41

.96

.849

Fig. 2. Standardized Estimates of Proposed Model. The Asterisks ‘‘’’ and ‘‘’’ Denote Level of Significance 1% (pW0.001) and 5% (pW0.005), Respectively.


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with the previous studies of Gibson and Yiannakis (2002) and the tourism career-ladder theory of Pearce (1996). The main assumption is that the experience of the tourist has a direct and positive relationship with age. Since the path from age to travel experience is significant at the 1% level and positive, H5a is not rejected. This result confirms that older tourists are more experienced travelers. The path from age to familiarity with the destination is negative and statistically significant at the 1% level. Thus we reject hypothesis H5b. This result implies that older tourists are more likely to seek familiar destinations, as was the case for the Algarve, seeking greater novelty instead. Hypothesis H6b is accepted, since the path from familiarity to noveltyseeking behavior relates positively and significantly at the 1% level. That is, the tourist may find novelty in familiar destinations, as shown by Jang and Feng (2007). But Hypothesis H6a is rejected since this path is not significant. This result suggests that the Algarve holds some level of novelty-seeking even for tourists that are familiar with this destination. This result is in accordance with previous research of Jang and Feng (2007), and Gyte and Phelps (1989) who argue that repeat visitors tend to visit different places in the repeat destination suggesting a novelty-seeking behavior in familiar destinations. Hypothesis H7 tests the direction of the relationship between travel experience and perceived risk (H7a), and between familiarity and perceived risk (H7b). The results support H7a with the path from travel experience to perceived risk being positive and statistically significant at the 5% level. This result makes sense in the actual context of political instability where it is widely accepted that tourists are the first target of terrorists and criminals (Pizam, Tarlow, & Bloom, 1997) and, therefore, the perception of risk increases (Enders, Sandler, & Parise, 1992; Gartner & Shen, 1992). The path from familiarity to perceived risk is not statistically significant. Therefore, H7b is not supported and is not in accordance with previous research (see for instance, Lepp & Gibson, 2003; Cheron & Ritchie, 1982). The findings support hypothesis H8 since novelty-seeking influences positively perceived risk. The path is positive and statistically significant. This result supports Elsrud (2001) who shows that the amount of noveltyseeking behavior tends to increase the perceived risk, suggesting that the tourists are aware of the risk of international travel although their noveltyseeking behavior remains.

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CONCLUSIONS AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS The major findings of this study have some significant managerial implications, especially for the marketers who promote this destination. The novelty-seeking behavior and the perceived risk appear as two distinct antecedents of tourism behavior, suggesting that perceived risk should not be conceived only in negative terms. The positive relationship between these two variables indicates that novelty seekers are more aware of the risks and therefore special attention may be required to promote the Algarve among novelty-seeking tourists. From the EFA and CFA results, the study indicates that tourists who travel to the Algarve perceive this destination as safe, and this may be one of the Algarve’s competitive advantages. Psychographic and personality traits were found to be associated with most of the perceived risks. Financial risk is the major concern of the tourist, the other being psychological risk. The uncertainty of the choice is of less importance. Novelty-seeking behavior also shows quite interesting results given that they concern a familiar destination as most of those surveyed had visited the Algarve before. For tourists on low-cost travel, the main motivations appear to be escape from the routine and boredom alleviation. The Algarve therefore represents a familiar destination where there are nevertheless a variety of activities and resources that repeat tourists find worthwhile. This conclusion results from the EFA, which shows that discovering new things, trying as many things as possible, and amusement, are the motivations of these tourists besides escape from routine and from the work place. The positive effect of familiarity in novelty-seeking behavior is a curious result suggesting that the degree of novelty-seeking tends to increase with familiarity with the Algarve, and the potential of this destination for repeat visitation. The geographic scope of this chapter limits the generalizability of the findings. Further research should encompass tourists traveling to other destinations and other origins in order to examine novelty-seeking and risk behavior more broadly. The estimated model explains overall perceived risk based on novelty, age, travel experience, and familiarity with the destination, and more research should estimate the effect of gender and nationality on the perceived risk and novelty-seeking behavior. A variety of extensions to this chapter could be undertaken. This chapter, although limited in geographical scope, identifies some fields of future research. These fields include extending the study to other geographical contexts, adapting the novelty-seeking construct to familiar destinations, and including further socio-demographic variables in the model.


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ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors acknowledge the financial support of ANA – Aeroporto Internacional de Faro, for this study and the research support of Nuno Oliveira, researcher at the University of Algarve.

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INDUSTRIAL TOURISM THEORY AND IMPLEMENTED STRATEGIES Elspeth A. Frew ABSTRACT Industrial tourism involves visits by tourists to operational industrial sites where the core activity of the site is non-tourism oriented. Although industrial tourism exists around the world, and is expanding rapidly, earlier terms used to describe the industrial tourism phenomenon reflect a narrow focus on particular sectors, such as farm tourism or factory tourism, or an impression of marginality, such as sideline tourism. This chapter proposes an integrated conceptualization of industrial tourism to embrace the production of virtually all goods and/or services, and indicates the ramifications for the management of industrial tourism attractions of the concurrent management of non-tourism enterprises.

INTRODUCTION This chapter examines those tourism enterprises where the core business is not tourism (that is, industrial tourism attractions) within the context of tourist attraction theory, and to identify issues relevant to the concurrent management of tourism and non-tourism operations. Any definition of a tourist attraction should be sufficiently comprehensive to incorporate those tourist attractions with tourism as their core activity Advances in Culture, Tourism, and Hospitality Research, Volume 2, 27–42 Copyright r 2008 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1871-3173/doi:10.1016/S1871-3173(08)02002-8

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and, those managed primarily for the production of non-tourism goods and/ or services. Here is a definition that covers both types of tourist attraction: A site open to the public with or without prior booking, with facilities provided for the access of tourists, where the core business is either the production of goods and/or services intended solely for current visitors (consumer tourism) or the production of goods and/or services not intended solely for visitors (industrial tourism). (Adapted from Frew & Shaw, 1999, p. 70)

Fig. 1 illustrates the terms used to identify industrial tourism within the overall context of tourism, ranging from the general, that is, generic types of tourism attractions and types of tourism, to the specific, that is, specific named tourism attractions, and from consumer tourism, that is, tourism attractions where tourists do not experience the behind the scenes aspects of operating an attraction, to industrial tourism, that is, where tourists do experience the behind the scenes aspects of operating an attraction. Although various authors include examples of industrial tourism in their discussion of typologies of attractions (see, for example, Lew, 1987; Gunn, 1988; Pearce, 1991; Prentice, 1993; Swarbrooke, 1995), a lack of attention to General Sideline Tourism Theme Parks

Educational Tourism

Cultural tourism

Agricultural Tourism

Industrial Heritage Tourism

Consumer Tourism Museum

Industrial Tourism

Work Watching Factory Tours Mine Tours Farm Tours Wine Tours Factory visits by business reps Parliament Tours

Disneyland

Tours of Ford Motor Company Specific

Fig. 1.

Four Components of Industrial Tourism.

Industrial Tourism Theory and Implemented Strategies

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industrial tourism from a conceptual standpoint exists. For example, Lew (1987) mentions tourist observation in rural and agricultural settings, settlement functions and institutions; Gunn (1988) mentions touring circuit attractions to such sites as unusual institutions; Pearce (1991, p. 46) lists a range of human and natural landmarks as tourist attractions and includes ‘‘engineering achievements, industrial sites y and mining sites’’; and Prentice (1993) mentions attractions concerned with primary production, craft centers, craft workshops, and manufacturing industry. Most authors in the area of attraction research are aware of tourist visits to operational industrial sites, that is, places where non-tourism goods and/or services are produced, but the specific concept is not developed to a substantial extent (Frew & Shaw, 1999). This chapter addresses this neglected area of attraction research from a theoretical perspective. The literature on industrial tourism divides into two distinct types: general and trade press articles and books, and academic articles and books, with the bulk of the literature coming from the general and trade press. Newspaper feature articles on industrial tourism are surprisingly common, especially involving the visitation of construction sites (variants on the sidewalk superintendent theme) (see, for example, Arnold, 2004) and, unusual or interesting locations (see, for example, Bain, 2003). Books and dedicated web pages about industrial tourism, especially containing directories of hundreds of industrial sites aimed at the tourist market, are appearing with increasing frequency (see, for example, Axelrod & Brumberg, 1997; Berger & Berger, 1997; Gelbert, 1994; Lammers, 1990). The articles on industrial tourism from the trade press divide into categories such as: – those explaining the reasons for establishing tours for the public, usually proposing opening the site to the public as a public relations exercise and for educational purposes (see, for example, Bishop & Coffman, 1988; Hinton, 1996; Kerwin, 2005; Tilson, 1993); – those suggesting how best to organize successful tours and open days for the site (see, for example, American Salesman, 1999); – those considering factory outlets, with suggestions on how to establish and maintain successful retail sales on site (see, for example, Stringer & Walsh, 1996); – those with a product focus being highly specialized and appearing in specialty magazines designed for experts or enthusiasts of the product

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and so are very detailed and technical (see, for example, Bowes & Saper, 1994) and, – those with a business tourist focus, discussing the professional benefit of visiting a particular site, such as for information exchange or viewing good manufacturing methods or other aspects of management in operation (see, for example, Henly, 1988; Johnson, 1994). As an illustration of a trade press publication encouraging the opening of the site, Kerwin (2005, p. 94) highlights the growing difficulties for some companies of reaching consumers through traditional advertising. He notes that companies such as Mattel Inc. and DaimlerChrysler have been encouraged to open their sites to create ‘‘engrossing personal experiences to drive home the lessons behind their brand.’’ Kerwin (2005, p. 94) notes that this experiential marketing, set up as a loss leader, generates word of mouth and while ‘‘it doesn’t reach nearly as many people as a TV spot, it can attract the very consumers who are most likely to buy.’’

CONCEPTUALIZATION OF INDUSTRIAL TOURISM Industrial Tourism Defined A range of terms describes the concept of industrial tourism but the definition used in the context of this chapter is as follows: ‘‘Industrial tourism involves visits by tourists to operational industrial sites where the core activity of the site is non-tourism oriented’’ (Frew & Shaw, 1995, p. 88). The key word in this definition is ‘operational,’ as a site no longer operational is instead, an example of an industrial heritage attraction where, industrial heritage is concerned with ‘‘the physical evidence of former industrial activity within the contemporary environment’’ (Goodall, 1994, p. 94). Industrial tourism is an oddity, providing an interesting juxtaposition of activities whereby ‘‘it is essentially recreation in the workplace, where work and leisure meet’’ (Green, 1994, p. 16). MacCannell (1976, p. 57) further describes visits to industry as ‘‘alienated leisure’’ as such visits ‘‘represent a perversion of the aim of leisure: they are a return to the workplace.’’ However, such sites provide an important understanding of humanity because the establishments visited, and the activities contained within, are important as they are ‘‘the concrete material representation of our most important institutions: law, economy, industry, the balance of man and

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Table 1. Division of Industrial Sites by Industry in the United States. Type of Industry

Agriculture Business and labor Communications Energy Fishing Food and beverage

Forest products Health services Industry Manufacturing Mining and refining Public services Transportation

Examples

Farms; ranching; crops, e.g., almonds, citrus fruit, honey, loganberries Stock exchange; board of trade Broadcasting; movies; publishing Nuclear power; locks and dams Maintenance of fishing vessels Beverages, e.g., tea, coffee; breweries; candymaking; cheesemaking; distilleries; food processing; ice cream; meat processing; snack foods Logging; maple industry; paper Medical centre Glass; milling; potteries; textiles Cooperage; tobacco; tractors; shoes: candles Mines; mining; refining Firefighting; law enforcement Aerospace; automotive; shipping

Total number of industrial tourism sites listed

Number of Examples 6 3 8 11 1 103

10 1 25 17 11 2 13 211

Source: Adapted from Gelbert (1994).

nature and life and death’’ (MacCannell, 1976, p. 57). If the visitor views the whole production process, the experience contains the complete chain of processes from the conceptualization to the consumption of the product or service or, from the cradle to the grave, as the processes viewed may reflect all aspects of human life, representing primary, secondary and quaternary industries. Tables 1 and 2 show the division of industrial sites by industry in the United States and France which demonstrates the range of industries involved in industrial tourism and demonstrates industrial tourism existing in all sectors of the society. The realm or domain of industrial tourism can be viewed as existing on a variety of continua and can be characterized in at least three different ways: the extent of automation of the industry; the extent of tangibility of the process being observed, and the extent of involvement of the visitor. Fig. 2 shows that industrial tourism can be characterized by the extent of automation of the industry. On the left are examples of small-scale cottage industries such as jewelry makers and artists, while on the right are examples of large scale, heavy industries that mass produce standardized products. Industrial tourism can also be characterized by the extent of tangibility of

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Table 2.

Types of Industrial Tourism Sites in Western France.

Agriculture and livestock rearing Alcohol and liquors Food production (mainly small-scale) Aquaculture (oysters, trout-rearing) Crafts and traditional trades Builders and building suppliers Chocolate and biscuits (large scale) Electrical products Packaging materials Energy, including electricity Farming New technology

6 8 12 4 13 4 5 2 1 7 1 1

Baking and milling Paper production Newspapers and the media Science and technology Tobacco production Textile production Barrel-making Waste disposal Transport Porcelain production Glass-making Wine production

Total number of industrial tourism sites listed

3 5 5 7 2 5 2 2 4 1 3 16 119

Source: Adapted from Swarbrooke (1995).

Small scale production. Craft goods, e.g., jewelry makers, artists.

Fig. 2.

Industrial Tourism Characterized by the Extent of Automation of the Industry.

Tangible products Physical goods being produced, e.g., potteries, wineries.

Fig. 3.

Mass produced. Large scale. Manufactured goods. Manufacturing, processing of raw materials, construction.

Services Intangible products e.g., tours of governments and educational institutions

Industrial Tourism Characterized by the Extent of Tangibility of the Observed Process.

the process being observed. On the left are examples of sites that produce tangible products only, while on the right side are examples of sites that produce only intangible products, that is, services (Fig. 3). Industrial tourism can also be characterized by the involvement of the visitor in the production of the goods or services. On the left are examples of sites where visitors are passively involved in the activity and are merely observing the production process. On the right are examples of industrial tourism attractions that physically involve the visitor in the production process,

Industrial Tourism Theory and Implemented Strategies Passive involvement. Watching the production process without becoming otherwise physically involved.

Fig. 4.

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Active involvement. Becoming physically involved in some aspect of production.

Industrial Tourism Characterized by the Involvement of the Visitor.

for example, by being a member of a TV/radio studio audience, or riding a horse to round up cattle (Fig. 4). Some of the most famous examples of industrial tourism incorporate enterprises from services industries, and large-scale sites. At Universal Studios, California, arguably the world’s largest and busiest motion picture and television studio, public tours organized since 1954, have received nearly 75 million people to the ‘‘behind-the-scenes world of movie-making’’ (Gelbert, 1994, p. 23). Similarly, tourists visit the NBC television studios in Burbank, and participate in the production of shows such as the Tonight Show as members of the audience. Further, these particular examples highlight the other aspects of industrial tourism raised earlier, namely, the point where the original core business is replaced by tourism as the dominant or core business (as for Universal Studios, where the theme park infrastructure and visitation levels are overwhelming the movie craft purpose), and the extent industrial tourists are participant observers (as for contributing studio audiences). To differentiate industrial tourism attractions from other types of tourist attractions consideration is given to the organization’s core business, that is, the principal reason the organization is in existence or, the central or essential part (Makins, 1992). Swarbrooke (1995, p. 3) quotes the Scottish Tourist Board (1991) suggesting an attraction’s primary purpose is ‘‘to allow public access for entertainment, interest or education.’’ However, in the case of an industrial tourism attraction the primary purpose (or core activity) is to produce non-tourism goods and/or services for customers other than those members of the public allowed access to the site, rather than existing formally to allow public access. The Scottish Tourist Board also suggests an attraction is ‘‘open to the public without prior booking’’ (Swarbrooke, 1995, p. 3). This definition, again, would not necessarily suit industrial tourism attractions as some sites require booking ahead to allow arrangements to minimize visitors’ interference with production, and to overcome any potential safety or security problems. Lew (1987) quotes Schmidt (1979, p. 449) who suggests tourist attractions are distinguished on

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the basis of those primarily intended for tourists, and those not designed for them. This distinction applies to industrial tourism sites not primarily intended for tourists (as their core product is different) but are adapted for tourist visitation later. Alternatively, some sites, where the core business is not tourism, incorporate facilities for tourists from the time of the initial development of the site. In either case, the core activity of an industrial tourist attraction remains the production of non-tourism goods and/or services, with the reason for the site’s existence not primarily tourists, but the site contains facilities to handle tourists. This is supported by MacCannell (1976, p. 100) who describes visiting the New York Stock Exchange from the balcony, and find no evidence the ‘‘show is for the sightseer.’’ The industrial tourism product representing the core product, plus the tangible and the augmented product, can also be compared to the relationship developed by Kotler (1994) (Fig. 5). Leiper (1990, p. 382) states, ‘‘if no tourist ever visited the Tower of London it would not be thought of as a tourist attraction: the tourists are necessary parts.’’ With industrial tourism attractions, if no tourist ever visited a site producing goods and/or services the site would still exist,

Augmented Product Delivery, after-sales service

Tangible Product Features of site, brand name

The Industrial Tourism Product

Core Product

Fig. 5.

Enjoyment, learning by watching production

Tour of site, viewing production

Opportunity to sample or purchase product

Kotler’s (1994) Three Levels of Products and the Industrial Tourism Product.


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in principle, as the core activity is not to cater for tourists. At any time the industrial tourism attraction could return to the core function alone, namely the production of non-tourism goods and/or services, that is, tourism is not required for the organization to exist, as the core function is not tourism. The question then arises: can any establishment producing goods and/or services become an industrial tourism attraction? The answer is yes, as each site contains latent potential to become an attraction, and this potential will remain latent until the site develops facilities to handle tourists and receives the first tourist. However, not all sites should develop as industrial tourism sites as some may not have the correct properties or location needed to successfully develop this type of operation.

Industrial Tourism and Consumer Tourism The terms used to distinguish attractions are ‘‘industrial tourism’’ attractions and ‘‘consumer tourism’’ attractions. (These are similar terms to those used in marketing to distinguish between industrial marketing and consumer marketing. In industrial marketing, the product marketed is for the use of industry in further production of goods and/or services, while with consumer marketing, the product is for the immediate and sole use of the consumer.) In this discussion, industrial tourism attractions are designed for both the production of non-tourism goods and/or services and for the benefit of tourists, while consumer tourist attractions are for the use of tourists only. At industrial tourism attractions, tourists do not participate in the production of the non-tourism goods and/or services if the participation is not requested. For example, in a situation where tourists are asked if they want to press a button on a machine or pull a lever as part of the production process, they are not primarily involved in the production of the goods and/ or services unless invited by the organization to do so; their involvement is contingent. In contrast, at consumer tourism attractions the experience for the tourist is based and, indeed, dependent upon, the tourist’s physical involvement and/or personal interaction with the tourist attraction employees (who are the service providers). For example, at Disneyland, tourists experience face-to-face meetings with actors playing Mickey Mouse or one of the other Disney characters. Therefore, the involvement of the tourist is the main element at the site and is fundamental to the existence of the attraction. This involvement of tourists at a consumer tourist attraction reflects the intangible nature of tourism services, being produced and consumed simultaneously and therefore cannot be experienced completely

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Fig. 6.

ELSPETH A. FREW Pure Industry

Industrial Tourism

Pure Consumer Tourism

Not designed for tourists Creating goods or services for the general public.

Production of goods and/or services for the public and/or tourists.

Production of goods and/or services for tourists only.

Tourists not admitted

Limited admittance to tourists

Tourists admitted

Industrial Tourism Characterized by the Market for the Goods and/or Services.

before they are bought. This contrasts with the core product at industrial tourism attractions. The core product is either a physical good ‘‘manufactured, put into inventory, distributed through multiple resellers, and consumed still later’’ (Kotler, 1994, p. 467) or a service (for example, the New York Stock Exchange) consumed simultaneously by the tourist, but is produced for a purpose other than the consumption by the tourist. Therefore, industrial tourism exists on a continuum in relation to the extent products are created for the general public or for tourists only. In Fig. 6 on the extreme left, sites create goods and/or services for the general public only, with no admittance for tourists to the site. Moving to the right, sites create goods and/ or services for both the general public and tourists in particular, with limited access for tourists. This is industrial tourism under the present definition. Further to the right, sites produce goods and/or services for tourists only (consumer tourism), for example, at an amusement park (Fig. 6).

The Management Philosophy at an Industrial Tourist Attraction As two types of production exist at an industrial tourism site, namely, the tourism business and the core business, management at such attractions differs in their orientation towards tourism when compared to management at consumer tourist attractions, as tourism is complementary rather than core to its operations. The management task at the enterprise involves joint management, where management involves two ventures requiring management simultaneously. This situation is often described as portfolio management where the organization coordinates a portfolio of activities. To manage the tourism aspect at an industrial site in this way, at least two strategic business units (SBUs) are required. An SBU is a single business or collection of related businesses planned separately from the rest of the organization, with its own set of competitors. A manager is responsible for


37

its strategic planning and profit performance and who controls most of the factors affecting profit (Kotler, 1994). At industrial tourism attractions, at least one SBU is designed to cater for tourists, while others concentrate on the production of non-tourism goods and/or services. In the case of consumer tourism attractions, all their SBUs exist to cater for the needs and wants of tourists. At an industrial tourism attraction, at least one SBU is regarded as the Core Strategic Business Unit (CSBU) while another is the Tourism Strategic Business Unit (TSBU). In the TSBU, decisions are made concerning the need to provide such visitor facilities as visitor parking, food and beverage outlets and a souvenir/gift shop. Decisions are also made on the development of the tour product and tour group liaison. With the development of tourism at an industrial site, the emergence of incompatible objectives may appear, with conflict arising between the need to produce effectively non-tourism goods and/or services, and allowing visitors onto the site. For example, the TSBU may want to bring large groups of tourists to the site and this may conflict with the CSBU’s plan to use more space to increase production. The TSBU may try to move the visitors’ viewing area closer to the CSBU’s production line, but the CSBU workers may resent the increasing fishbowl effect and jeopardize productivity. Therefore, a need for compromise between the SBUs is created. To decide the objectives to pursue, the management may want to classify the SBUs by profit potential and so may use some of the common business portfolio evaluation models such as the Boston Consulting Group’s growthshare matrix to consider the dollar-volume size of each business, its market growth rate and relative market share, or, the General Electric model rating the business in terms of market attractiveness and business strength (Kotler, 1994). Kotler (1994, p. 83) suggests most business units pursue a mix of objectives including ‘‘profitability, sales growth, market-share improvement, risk containment, innovativeness, reputation and so on.’’ This is similar to the justifications given for the development of a TSBU, as many organizations develop industrial tourism for a number of reasons, ranging from public relations exercises to making a profit from direct sales. The introduction of industrial tourism creates positive aspect for the organization because revenue is earned during off-season periods. For example, at a Pick Your Own Fruit farm, tourists may visit the site out of season to experience the farm and buy the jams and pickles rather than necessarily picking the fruit. The concept of encouraging tourism to cover off-season periods is supported by Nickerson, Black, and McCool (2001), Weaver and Fennell (1997), Pizam and Pokela (1980), and Frater (1983) who considered the reason farmers initially become involved in farm

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tourism. Weaver and Fennell (1997, p. 358) suggest, ‘‘the cost/price squeeze and associated crisis of agricultural overproduction have threatened the viability of the small-scale farm economy, prompting surviving farmers to seek financial stability through both on- and off-farm diversification.’’ Therefore, from a financial perspective, the development of tourism at a site producing non-tourism goods and/or services may create positive implications for cash flow as tourism, encouraged in off-peak periods, creates a counter cyclical situation. This would depend on the intrinsic attractiveness of the site’s facilities if the core production process is not operating, as is observed for television studios and legislative buildings, even when not in session. If appropriate, the opportunity at an industrial tourism attraction to sell slightly imperfect goods (as well as standard products) produces additional direct sales value. At smaller organizations, the selling of seconds (that is, slightly damaged goods or sample products) may account for a large percentage of turnover, vital to a company’s profitability (Henly, 1988). The involvement in tourism also places demands on the enterprise in other ways, such as in functional areas like cost accounting, and in organizational behavioral areas such as the management of organizational and employee culture. Cost accounting provides cost information to management for planning, control and decision-making purposes and is concerned with both the costing of services as well as manufactured goods (Glautier & Underdown, 1988). A challenge to the management of an industrial tourism attraction is to ensure adequate cost accounting is established to identify the relevant costs attributable to the CSBU and the TSBU. In particular, the traditional problems of joint costs requires attention, such as the costs charged to the TSBU for the use of the CSBU’s observable production process as the TSBUs essential tourist product. Even an extreme approach, such as attempting to adopt a direct-cost-only system, to match direct expenses on visitor services with direct revenues received from visitors, risks ignoring the intangible but fundamental purpose given for much industrial tourism, that is, the overall public relations benefit to the total organization. A further implication of this aspect (the fact many industrial tourism operations charge low or no entrance fees, and although offering consumer products for sale to tourists, rely largely on crosssubsidization from the core business in return for their public relations benefit for financial viability) attempts to apply quantitative measures to enterprises to determine their industrial versus consumer tourism status fraught with imprecision. For example, the application of a modified ‘‘tourism ratio’’ (Smith, 1988), computing the ratio of tourist-derived revenue to total organizational revenue as an indicator of the degree of


39

tourism involvement of an organization, is likely to be misleading as the organizational revenue accruing due to the tourism operation is often deliberately reduced (via minimal entrance fees) and difficult to estimate (such as determining the return on investment in informal public relations activities). Further, questions of cultural compatibility are inevitable when, in extreme but not uncommon circumstances for industrial tourism, managers of capital goods producers are working with consumer services marketers in the one organization and exploiting the same production process. As Porter (1985) observed, cooperation is difficult to achieve if business units have differing cultures. In fact, much of the literature on strategic management focuses on the criteria for efficient agglomeration of SBUs, usually from the perspective of acquiring existing SBUs. Relatively little literature examines the issues confronting management contemplating diversifying into a new and somewhat remote arena. A re-assessment of the guidelines to move away from the inherent warning to avoid dissimilar ventures, and to move towards formulating constructive approaches should recognize the need to accommodate non-traditional SBU partners. Opportunity may exist for contracting out (or, outsourcing) the management of the TSBU to specialists, analogous to the arrangements of hotel property owners with hotel management firms. This suggestion is reinforced by the experience of many industrial operators who claim not to have the time to attend to prospective industrial tourism ventures. An instructive case history analyzed by Leiper (1995) illustrates the contrasting entrepreneurial approaches adopted by two wineries; one embraced industrial tourism to the point of tourism eventually becoming its principal SBU, while the other winery deliberately rejected extensive tourism developments. Leiper also illustrates the ramifications for other aspects of the marketing mix, beyond product policy, of a tourism-oriented stance. For example, if wineries choose to sell wines to visitors at discounted prices, this is likely to lead to channel conflict with the existing wholesalers and retailers of its wines, with a consequent loss in marketing support for the winery. (This situation is analogous to one experienced by airlines with travel agents, when travelers are encouraged to deal directly with the airline principals, often via pricing incentives.) The information from the experience around the world suggests that, to ensure visitors enjoy a fulfilling experience, the organizations must provide a range of facilities such as raised walkways and souvenir shops, and to introduce some interpretation of the experience to ensure that the visitors develop a greater appreciation and understanding of the site.

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THE MARKET PERSPECTIVE Most of the preceding discussion focused on the supply-side of industrial tourism, that is, the definition and creation of the industrial tourism product and aspects of managing multiple SBUs. Beeho and Prentice (1997, p. 76) emphasize visitors arrive with their own unique personal agendas reflecting the individuals’ interests, and so tourist attractions should ‘‘create, provide and maintain an experience which is able to attract a visitor’s attention, stimulate interest and meet visitor expectations.’’ Melamed and Meir (1981) demonstrated that people tend to select leisure activities congruent with their personality pattern and people in congruent occupations see their preferred leisure activities as an extension of the kind of activities they engage in at work. The study also demonstrated people in incongruent occupations compensate for this situation by selecting compensatory leisure activities (Holland, 1985). From a tourist attraction perspective, a person’s personality type and the congruence of his or her occupation may reflect the choice of tourism destination and the type of activities participated in during the tourism period. To advance the understanding of tourist attraction visitation, further empirical research is necessary on potential visitor personality types and occupations, to determine the type of attractions they are interested in visiting and, in particular, to determine the personality type of people who are interested in visiting industrial tourism attractions. Results reported by Frew and Shaw (1997), include industrial tourism but without accentuating the industrial tourism component. From a marketing perspective, if the personality types and occupations of prospective visitors are known, then the industrial tourist attraction can use the most appropriate professional publications and special interest magazines, for example, to reach the target market.

CONCLUSION The integrating conceptualization emphasizes the desirability of considering many forms of tourism as components of a fundamental category of tourism, namely industrial tourism. Somewhat paradoxically, this major type of tourism is derived from a position of subordination to the nontourism activities of organizations. However, the magnitude of the phenomenon, both in terms of the number of current operations and certainly in terms of the number of potential operations and their social and economic impact, suggests the focusing on this area as a serious study within the domain of the management of tourism attractions.


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ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author acknowledges the assistance of Robin Shaw, Deakin University, Melbourne, in the early development of this work.

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INDEPENDENT TRAVELER DECISION-MAKING Kenneth F. Hyde ABSTRACT Independent travelers are those vacationers who have booked only a minimum of their transportation and accommodation arrangements prior to departure on the vacation. Independent travel is an important and growing sector of worldwide tourism. Choice of vacation itinerary for the independent vacation represents a complex series of decisions regarding purchase of multiple leisure and tourism services. This chapter builds and tests a model of independent traveler decision-making for choice of vacation itinerary. The research undertaken employs a two-phase, inductive–deductive case study design. In the deductive phase, the researcher interviewed 20 travel parties vacationing in New Zealand for the first time. The researcher interviewed respondents at both the beginning and the end of their New Zealand vacations. The study compares pre-vacation research and plans, and actual vacation behaviors, on a case-by-case basis. The study examines case study narratives and quantitative measures of crucial variables. The study tests two competing models of independent traveler decision-making, using a pattern-matching procedure. This embedded research design results in high multi-source, multi-method validity for the supported model. The model of the Independent Vacation as Evolving Itinerary suggests that much of the vacation itinerary experienced in independent travel is indeed unplanned, and that a desire to experience the unplanned is a key hedonic motive for Advances in Culture, Tourism, and Hospitality Research, Volume 2, 43–151 Copyright r 2008 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1871-3173/doi:10.1016/S1871-3173(08)02003-X

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independent travel. Rather than following a fixed itinerary, the itinerary of an independent vacation evolves as the vacation proceeds. The independent traveler takes advantage of serendipitous opportunities to experience a number of locations, attractions and activities that they had neither actively researched nor planned.

1. INTRODUCTION Choice of vacation itinerary represents a complex series of decisions regarding the purchase of multiple leisure and tourism services. Independent travelers are those vacationers who have only pre-booked a minimum of their transportation and accommodation arrangements prior to departure on the vacation. Independent travel is an important and growing sector of the tourism industry (World Tourism Organization, 1993). Morrison, Hsieh, and O’Leary (1993) characterize independent travelers as following fixed or flexible itineraries. However, it aids us little to assume that the nature of independent travel is independence, or that independent travelers sometimes adopt flexible itineraries. What is required is an indication of the extent to which independent travelers pre-plan their vacation itineraries, and the extent to which such plans are actioned. No item of research has yet sought to model the nature of the independent vacation, its planning and execution. In comparison to the general body of knowledge on consumer decisionmaking, this chapter is distinctive in four respects. Firstly, the subject matter concerns multiple decisions made. Secondly, the subject matter relates to the purchase of intangible services rather than tangible goods. Thirdly, tourism services are especially emotive products. Fourthly, the items purchased are all first-time purchases; they are not familiar brands; the consumer has no previous direct experience in purchasing any one of these services, on which to base their decision-making. Understanding which of the many decisions in choice of a vacation itinerary are most central to a consumer’s vacation planning, and what the sequence of decision-making amongst elements of the itinerary might be are important issues. In the absence of prior experience with these specific purchases, which sources of information does the consumer rely upon at each phase of the decision process? What is the role of affect in these processes? An examination of independent traveler decision-making should contribute to an understanding of consumer behavior in tourism. The results of such an inquiry should also be of benefit in the marketing of tourism services.

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1.1. Research Aim and Objectives This chapter builds a model of independent traveler decision processes for choice of vacation itinerary. This research seeks to build a model that will account for the following characteristics of independent travel:

extent of pre-trip information search; extent of pre-trip travel planning; the timing of information search within the chronology of the vacation; the sources of information used both pre-trip and en-route; the percentage of pre-trip travel plans which are actioned; the factors which influence the amount of information search, amount of planning and percentage of travel plans implemented; the temporal sequence in which vacation sub-decisions – specifically, choice of sub-destinations, route, attractions and activities – are made and the role of affect in these decision processes.

1.2. Background to the Research This chapter examines one aspect of consumer behavior in tourism, the decision processes for choice of vacation itinerary by the independent traveler. The research literature on consumer decision-making is in large part based on decisions for choice between brands of tangible goods. This literature is likely to be somewhat restricted in its direct relevance to the current study. Section 2 discusses a number of concepts from the general field of consumer decision-making that may assist understanding of the current subject matter: perceived risk, information search, choice sets, decision rules, and choice heuristics, planned, unplanned and impulse purchases. Section 2 also explores the crucial role that affect plays in consumer behavior, especially in the consumption of leisure and tourism services. The perspective of Consumer as Hedonic Being explores the emotions generated by the consumption, and the anticipation of consumption, of products and services. Decision processes for choice of particularly emotive products such as tourism services are likely to be affective, holistic and spontaneous. Tourism is a commercial activity involving a broad range of sectors of the service economy. Section 3 discusses the literature on consumer behavior in tourism. The distinctive features of the marketing of tourism services include shorter length of exposure of the consumer to the service, emotional motives

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for purchase, the importance of personal sources of information prior to purchase and the importance of image in the selection of tourism destinations and tourism services. A continuing trend in international tourism is the growth in independent travel and relative decline in package travel. Humans may well be born with a sense of curiosity, and a need to explore the world around them. Consumers with a greater need for novelty-seeking display a preference for independent travel. Independent travelers might be more spontaneous, with a lower level of vacation planning and a desire to do what comes on the spur of the moment. No item of research has yet sought to model the nature of the independent travel, its planning and execution. By definition, independent travelers have not pre-booked the details of their vacation itinerary. However, have they pre-planned the details of their itinerary? What is required is research into the type and extent of vacation planning undertaken by the independent traveler, and the extent to which such travel plans are actioned. Research is required on the temporal sequence and direction of influence amongst elements in the independent travel vacation itinerary – namely, choice of sub-destinations, route, attractions and activities. Research on consumer behavior in tourism has seldom examined the hedonic aspects of tourist behavior. An examination of consumer purchases of tourism services must consider the affective aspects of purchase behavior. An integral element of decision-making for independent traveler’s choice of vacation itinerary might be to avoid travel planning, and delay decisionmaking for specific vacation elements until the time the traveler is actually experiencing the vacation.

1.3. Method Most research into consumer behavior in tourism has adopted questionnaire survey method. This provides limited insight into consumer behaviors as such research is merely a snapshot of attitudes and behaviors taken at a single point in time (Kidder & Judd, 1986). A number of tourism researchers have called for more longitudinal studies of tourist behavior (Woodside & MacDonald, 1994). The current study employs methods, which, though not strictly longitudinal, are an improvement upon snapshot surveys. The research undertaken employs a multiple-case replication deductive case study method to test these two competing models. To observe the process of tourist decision-making in action, the study gathers data on two


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separate occasions in each independent traveler’s vacation to New Zealand. The researcher conducted an initial interview with the travel parties within 24 h of arrival at their international destination; a second interview was conducted with the same travel parties within 24 h of their departure from that destination, at the end of their vacation. The interviews seek to probe and record the content of cognitive sets at these points in time, rather than retrospectively: The initial interview investigates the extent and content of traveler research, awareness and planning relative to New Zealand sub-destinations, attractions and activities, and travel route. The final interview investigates actual vacation behavior in terms of subdestinations visited, routes taken, attractions and activities experienced. The use of visitors to New Zealand allows a special opportunity to view independent travel behaviors. The key attractions of New Zealand are widely spread, and the traveler must decide upon an extended route to take them to their choice of attractions (Oppermann, 1992). The study compares pre-vacation research and planning with actual vacation behaviors, on a case-by-case basis rather than aggregating data across subjects. The study includes case study narratives, takes quantitative measures of crucial variables and subjects case study summaries to independent judgment in the testing of the two competing models. This embedded research design results in high multi-source, multi-method validity for the paper findings (Yin, 1994).

1.4. Structure of the Chapter Section 2 of this chapter examines the existing literature on consumer decision-making and affect in consumer behavior. Section 3 examines the literature on consumer behavior in tourism and tourist decision-making processes. Sections 4, 5 and 6 describe the research design and methods employed in a two-phase, inductive–deductive program of research. Section 7 presents the results of the research. The study tests two competing models of independent traveler decision-making using data from case studies of 20 independent travel parties. Section 8 discusses the significance of the model of independent travel as evolving itinerary to an understanding of tourist behavior. The Section also discusses the implications of this research for future research method, and implications of the research results for the practice of tourism marketing.

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1.5. Definitions The tourism literature employs the term attractions in a diverse number of ways to connote anything that may attract a tourist to a destination. Such a broad definition could include scenic beauty, climate, cultural and social characteristics, or shopping (Ritchie & Zins, 1978). Even when limiting the use of the term to physical attractions, an attraction might connote a single site, an entire city, region or nation (Lew, 1987). This chapter adopts a narrow definition, to distinguish attractions from sub-destinations. This chapter employs the following definitions: attraction: a single, named site with a specific human or natural feature which is the focus of visitor and management attention (Pearce, 1991); consumer decision process: the cognitive and affective processes by which a consumer gathers and integrates information for the purpose of making choices amongst alternatives (adapted from Peter & Olson, 1996); independent traveler (also referred to as a Free Independent Traveler or FIT): a vacation tourist who has pre-booked only a minority of their travel arrangements prior to departure, including a minority of transport, accommodation and choice of attractions and activities (Morrison et al., 1993); sub-destination: a city, town or region in which the visitor stays overnight; travel route: the route taken between sub-destinations; vacation activities: destination-specific leisure pursuits; this definition excludes generic activities such as shopping, dining or relaxing which are not specific to a destination; vacation itinerary: the set of sub-destinations, travel routes, attractions and activities experienced by the traveler.

1.6. Limitations This chapter uses interpretive data from detailed case studies of a small sample of consumers, vacationing in New Zealand for the first time. The study employs a deductive process of research to show that the model of decision-making developed in this chapter describes well the decision processes of these particular travelers. A larger, quantitative study would be required to see if this model applies equally well to other travelers in other settings.


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2. CONSUMER DECISION-MAKING This chapter examines one aspect of consumer behavior in tourism: the decision processes for choice of vacation itinerary by the independent traveler, an important and growing sector of the tourism industry. To aid in an understanding of these decision processes, this section reviews the relevant research literature. Section 2.1 provides an overview of three perspectives in the study of consumer behavior, namely the consumer as problem-solver, the uninvolved consumer and the consumer as hedonic being. Sections 2.2–2.5 review the literature on consumer decision-making processes, consumer information search, choice sets and decision rules. This literature considers decision-making for the purchase of a single item, but tourist decision-making for elements of the vacation itinerary involves decision-making for the purchase of multiple items. Section 2.6 examines the literature on consumer decision plans and shopping, to assist understanding. Research into consumer decision-making takes the perspective of the consumer as problem-solver. Choice of tourism and leisure services depends, at least in part, on emotive mechanisms. Section 2.7 considers the role of affect in consumer behavior, in particular, the role of affective processes in the purchase of leisure and tourism services.

2.1. Consumer Behavior Interest in studying the behavior, thoughts and feelings of consumers began as a direct consequence of the birth of the marketing concept in the mid1950s (Schiffman & Kanuk, 1991). The marketing concept is a philosophy of business based on the premise that instead of trying to persuade customers to buy what the firm has already produced, marketing-oriented firms endeavor to produce only what they have identified consumers want to buy. A logical consequence of the adoption of the marketing concept in business has been the need to study consumers and their behavior. Historically, the field of consumer behavior has taken a positivist approach to the study of consumers; that is, it has been an objective and empirical field that seeks to provide the single best explanation and prediction of behavior for the purposes of designing marketing and communications strategies that can influence the consumer in some desired way.

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2.1.1. The Consumer as Problem-Solver The field of consumer behavior is firmly rooted in the view of the consumer as a problem-solver, a decision-maker seeking to maximize the outcomes of any purchase decision by carefully weighing the utility of each option available. Each discipline in the social sciences adopts metaphors to help model phenomena of interest. The metaphor in the traditional approaches to consumer behavior is that of the consumer as information-processor, the consumer as computer. The 1960s saw the development of a number of models of consumer decision-making and purchase behavior – the hierarchy of effects model, multi-attribute attitude models, the Engel–Kollat–Blackwell (1968) model and the Howard–Sheth(1969) model – each a variant on the view of consumer as problem-solver. The discussion below reviews these models. The work of Lavidge and Steiner (1961) provides a model of a consumer’s reaction to marketing communications and the events leading up to product purchase. The hierarchy of effects model proposes that consumer purchase occurs via a sequential hierarchy of events: from awareness, to knowledge, liking, preference, conviction and finally to purchase. The model implies a consumer always follows this invariant sequence of events prior to the purchase of a good or service. Martin Fishbein’s work on the modeling of consumer attitudes has been widely adopted to describe purchase decision-making. In the mid-1960s, Fishbein (1963, 1967, cited in Schiffman & Kanuk, 1991) developed a multiattribute model to explain a consumer’s attitude towards an object, be that object a public issue, product or brand. The original Fishbein model claims that attitude towards an object is a function of the belief that the object possess certain attributes, and the degree to which those attributes are deemed desirable. According to the Fishbein model, an attitude is the multiplicative sum of attributes of an object, weighted by the evaluation of each of those attributes. The model brings to mind a careful and pedantic consumer, weighing the utility of each option in a mathematical manner before making a purchase. Fishbein later recognized that the original multi-attribute model was a simplistic view of human decision-making. Fishbein’s theory of reasoned action proposed that one should measure attitude towards a specific behavior rather than measuring general attitude towards the object (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). This model suggests that intention to act (such as, intention to purchase) is a function of attitude towards the behavior (assessed in a multi-attribute manner), and the extent to which the consumer feels significant other people believe the behavior should be performed.


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Both of these multi-attribute models view the consumer as a problemsolver. These models assume an invariant sequence of events. The models assume that a consumer first forms beliefs (cognitions) regarding the object, which in turn result in attitude (affect) towards the object, which will produce an intention to act (conation). According to these models, affect is a result of beliefs rather than as an independent aspect of consumer behavior. Engel et al. (1968) wrote the first complete textbook on consumer behavior. In that text, the authors provided the first comprehensive model of consumer behavior. The model consists of four components: inputs to the decision process, information processing, the decision process and other variables influencing the decision process. Inputs to the process can be from marketing or non-marketing sources. Information processing consists of a hierarchical sequence of activities, namely, exposure, attention, comprehension, acceptance and retention in memory. The decision process consists of five steps, namely, problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and post-purchase outcomes. The Engel, Kollat and Blackwell model views decision-making as the central concern of consumer research. The model treats consumer personality, motivations, culture, reference groups, family and situational influences as variables that may influence that process. The Howard–Sheth (1969) model again viewed decision-making as the central activity in consumer behavior. This model distinguishes three types of consumer decision-making: extensive decision-making, limited decisionmaking and routine decision-making. Section 2.2.1 discusses these three alternative decision processes in depth. The models discussed thus far view decision-making as the central activity in consumer behavior. They view the consumer as seeking to maximize the utility of any decision. They are at least partly based on the analogy of the consumer as information-processing machine; as Kassarjian (1982, p. 635) puts it, ‘‘consumer researchers generally have been heavily influenced by the computer revolution and its concomitant flow charts, arrows, boxes and feedback loops’’. Such an emphasis on the consumer as problem-solver might fail to describe consumer behavior in circumstances where the consumer is not highly motivated (Kassarjian, 1978). Such an emphasis also neglects the vital role of affect in many aspects of a consumer’s behavior, and neglects to examine consumption experiences that occur after the purchase of a product or service (Hirschman & Holbrook, 1982; Mowen, 1988). In his review of 20 years of research, Wells (1993) concludes that the field of consumer behavior has largely become an insular, inward-looking field

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that concentrates on early-stage, low-level decisions such as consumer choice of brands. Wells implored consumer researchers to extend their focus and explore consumption and post-consumption activity relating not just to brands, but also to products, services and social issues. 2.1.2. The Uninvolved Consumer Herbert Krugman (1965) voiced unease with the view of the consumer as a motivated decision-maker. Krugman had been studying consumer reaction to advertising, particularly television advertising. He notes that repeated exposure to television advertising resulted in high brand recall, and intention to purchase, with little or no change to the consumer’s attitude to the brand. Krugman uses the term involvement to mean the number of conscious connections a consumer made in their mind with the brand. Television, Krugman hypothesizes, is a low-involvement medium that fosters passive learning and passive behavior change, largely in the absence of strong brand attitude formation. In his report of studies into consumer reactions to advertising, Ray (1973) notes many occasions when a consumer’s intention to purchase followed on from awareness of the brand, but preceded the formation of strong attitudes towards the brand. Ray concludes that there exists a low-involvement hierarchy of effects. A sizable stream of research has subsequently examined consumer behavior under conditions of low involvement (e.g., Celsi & Olson, 1988; Gensch & Javalgi, 1987; Hoyer, 1984; Richins & Bloch, 1986). Harold Kassarjian in his 1977 presidential address to the Association for Consumer Research implored consumer researchers to put aside the view of the consumer as a highly motivated, information extracting problem-solver. Krugman suggested that in the majority of instances consumer behavior was probably low-involvement behavior: consumers just do not care about many of the products they purchase; they are unimportant to them (Kassarjian & Kassarjian, 1979). Support for Kassarjian’s view comes from a review of consumer decision-making research by Olshavsky and Granbois (1979). These researchers conclude that ‘‘for many purchases a decision process never occurs, not even on the first purchase’’ (Olshavsky & Granbois, 1979, p. 98). 2.1.3. The Consumer as Hedonic Being An alternative to the view of consumer as problem-solver or the view of consumer as uninvolved purchaser was first presented by Holbrook and Hirschman (1982; Hirschman & Holbrook, 1982). These authors identify the seeking of emotional arousal as a major motivation for the consumption


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of certain product classes, including the arts, entertainment, sports and leisure pursuits such as tourism services. The view of the consumer as problem-solver appears inappropriate when describing those purchases based on satisfying emotional wants rather than utilitarian needs. Holbrook and Hirschman challenged the field of consumer behavior to broaden its perspectives beyond purchase decision-making, to consider hedonic consumption of products and services. Mowen (1988) suggests that consumer behavior may be viewed from three perspectives-the decision-making perspective, the experiential perspective and the behavioral perspective. The experiential perspective observes that in certain instances consumers make purchases in order to create feelings, experiences and emotions rather than to solve problems. The field of consumer behavior, Mowen suggests, has neglected important consumption phenomena such as consumption of leisure and tourism services for emotional reasons. Since the mid-1980s there has been increasing interest in the role of affect in consumer behavior. The traditional models of consumer behavior have treated affect as simply the consequence of a rational consideration of brand attributes, an artifact of decision-making. Peterson, Hoyer, and Wilson (1986, p. 141) dispute this view: Affect need not be a consequence of cognition y in some instances affect may occur simultaneously or in parallel with the process of cognition y the extreme case occurs when the dominant force in decision-making is affect.

2.2. Consumer Decision-Making Processes To provide potential insight into consumer decision-making for choice of tourism services, the following section describes the current state of understanding in the field of consumer decision-making. This is a very large research field. This chapter considers the following issues in consumer decision-making: the consumer as problem-solver, variations in the consumer decision process, the role of perceived risk in decision processes, consumer information search, choice sets, decision rules and choice heuristics. These research issues, in general, address singular consumer decisions for choice of brand. The section concludes by considering an alternative perspective, that is, research that examines multiple consumer decisions. This perspective may provide additional insight into consumer decision-making for vacations.

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Consumer decision-making is a problem-solving process of five steps: recognition of a need, search for information, evaluation of alternatives, choice and post-purchase (Assael, 1995; Engel, Blackwell, & Miniard, 1995). This conceptualization of decision-making is not unique to consumer behavior. It is a direct recount of John Dewey’s (1910) model of problemsolving as it applies to human learning. A purely economic view of consumer behavior would assume nearcomplete consumer knowledge of the marketplace – the variety of brands on offer, and the features each brand offers. In addition, a purely economic view of the consumer would assume a very logical and rational process of combining this information on brands to maximize the utility of any purchase outcomes. This view of the consumer as a highly rational and logical decision-maker is not the view of consumer behavior taken in current models of consumer decision-making. Consumers are not perfectly rational decision-makers, nor extensive information processors (Bettman, Johnson, & Payne, 1991). While employing the Dewey framework of human problem-solving, modern consumer researchers borrow much from Newell and Simon’s (1972) view of human beings as imperfect decision-makers. Newell and Simon’s view of human decision-making is that humans are neither careful nor completely accurate nor completely unbiased decision-makers; rather, humans display bounded rationality. A number of authors have hypothesized that human beings have a limited capacity for information processing (Lindsay & Norman, 1972; Newell & Simon, 1972). Humans cannot make complicated computations nor engage in extensive processing without a good deal of cognitive effort. Consumer motivation, attention and information search are all constrained by the fact that consumers have limited processing capacity (Bettman, 1979). In an experiment by Jacoby, Speller, and Kohn (1974, cited in Newman, 1977) subjects were able to access any information they wished to assist in their choice between 16 brands of breakfast cereal; on average fewer than 7 out of 560 available items of information were consulted. Consumers may limit the number of alternatives they consider to reduce cognitive effort, even for the purchase of high-ticket items such as the purchase of a house (Staelin & Payne, 1976, cited in Beales, Mazis, Salop, & Staelin, 1981). Rather than being perfectly aware of the purchase options available in the market, the consumer merely seeks sufficient information to make a satisfactory purchase decision. Variations in the consumer decision process result from the amount of cognitive effort the consumer is willing to expend.


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2.2.1. Variation in the Consumer Decision Process While adopting the five-step model of problem-solving as a useful framework, consumer researchers do not assume that the consumer will always display each of these steps, nor do so in an invariant sequence. Rather, consumer researchers recognize that there is considerable variation in consumer decision processes. This variation is dependent upon the amount of cognitive effort the consumer is willing to expend on any particular purchase decision (Deshpande & Hoyer, 1983). For example, it appears logical that the amount of effort expended in deciding upon a brand of motorcar to purchase would be much more than the effort expended in deciding upon a brand of toothbrush to purchase. Researchers recognize a variety of decision processes the consumer may display. Consumers appear to change the decision-making strategy they use, dependent upon the demands of the decision they face (Bettman et al., 1991). The particular decision process displayed by the consumer depends upon: (1) experience with this purchase (i.e., whether or not this is an initial purchase in the product category, or a repeat purchase) and (2) level of involvement in the purchase. Consumers will decide how much information-processing capacity to allocate and how detailed a decision process to follow (Bettman, 1979). At least four variations upon the consumer decision process are recognized: Extended decision-making – this decision strategy follows closely the problem-solving model. It involves considerable search for information, and careful evaluation of alternative brands on many determinant attributes. This is most likely to arise under conditions of little experience with the product category, and high involvement with the purchase. Limited decision-making – involves limited information search and rapid evaluation of a limited number of decision alternatives on very few attributes. Limited decision-making is most likely to arise under conditions of some experience with the product category, and low involvement with the purchase. Brand loyal purchase – this is where the consumer purchases the same brand they always do, because they feel it is always the right brand for them. On some previous purchase occasion, the consumer is likely to have displayed a process of extended or limited decision-making. Now the consumer displays high involvement with the brand, but no decision process per se occurs at the time of purchase. Inertia – this is where the consumer most often purchases the same brand, because they do not wish to expend effort looking for an alternative brand.

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This is a situation of high purchase experience but low involvement. Again, no decision process per se occurs (adapted from Assael, 1995; Engel et al., 1968; Howard & Sheth, 1969). 2.2.2. Perceived Risk The concept of perceived risk may explain some of the variation in consumer decision processes. Because the outcomes of a purchase decision are often uncertain, consumers face some degree of risk when making a purchase decision. When making purchase decisions, consumers usually seek to avoid taking risks perceived as being too great. Level of perceived risk is a product of two factors: level of uncertainty about the outcome, and severity of the consequences (Schellinck, 1983). Perceived risks influence the consumer rather than objective risks. Researchers have identified up to seven types of perceived risk:

financial – the purchase will not be worth its cost, performance – the purchase may not perform as expected, physical – the purchase may physically harm the consumer, psychological – the purchase might harm the consumer’s ego, social – the purchase may cause social derision or embarrassment from one’s reference group or significant others, time – the decision may waste the consumer’s time and opportunity cost – by taking this decision, the consumer may miss doing something else he/she would prefer (Stone & Gronhaug, 1993). Levels of perceived risk change with product category, personality of the consumer and voluntary actions. New products, complex products, products for which there is little information and products with greater differentiation between brands involve greater risk (Bettman, 1973). High involvement products are associated with higher levels of perceived risk. Decisions for the purchase of services involve more risk than decisions for the purchase of products (Murray & Schlacter, 1990). The personality of the consumer – his or her self-confidence, self-esteem and levels of anxiety – is likely to influence levels of perceived risk. Finally, voluntary actions (i.e., choosing to purchase something) are associated with lower levels of perceived risk than involuntary actions (such as, being required to pay higher prices for an essential purchase). Consumers employ a number of strategies to reduce risk, such as, undertaking a greater level of information search (Hugstad, Taylor, & Bruce, 1987; Srinivasan & Ratchford, 1991), employing more complex


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decision tactics (Deshpande & Hoyer, 1983), remaining brand loyal, purchase based on brand image or store image, purchase of the most expensive brand or purchase of the least expensive brand (Chaudhuri, 1997). A study of repeat purchase by Michell and Prince (1993) suggests that perceived risk decreases with repeat purchase. However, perceived risk decreases considerably less with repeat purchase of services than with repeat purchase of products. Consumers have different levels of tolerance for accepting risk. Risk avoiders are more likely to buy the lowest-priced brand, the same brand or the most popular brand; risk takers will search for more information, process information in more detail and try new products (Boze, 1987; Roselius, 1971). Sometimes consumers actively seek risk rather than attempting to avoid it. This appears especially associated with hedonic-experiential activities such as visiting a theme park, or undertaking high-risk sports. Celsi, Rose, and Leigh (1993) identify three motives for undertaking high-risk sports: normative, hedonic and self-efficacy motives. Optimum stimulation theory provides an explanation for the seeking of risk (Zuckerman, 1979). The subject matter of this chapter concerns first-time purchase of services. Because they are first-time purchases, and because they are services, we might expect consumers to perceive a higher level of risk in these purchases. Alternatively, consumers of tourism services might display the behavior of risk takers, rather than risk avoiders. An important step in the consumer decision process is the stage of consumer information search. The following section reviews research findings on consumer information search.

2.3. Consumer Information Search Information search is the process by which the consumer searches his or her environment for appropriate information to improve the outcome of their purchase decision-making. The benefits of search can include obtaining a product with a better price or performance. The costs of search can include additional time, physical and mental effort expended (Bettman, 1979; Furse, Punj, & Stewart, 1984). The subsections that follow discuss the economics of search behavior, the sources of information available to the consumer, amount of information search activity, variation in search behavior, factors influencing amount and type of search, and prior experience as a determinant of amount of search activity.

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2.3.1. The Economics of Search Consumers will gather as much information as is necessary to make a satisfactory decision. Consumers form expectations of the value of additional information and continue to search to the extent that the utility of doing so exceeds the costs of doing so (Srinivasan & Ratchford, 1991). Consumers search for information until the marginal cost of obtaining a unit of information is equal to the marginal benefit of possessing that unit of information (Schmidt & Spreng, 1996). Information search does not just occur at the stage of pre-purchase decision-making. Ongoing search refers to those search activities that are independent of specific purchase decisions (Bettman, 1979; Bloch, Sherrell, & Ridgway, 1986). Hedonic motives drive ongoing search. Consumers with enduring involvement in a product category seek information on that product category as a recreational and pleasurable pursuit. 2.3.2. Sources of Information Information for the consumer is available from internal sources (i.e., the content of consumer memory based on previous purposeful search, ongoing search and product experience), and from external sources such as personal sources, independent advice, marketing sources and product trial (Beales et al., 1981; Furse et al., 1984; Kiel & Layton, 1981). Personal sources are the most frequently cited source of pre-purchase information (Katona & Mueller, 1954). Personal sources are used by consumers of functional products (e.g., electronic goods – Price & Feick, 1984) as well as expressive products (e.g., clothing – Midgley, 1983). 2.3.3. Amount of Search Research has examined the types and amounts of consumer information search. Typical measures taken include number of sources used, number of types of information used, number of alternatives considered and amount of time spent on the purchase decision (Beatty & Smith, 1987). Even if we consider the purchase of consumer durables – which we might assume involve extended decision-making – research consistently indicates that the greatest proportion of consumers undertake little external search prior to purchase. One-third of major appliance purchasers in a study by Katona and Mueller (1954) sought information from only a single source; two-thirds of purchasers considered only one attribute of the brand other than price, before purchase. Almost half the consumers in one study purchased a car or household appliance after visiting only one store, and considered only one brand in their purchase (Newman & Staelin, 1972).


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In another study, consumers purchased a significant proportion of durable purchases after visiting just one store and after consulting no other sources of information (Westbrook & Fornell, 1979). Researchers have observed similar results for consumer choice of consumer durables (Beatty & Smith, 1987) and for consumer choice of motorcars (Kiel & Layton, 1981). The number of alternative brands considered is also typically limited. As many as one-quarter of major appliance purchasers may consider only one brand in their purchase decision-making (Urbany, Dickson, & Wilkie, 1989). Based on such research findings, some researchers have concluded that the purchase of home appliances in the modern marketplace is a low risk decision (Wilkie & Dickson, 1985). Due to ongoing search and ongoing exposure to marketing communications, many consumers already possess information on alternative brands and may have already made decisions regarding choice of manufacturer, brand or model prior to any active search activity (Punj, 1987). 2.3.4. Variation in Search Behavior Research indicates considerable diversity in the amount and type of search undertaken by individuals. Even in the very early study by Katona and Mueller (1954), there was evidence of a group of high-search individuals and a group of low-search individuals. Kiel and Layton’s (1981) study reveals one group of consumers (comprising some 36% of the sample) who purchase a car after just one or two retail visits, and another group of consumers (comprising 20% of the sample) who visit six or more retail stores before purchasing a car. Claxton, Fry, and Portis (1974) identify three groups of searchers: storethorough (8% of sample), balanced-thorough (27% of sample) and nonthorough (65% of sample). While thorough-searchers visited seven or eight stores on average, non-thorough searchers visited only one store on average. Balanced-thorough consulted three or four different types of information source; non-thorough searchers consulted only one type of information source. Westbrook and Fornell’s (1979) study identifies four distinct groups of consumers. Objective shoppers (19%) are more highly educated and seek information from two or three retail stores and one or more neutral source; moderate shoppers (29%) visit just one retail store and consult just one neutral source; store intense shoppers (31%) visit four or more stores; personal advice shoppers (22%) seek advice from one or two personal sources. In these studies, it is apparent consumers not only vary in the amount of searching undertaken prior to purchase, but also vary in the sources of information employed. Kiel and Layton (1981) identify five groups of car

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purchasers: low searchers (24%), retail searchers (32%), interpersonal searchers (13%), slow searchers (13%) and high searchers (19%). Furse et al. (1984) also identify distinct groups of consumers according to their choice of information sources: low search (26%), purchase-pal assisted (19%), high search (5%), high self-search (12%), retail search (5%) and moderate search (32%) groups. 2.3.5. Factors Influencing Amount and Type of Search Research has identified those factors that account for variation in the amount and type of information search amongst consumers. The list of factors identified is lengthy: market characteristics – availability of information, number of alternatives available and variability in pricing (Newman, 1977); product characteristics – search is greatest for high-priced products, complex products and products for which there is differentiation between brands (Beatty & Smith, 1987; Kiel & Layton, 1981; Newman, 1977); demographic characteristics of the consumer – search tends to be greatest amongst females, amongst the young, amongst the educated and the middle class (Claxton et al., 1974; Hugstad et al., 1987; Thorelli & Engledow, 1980; Urbany et al., 1989; Westbrook & Fornell, 1979); perceived risk (Section 2.2.2); enduring or situational involvement (Beatty & Smith, 1987); availability of time to undertake the search (Beatty & Smith, 1987; Moore & Lehmann, 1980); desire to seek information – Punj and Staelin (1983) identify this characteristic amongst consumers who desire to have more information on a product category; this may reflect ongoing search for a product category in which the consumer has enduring involvement. Beatty and Smith (1987) refer to the individual’s enjoyment of search, and selfconfidence in the search effort; amount of information required for using a chosen decision strategy, and desire for an optimal rather than satisfactory solution (Schmidt & Spreng, 1996).

2.4. Choice Sets Rather than being aware of all products and brands on offer in the marketplace, a consumer’s purchase choices are dependent upon what


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alternatives they are aware of, and would consider for purchase. It is valuable to delineate four types of choice set in consumer decision-making: awareness set – consists of all the alternatives the consumer is aware of; evoked set – consists of that subset of alternatives the consumer would consider for purchase; inept set – consists of that subset of alternatives the consumer deems is unworthy of further consideration and inert set – consists of the alternatives the consumer is aware of but feels indifferent towards. The evoked set is the most important of these cognitive sets; the consumer will choose their final purchase from this set. The formation of an evoked set is a simplifying mechanism. When confronted with a large number of choice alternatives, the consumer reduces cognitive effort by referring to the evoked set (Gruca, 1989). Klenosky and Rethans (1988) describe the formation of an evoked set as a categorization process, in which the consumer simplifies decision-making by organizing relevant information about alternatives into categories. Previous research has identified awareness set sizes ranging from 3 to 19, dependent on product category, and evoked set sizes ranging from 1 to 6 (Hauser & Wernerfelt, 1990). Research by Crowley and Williams (1991) suggests that for product categories where the consumer’s awareness set is large, evoked sets might approximate 37% of that number; for product categories where the consumer’s awareness set is small, evoked sets might approximate 63% of that number.

2.5. Decision Rules and Choice Heuristics Having gathered information upon the alternative problem solutions available, the consumer must now integrate these items of information and arrive at a purchase choice. Attributes upon which purchase alternatives differ are likely to carry more weight in the decision process. Those attributes on which brands differ, and which are most important in the evaluation of alternatives, may be termed determinant attributes. Researchers have identified a number of strategies consumers employ to arrive at a choice amongst alternatives. A compensatory decision rule is the strategy of combining all information on the determinant attributes on all brands in the evoked set, to form an

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overall evaluation, or attitude, towards each alternative. The consumer will select the alternative with the highest total score. Multi-attribute attitude models express this compensatory decision rule. Consumers who employ a compensatory decision rule are likely to be highly involved in an extended decision-making process. Much consumer decision-making, however, is likely to involve a limited decision-making process. In these circumstances, consumers employ a variety of noncompensatory decision rules requiring less cognitive effort (Bettman et al., 1991): lexicographic – selecting the brand that is best on the most important attribute, elimination-by-aspects – brands which do not meet a minimum standard on each attribute are eliminated from consideration, conjunctive – a brand is chosen if it meets all minimum standards and disjunctive – the consumer chooses a brand if it meets any of the minimum standards set (Wilkie & Pessemier, 1973). Lexicographic and elimination-by-aspects decision rules are examples of attribute-based processing of information. Conjunctive and disjunctive decision rules are examples of brand-based processing of information. The decision rule a consumer employs is contingent upon characteristics of the decision task, person and social context. When faced with a decision task involving more than two or three alternatives, or when faced with time pressures, consumers tend to use noncompensatory strategies (Bettman et al., 1991). The decision strategy employed may also depend upon the amount of prior experience, and amount of information available from internal search of memory. Consumers with prior knowledge of the product category may well adopt category-based evaluation – comparing each alternative to an exemplar – rather than attribute-based evaluation (Fiske, 1982; Fiske & Pavelchak, 1986). Consumers with higher expertise tend to analyze alternatives by their functional qualities, rather than surface similarities (Alba & Hutchinson, 1987). Consumers lacking in product knowledge adopt attribute processing strategies, but as knowledge increases consumers employ more brand-pair comparisons and holistic brand evaluations (Biehal & Chakravarti, 1986). A consumer’s choice of decision strategy may also reflect a cost/benefit analysis (Bettman et al., 1991). That is, strategy selection is the result of a compromise between the desire to make a correct decision and the desire to minimize cognitive effort.


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Even in high involvement, extended decision-making, consumers probably do not have sufficient cognitive capacity to integrate a great deal of information on all alternatives in the evoked set via a compensatory rule (Bettman, 1979). Instead a series of stages of decision-making may be involved, commencing with a noncompensatory rule to shortlist alternatives, and then evaluating that shortlist via a compensatory rule (Abougomaah, Schlacter & Gaidis, 1987; Bettman & Park, 1980; Malhotra, 1982; Helgeson & Ursic, 1993; Ursic & Hegelson, 1990). A different set of choice strategies are used in less important purchase decisions, because they require less cognitive effort. Consumers develop heuristics that enable them to deal with complex situations without requiring more information-processing capacity (Bettman, 1979). Choice heuristics are simple procedures for comparing decision alternatives. Rather than treating every purchase as a novel decision, consumers develop their own set of heuristics that help simplify purchase decisions – a quick and efficient method of choice-making without expending considerable cognitive effort. Particularly under conditions of limited decision-making, consumers may adopt simple, flexible mental rules-of-thumb. Heuristics improve a consumer’s chance of making a reasonable decision, given the limitations of human processing capacity (Bettman et al., 1991). Some examples of choice heuristics are: choose the brand believed to perform best, affect referral – an overall affective evaluation exists; the consumer simply chooses the brand they like the best, important person – choose the brand desired or recommended by an important other person, price-based – choose the least expensive, and brand name – choose the brand which one is familiar with or which has the best reputation (Deshpande & Hoyer, 1983; Hoyer, 1984). Up to this point, the discussion has centered on research into singular decisions such as choice of brand to purchase. Yet this chapter examines multiple decisions made by a consumer. The chapter now examines an alternative perspective on research into consumer decision-making.

2.6. Decision Plans and Shopping Plans Wells (1993) is highly critical of the progress of research in consumer behavior over the preceding two decades. He employs the analytical schema of Arndt (1976) to examine the legacy of consumer research. This schema has

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two dimensions: stage of the decision process and importance of the decision. Wells concludes that consumer research has almost exclusively concentrated on early-stage, low-importance decisions – such as information search and choice-making for brands – to the exclusion of research on the consumption stage of consumer behavior and research on important consumer decisions. If we are to understand complex consumer behaviors such as the purchase of a house or a vacation, we need a different perspective from that employed in traditional consumer decision-making research. Peter and Olson (1996) view consumer decision-making as goal-directed. When consumers attempt to solve a consumption problem, they break down the general goal into several subgoals. They point out that most consumer decision-making actually involves multiple decisions – e.g., should I go to the local department store? Should I drive to the factory outlet? Should I buy eveningwear? How much should I spend? How should I pay for it? Each intention is a step in an overall decision plan. The decision plan produces a sequence of purposeful behaviors towards achieving a goal. The traditional model of consumer decision-making concentrates merely on brand choice, and neglects to recognize that even a single purchase may involve multiple decisions. A decision plan comprises one or several behavioral intentions. Decision plans vary in their specificity. For example, a specific decision plan might be to purchase brand x from outlet z; a general plan might be to purchase a new car sometime. Decision plans vary in their complexity. For example, a simple plan may be to buy a tube of toothpaste; a complex plan might be to organize a vacation. Park, Hughes, Thukral, and Friedmann (1981) and Park and Lutz (1982) develop decision plan nets and describe the results of a longitudinal study of 21 cases of house purchase. Home purchase differs from traditional purchase of a branded consumer good in that (1) it involves a very highpriced single product; (2) it is a non-routine purchase for which the consumer lacks the knowledge and experience typical in consumer goods purchases; (3) each house acts as a unique brand, the consumer is deprived of cognitive brand-chunking mechanisms that are available for consumer good purchases; (4) the consumer is typically faced with an array of alternatives and evaluative criteria in excess of normal informationprocessing capacity and (5) real estate agents assist in reducing the cognitive load of the decision process. (It is worth noting that items (2–4) also apply to the purchase of tourism services in an independent vacation.) Results of the Park et al. (1981) study indicate that consumer decision plans are highly predictive of final purchase. These researchers also


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recognize that aspects of a consumer’s decision plans change over the period of decision-making, as the consumer confronts new alternatives and the constraints of market realities. When environmental circumstances make the plan difficult to accomplish, the decision plan is halted or modified. Sometimes unanticipated events produce new choice alternatives or alter consumer’s beliefs about choice criteria. Based on any of these events, the consumer develops a new decision plan. Despite the contribution that a decision plan net provides to understanding complex consumer purchases, it does not portrait the sequence of events in a purchase decision. An alternative field of inquiry, which examines consumer behavior for multiple purchase decisions, is the research on planned versus unplanned shopping behavior. According to research by the Point-of-Purchase Advertising Institute (POPAI), 55% of U.S. consumers make a shopping list for a supermarket visit, but only 23% make a shopping list for a variety store visit (Anonymous, 1994). The POPAI uses the following distinctions between classes of purchase: specifically planned – the brand of product has been decided upon prior to entering the store; generally planned – the product category but not the brand, has been decided upon prior to entering the store; substitute purchase – a change is made from a specifically or generally planned item to a substitute and unplanned – an item the shopper did not have in mind before entering the store. According to long-running research by the POPAI, consumers plan only a third of their specific supermarket purchases; consumers make two-thirds of their purchase decisions in store (Leeds, 1994). We have a situation then, where consumers have a written plan for multiple purchases, yet their actual purchasing behavior includes a majority of unplanned items. Consumer purchase of tourism services in the independent vacation may provide an analogous situation, whereby a large proportion of the consumer’s purchases might be of an unplanned nature.

2.7. Affect in Consumer Behavior The perspective of consumer as problem-solver has viewed consumer behavior as goal-directed, calculated and knowledgeable about the costs and

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benefits of choice alternatives (Srinivasan, 1987). However, not all purchases result from extensive problem-solving; in low-involvement purchase situations consumers appear not to engage in a decision-making process prior to making a purchase (Olshavsky & Granbois, 1979). In addition, when choosing certain classes of products and services, emotional desires may dominate utilitarian motives for the consumer. The seeking of emotional arousal is a major motivation for the consumption of certain product classes. Traditional consumer research has largely ignored consumer emotional and imaginative responses to products (Hirschman & Holbrook, 1982; Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982). The view of consumer as hedonic being argues that many actions result from the human need to experience feelings and emotions (Mowen, 1988). As a result, the decision-making process for certain products and services revolves around the consumer’s goal of provoking feelings and emotions. Consumers make such purchases in order to create feelings, experiences and emotions, rather than to solve problems. In this context, the term hedonism refers to a much broader range of sensations than merely pleasure: consumers may seek to experience a variety of emotions, such as love, hate, fear, grief, anger and disgust (Mowen, 1995). In the information search stage, the consumer of hedonic products and services seeks information on the likely affective impact of various alternatives. Choice is based upon affective criteria such as which product makes the consumer feel good. People think about which amusement park will produce the most fun; they decide which videotape will provide the greatest enjoyment; they choose which flavor of ice-cream will bring the most pleasure. (Holbrook, 1995, p. 192)

Traditional consumer research has tended to focus on packaged goods and major durables as its objects of study. It has ignored the purchase and consumption of the arts, popular culture, entertainment, sports and leisure pursuits. These latter products typically provide the consumer with an outlet for emotion and fantasy; they generate strong emotional involvement. The perspective of consumer as problem-solver has viewed the role of affect as merely being a component of attitude towards the object. This is a small subset of the emotions and feelings experienced by consumers. As Holbrook and Hirschman (1982, p. 100) put it, ‘‘the behavior of consumers, we believe, is far more sensorily complex, imaginative and emotion laden than has been reflected in the traditional approach to marketing research’’. Hedonic consumption refers to the multisensory, fantasy and emotive aspects of the product usage experience. According to Holbrook and


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Hirschman (1982), the consumption experience is a phenomenon directed toward the pursuit of fantasies, feelings and fun. Consumer fantasies drive hedonic consumption acts. Often, consumer products promote fantasies. Consumers employ their imaginative powers to construct mental images, which they consume for pleasure. The types of benefits derived from the consumption experience may include hedonic (e.g., fun), aesthetic (e.g., the appreciation of beauty), emotional (e.g., surprise) and symbolic benefits (e.g., sense of self-identity) (Srinivasan, 1987). Srinivasan (1987) proposes three typologies of consumer behavior according to product type, personality of consumer and context. Products may be high or low in hedonic aspects and high or low in utilitarian aspects – for example, choice of an automobile may be high on both dimensions, impulse purchases and choice of leisure services may be high on hedonic aspects but low on utilitarian. Regarding personality, individuals may be high hedonic and high epistemic (i.e., experience seekers), high hedonic and low epistemic (i.e., hedonic individuals), or low on both (i.e., experience avoiders). Regarding context, contexts that are high on hedonic aspects and utilitarian aspects might include purchase of a home or car, while contexts high on hedonic and low on cognitive aspects might include tourism and gift giving.

2.8. Section Conclusions This chapter examines one aspect of consumer behavior in tourism, decision processes for choice of vacation itinerary by the independent traveler. The research literature on consumer decision-making is in large part based on an examination of singular decisions for choice between brands of tangible goods. This literature is likely to be restricted in its relevance to the current study in four respects. Firstly, the subject matter here concerns multiple decisions made, not singular decisions. Secondly, tourism and leisure are especially emotive products. Thirdly, the subject matter herein relates to the purchase of intangible services, rather than tangible goods. And fourthly, the items being purchased here are first-time purchases, unlikely to be repeated in the future; the consumer has no previous experience with purchasing any one of these services, upon which to base their decision-making. A number of concepts from the general field of consumer decision-making may assist our understanding here, namely: perceived risk, information search, choice sets, decision rules, choice heuristics, planned, unplanned and

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impulse purchases. Amount and type of information search by independent travelers might relate to level of perceived risk, amount of previous experience of independent travel, demographic characteristics of the traveler, degree of enjoyment of information search activity, time constraints and involvement in the purchase decision. While the vacation may be an emotionally involving experience for the consumer, the consumer might still base choice of itinerary items on noncompensatory decision rules and simple choice heuristics. Affect plays a crucial role in consumer behavior, especially in the consumption of leisure and tourism services. The perspective of consumer as hedonic being explores the emotions generated by consumption, and the anticipation of consumption, of products and services. Consumer decisions for choice of particularly emotive products and services are more holistic and spontaneous and involve less rational analysis of product attributes.

3. CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN TOURISM The section reviews current understanding of consumer behavior in tourism. Much of the existing research on consumer behavior in tourism takes a consumer as problem-solver perspective. The section reviews the literature on tourist information search, travel planning and decision-making. The section explores research on the independent travel sector of the market as a little understood sector of consumers. In concluding, the section presents a set of research objectives for the research. Tourism is ‘‘the temporary short term movement of people y and their activities during the stay at their destinations’’ (Burkart & Medlik, 1974). Tourism has become one of the world’s leading commercial activities (Waters, 1992). Tourism flows throughout the developed world continue to grow, driven by the increasing desire for, and affordability of, travel and leisure (Carroll, 1994). The study of tourism is a recent phenomenon commencing with geographic studies of the 1960s and studies in other social sciences commencing in the 1970s (Dann, Nash, & Pearce, 1988; Gunn, 1988; Pearce, 1987, 1989; Smith, 1983, 1989). In addition to being a geographic and sociological phenomenon, tourism is very clearly also a commercial phenomenon. The tourism industry involves a broad range of sectors of the service economy, including air, sea and land transport; accommodation and hospitality services; attractions and activities; sales and distribution channels. Many of the commercial organizations in the tourism industry,


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as well as industry representative bodies and academic researchers in tourism recognize marketing as an essential element in all this commercial activity (Marsh, 1993; Morrison, 1989). A number of texts and review articles have been published in the field of tourism marketing since the mid-1980s, notably-Calantone and Manzanec (1991), Foster (1985), Heath and Wall (1992), Morrison (1989), Ritchie and Goeldner (1987), and Witt and Moutinho (1987). Much of this activity has been limited to applying marketing mix concepts, from the general discipline of marketing, in a relatively linear fashion. Yet the study of tourism marketing will need to develop its own insights, concepts and models if it is to provide valued outputs for commercial application. The marketing of tourism services includes a number of features distinct from the marketing of other services. For the consumer of tourism services such distinctions may include: shorter length of exposure to the service, emotional motives for purchase, the importance of personal sources of information prior to purchase and the importance of image in the selection of tourism destination or tourism service. For the provider of tourism services such distinctions may include: the types of distribution channels used, dependence on complimentary organizations, and the need to consider people, packaging, programming and partnership in the marketing mix (Morrison, 1989).

3.1. Independent Travel A continuing trend in international tourism is the growth of independent travel and a relative decline in package travel (World Tourism Organization, 1993). Morrison et al. (1993) define independent travelers as those ‘‘who make their own transportation and accommodation arrangements, choosing not to buy prearranged packages or tours y independent travelers may use prearranged or fixed itineraries or they may have flexible itineraries’’. According to a World Tourism Organization report (1993, p. 21), ‘‘the homogeneous group package tour developed so extensively during the 1960s, 1970s and into the 1980s y has become outmoded’’. It is not in line with the trend toward individual expression. Quest (1990, p. 137) claims, ‘‘the decline of the package tour may be due to the fact that it has become unfashionable, and as more people travel overseas y they become more sophisticated in their demands, more importantly, they have the confidence to travel independently’’. Poon (1993) suggests that changing demographics and lifestyles have resulted in greater demand for choice and flexibility in

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vacations. Poon describes a growing group of new tourists, consumers who are flexible, independent and experienced travelers, whose values and lifestyle are different from those of the mass tourists. The choice between independent travel mode and package travel mode has been shown to be influenced by: sociodemographic characteristics, such as age and gender of the traveler; travel characteristics, such as length of stay, size of travel party and previous travel experience; country of origin and choice of travel destination (Hsieh, O’Leary, & Morrison, 1994; Hsieh, O’Leary, Morrison, & Chang, 1993; Morrison et al., 1993; Sheldon & Mak, 1987). Independent travel may have accounted for some 78% of British overseas travelers in 1989, some 72% of French travelers and some 58% of German travelers (Morrison et al., 1993). Amongst international visitors to New Zealand during 1989, independent travel was the preferred mode of travel for Europeans (65%), British (58%) and Canadian (50%) vacationers while Taiwanese, Singaporean and Japanese visitors preferred packaged travel. Despite the prevalence of independent international travel, surprisingly few of the leading texts, encyclopedia or handbooks of tourism explore the phenomenon of independent travel. It aids us little to simply assume that the nature of independent travel is independence and that independent travelers sometimes adopt flexible itineraries. What the commercial operator, as well as the tourism organization require, is an indication of the type and extent of vacation planning undertaken by the independent traveler, and the extent to which such travel plans are actioned. Tourism operators and destinationmarketing organizations alike desire a greater understanding of this tourist, and want to know how to reach and appeal to them (Anonymous, 1988; Coventry, 1996; Ellis, 1990). No item of research has sought to model the nature of the independent travel experience as a worthy subject of research in itself.

3.2. Motivational Bases of Independent Travel A number of theorists recognize the distinctive motivational bases for two modes of tourism, mass tourism versus independent tourism. In his exposition on the tourism phenomenon, Krippendorf (1987) suggests that travel offers the individual a sense of freedom and self-determination not available in everyday life. It might be that independent travel offers greater opportunities for this very sense of freedom sought by many consumers of tourism.


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In addition, many humans may well be born with a sense of curiosity, and a need to explore the world around them (Mayo & Jarvis, 1981). Anderson (1970) describes the Ulysses Factor that is a basic motivation of some tourists to explore, a curiosity for new places and people. Anderson appears to describe the characteristics of a truly independent traveler, saying, ‘‘He is not looking for anything in particular and is not greatly concerned with what he discovers. It is in this sense that he is a true explorer’’ (Anderson, 1970, p. 179). Gray (1970) recognizes a clear distinction between two types of tourism. He identifies wanderlust as a basic trait of some individuals that causes them to leave familiar things behind and seek out exciting new places and new cultures. Gray contrasts wanderlust with sunlust, which is a desire for a single-destination, stay-put vacation involving rest and the best of amenities. These two alternative modes of tourism might be a result of the balancing of two opposing motivational forces. Mannell and Iso-Ahola (1987) view tourist behavior as the result of a balance between seeking behavior (i.e., seeking new and exotic experiences) and avoidance behavior (i.e., avoiding the tedium of everyday life). In addition, according to Mayo and Jarvis (1981), in any traveler’s behavior we can see the results of a balancing of the need for complexity (i.e., novelty) and the need for consistency (i.e., routine). Every destination choice, every choice of travel mode and choice of vacation activity offers greater or less amounts of complexity. The individual seeks a vacation that represents the balance of complexity and consistency that is appropriate to their needs. In his parsimonious view of tourism behavior, Plog (1973, 1991) identifies two personality types amongst tourists. The psychocentric traveler is safety seeking and prefers the familiar; the allocentric traveler is adventure seeking and prefers the exotic. This distinction applies not only to a traveler’s choice of destination, but also to their choice of travel mode (Plog, 1991). Plog’s typology has received mixed empirical support (Griffith & Albanese, 1996; Madrigal, 1995; Smith, 1990). The work of Lee and Crompton (1992) suggests that a number of factors influence a tourist’s choice of destinations including their genetic predisposition toward more or less novel experiential consumption, a factor these writers term novelty-seeking. This may be because of a preferred level of arousal. Novelty-seeking tourists are likely to prefer the unusual, the adventuresome, a change of pace and excitement. Novelty avoiding tourists are likely to prefer a familiar, planned vacation experience. Amongst the scale items devised by Lee and Crompton to measure novelty-seeking are, ‘‘I don’t like to plan a vacation trip in detail because it takes away some of

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the unexpectedness’’ and ‘‘I would like to take off on a trip with no preplanned routes in my mind’’. Yet another theorist, Cohen (1972), describes a typology of four alternative tourist roles, according to the traveler’s desire for novelty or familiarity. The organized mass tourist purchases a package tour as they seek to minimize exposure to the unfamiliar. The individual mass tourist takes short sightseeing trips to provide a blend of familiarity and novelty. The explorer travels on a self-guided tour and tries to get off the beaten path, while maintaining comfortable accommodation and reliable transportation. The drifter forgoes tourist establishments and seeks to envelop himself or herself in the host’s culture. Finally, Poon (1993) draws a distinction between the old tourist and the new tourist. For the old tourist, travel is a novelty; it does not matter where they travel, because the tourist treats the vacation as an escape from work, routine and the stress of urban life. Old tourists search for the sun, are cautious and follow the masses. An important factor in the success of package travel is the level of risk reduction that the tour operator is able to offer consumers, with almost all elements pre-paid and pre-arranged. According to Poon, there is an increasing tendency for consumers to become risk takers when on vacation. New tourists are more spontaneous, with a lower level of vacation planning and a desire to do what comes on the spur of the moment. New tourists want to experience something different; they are adventurous and view vacation travel as a source of fun. New tourists want to be different from the crowd, they want to confirm their individuality, and they want to be in control. A great deal of commonality occurs in the ideas of the theorists concerning the motivational bases of mass tourism versus the motivational bases of independent tourism. One sector of the independent travel market is the backpacker sector. Riley (1988) describes the long-term budget traveler; a youth traveler driven by hedonistic and self-development motives, this tourist is often at an important junction in life, such as the point between end of study and commencement of career. Loker-Murphy and Pearce (1995) define backpackers as travelers on an extended independent vacation, staying in budget accommodation, with an emphasis on informal and participatory vacation activities that expose them to the culture of the destination country. Many of these people are students or young professionals. They represent Cohen’s explorers and drifters. However, we must be careful not to view all independent travelers as backpackers; backpackers are merely a subset of all independent travelers. In a study of independent travelers to New Zealand, Parr (1989) reports


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these travelers adopting a very wide variety of levels of expenditure in accommodation types and transportation modes. What these varied travelers hold in common is not a level of expenditure on vacation elements, but a lack of pre-booking of vacation elements. A full 62% arrived at the international destination without any prior booking of vacation elements. It is interesting to note the surprising homogeneity in the composition of independent travel parties: a full 90% of the travelers studied by Parr traveled alone or as couples.

3.3. Models of Consumer Decision-Making in Tourism Models of consumer decision-making are often models of choice-making, that is, they seek to describe a consumer decision-making for choice of a single product from amongst a constrained set of alternatives. A lesser volume of research has sought to describe and explain complex processes of interrelated choices such as occur in vacation decision-making. In the past 10–15 years several models of vacation decision-making been proposed. There are three types of vacation decision-making model: the vacation as purchase consumption system, the vacation as an element in an individual’s ecological system and the vacation as travel decision-making hierarchy. 3.3.1. The Vacation as a Purchase Consumption System Woodside and MacDonald (1994) provide a systems framework which seeks to illustrate consumer choice of the major elements of the vacation – destinations, accommodation, activities, attractions, travel modes, travel routes, dining, sub-destinations, self-gifts and purchases. The framework suggests that choices amongst vacation elements are, to a degree, interdependent; for example, a consumer’s choice of airline will in part depend upon their choice of destination. Woodside and MacDonald do not specify the temporal sequence in which the tourist chooses these vacation elements. A study of visitors to the Big Island of Hawaii seeks to employ the Woodside and MacDonald framework (Woodside & King, 2001). These researchers use the term purchase consumption system to describe the sequence of purchases a vacationer makes in which the purchase of one item leads onto the purchase of subsequent items. Woodside and King identify a common sequence of decision-making for elements of the vacation amongst the vacationers they study. Level 1 decisions – including choice of destination, activities and attractions – occur before the vacation. Level 2 decisions – choice of accommodation, travel mode and routes – occur later,

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but also prior to the vacation. Level 3 decisions – such as choices in local transportation, places to dine and shop – occur while on vacation. In their study, Woodside, MacDonald, and Burford (2004) identify the purchase consumption systems in the vacations of consumers visiting Prince Edward Island in Canada. 3.3.2. The Vacation as an Element in an Individual’s Ecological System Woodside (2006) and his colleagues adopt a holistic view on how the decision to take a vacation must fit within the individual consumer’s lifestyle. Vacation choices fit like a glove within the constraints of the consumer’s lifestyle. Facilitating and constraining factors – such as, work commitments, commitments to family members and alternative uses of discretionary income – influence a consumer’s decision to undertake a particular style of vacation (Woodside, Caldwell, & Spurr, 2006). Decrop and Snelders (2004) investigate the pre-vacation decision-making processes of a sample of Belgian households, as these households decide where to spend their summer vacations. Decrop and Snelders find that planning for the summer vacation is a moderately involving process, which is ongoing throughout the year. Researchers apply the model of the vacation as an element in an individual’s ecological system to the consumer’s generic decision on whether or not to take a vacation. Researchers have not yet been applied this perspective to an understanding of the decisions made by the consumer during their vacation. 3.3.3. The Vacation as Travel Decision-Making Hierarchy Jeng and Fesenmaier (2002) propose that vacation decision-making has three characteristics that they label multidimensionality, sequentiality and contingency. Multidimensionality is a term used to portrait vacation decision-making as a complex process involving multiple decisions. Sequentiality is the notion that vacation decision-making proceeds as an evolving sequence of choices. Contingency implies that decisions taken by the consumer early in the vacation decision-making process, limit consumer choices in latter vacation decisions. To illustrate the perspective of the vacation as travel decision-making hierarchy, Fesenmaier and Jeng (2000) asked their subjects to plan a hypothetical vacation trip to a U.S. domestic destination. The researchers identify a travel decision-making hierarchy, which they label core, secondary and tertiary decisions. The tourist makes core decisions – including choice of primary destination, travel dates, members of the travel party,


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accommodation, travel route and budget – prior to departure for the vacation. The tourist makes secondary decisions – including choices of secondary destinations, activities and attractions – prior to departure on vacation, yet these chooses may remain flexible. The tourist delays tertiary decisions – including choice of dining and shopping options –until the tourist is en-route to the destination, or has arrived at the destination. The current research builds upon these models of consumer decisionmaking in tourism, in particular the perspective of the vacation as decisionmaking hierarchy.

3.4. Information Search by Independent Travelers Studies of tourist’s information search and travel planning have often been studies of the independent traveler. This subsection examines the uses of travel information, the types of information sources used by travelers and the amount of information search undertaken. Much of this travel research has examined the North American domestic travel market. It is crucial to note when interpreting the results of such research, whether the subject population are undertaking domestic travel to more-or-less familiar destinations, or undertaking international travel to new and exotic destinations. According to van Raaij and Francken (1984), travel information can perform several functions. In the initial stages of travel planning, it can sensitize consumers favorably to the idea of having a vacation, and create fantasies about such a vacation. In latter stages of travel planning, information on specific destinations can assist choice-making. In their examination of the uses of travel information, Vogt, Fesenmaier, and MacKay (1993) comment that such information can evoke fantasy-like episodes and enable the traveler to imagine what the experience of being at the destination may be like. Contrary to this suggestion, the majority of respondents in Vogt et al.’s study used travel information to select vacation destinations and plan travel itineraries. Gartner (1993) provides a useful taxonomy of eight alternative types of information source used by the consumer in travel planning: overt induced I – traditional forms of travel advertising, overt induced II – brochures and other information received or requested from tour operators and wholesalers, covert induced I – a celebrity spokesperson publicly endorses a travel destination,

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covert induced II – articles and reports in the popular press, autonomous – exposure to the destination in news reports and popular culture, unsolicited organic – information you had not requested, from people who have been to the destination, solicited organic – asking advice of a person who has visited the destination and organic – information on the destination, based on one’s previous experience. From even the earliest studies it appears that personal sources of information, particularly friends and relatives, constitute the major source of information in most tourist decision-making (Gitelson & Crompton, 1983; Jenkins, 1978; Nolan, 1976). However, the use of various information sources may vary by stage of the vacation, and by type of traveler. In their study, van Raaij and Francken (1984) find greater use of nonpersonal information sources in the early stages of travel planning to learn about the availability and attributes of alternative destinations and greater use of personal sources in the latter stages of travel planning to assist in evaluating these alternative destinations. While most research has focused on traveler use of information sources prior to departure, little research has examined traveler use of information sources while on vacation (Woodside & MacDonald, 1994). Travelers enroute to their destinations make use of travel information centers and other people to learn about attractions and activities; such information can influence an independent traveler’s length of stay and choice of attractions and activities in the destination area (Fesenmaier, Vogt, & Stewart, 1993; McDonough & Ackert, 1986; Tsang, 1993; Udd, Hulac, & Blazey, 1992). Travelers at their destination seek information from personal sources such as employees of accommodation facilities and fellow travelers; commercial signage also influences travelers (McDonough & Ackert, 1986). The information sources employed by the consumer also vary by type of vacation and type of traveler. This point is crucial given that the current study concerns independent travel to unfamiliar destinations. Travelers taking routine trips to familiar destinations only utilize experience and advice from family and friends in their travel planning. In contrast, travelers traveling longer distances, taking longer vacations or visiting new and unfamiliar destinations are more likely to use destination-specific literature, and less likely to use friends and family as a source of information (Etzel & Wahlers, 1985; Gitelson & Crompton, 1983; Perdue, 1985).


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Those travelers who want security and comfort are likely to utilize travel agents and tour operators; those seeking to explore new destinations tend to utilize printed material such as guidebooks and brochures (Gitelson & Crompton, 1983; Snepenger, 1987). Snepenger, Meged, Spelling, and Worrall’s (1990) study of Alaskan visitors’ use of information sources seems to identify a backpacker segment that disdains the use of travel agents in travel planning. Again, these study results are central to the current study, as they appear to distinguish the typical information search behaviors of independent travelers versus the typical information search behaviors of mass tourists. In their study of international visitors to North American national parks, Uysal, McDonald, and Reid (1990) find that favored information source types vary by nationality. While British travelers may made greater use of travel agents as information sources, Japanese travelers may make greater use of books and libraries. A number of demographic factors determine amount of information search for travel planning. Jenkins’ somewhat dated 1978 study of the respective roles of family members in the vacation decision suggests that husbands dominate the search for information. In contrast, van Raaij and Francken (1984) suggest that females are more active information seekers. Other studies have found no significant gender differences in information seeking behavior (Todd, 1990; Tsang, 1993). A number of researchers have found that the amount of information search – as measured by the number of different types of sources used – is positively associated with income, and level of education (Gitelson & Crompton, 1983; Etzel & Wahlers, 1985; Snepenger & Snepenger, 1993). In their study of travel information search and planning, Schul and Crompton (1983) identify an active search group and a passive search group. Active searchers have longer planning horizons and consult more travel organizations. Their vacations display a preference for activity, escape from the ordinary, variety in things to see and do, mixing with local cultures and experiencing new ways of living. Consumers seeking excitement in their vacation were more likely to visit new destinations, and require more information for their travel planning (Gitelson & Crompton, 1983). Extensive information seekers tend to be those travelers taking longer or more expensive vacations, and are more likely to be taking an action vacation, as opposed to a relaxation vacation (Etzel & Wahlers, 1985). Crotts (1992) study of information search activities by domestic travelers to an historic attraction also delineates an active search group and a passive search group. Active searchers tend to have traveled greater distances, have

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limited prior experience with the attraction, and have evaluated more vacation options. Each of these studies deserves direct comparison to the distinction made earlier between mass travelers and independent travelers. Independent travelers traveling to unfamiliar destinations may undertake more information search than mass travelers undertake, and rely more on non-personal sources of information prior to departure on the vacation.

3.5. Vacation Planning by Independent Travelers Most research on tourist information search and travel planning takes a static and singular view of the subject matter. In many instances, the researcher’s interest is merely in consumer choice of vacation destination. In addition, the majority of researchers have assumed a uni-destinational vacation. In reality, all vacations decision-making involves multiple decisions, and many vacations involve travel to multiple destinations (Lue, Crompton, & Fesenmaier, 1993). Jenkins (1978) and Cosenza and Davis (1981) enumerate the multiple decisions involved in planning for a single vacation: whether or not to go on a vacation, the time of year and date of the vacation, whether to take children, how long to stay, how much money to spend, destination point(s), choice of transportation, choice of accommodation and choice of activities to engage in. Jenkins (1978) observes travel planning periods of 4–12 weeks for 50% of the consumers he studies. A majority of respondents also indicate that their travel plans were flexible enough to allow for unplanned side trips. Travelers who were seeking excitement and things to do on their vacation were more likely to have long planning times (Gitelson & Crompton, 1983). Length of travel planning time may vary by age of traveler, level of education and distance traveled (Zalatan, 1996). By definition, independent travelers have not pre-booked the details of their vacation itinerary. However, have they pre-planned the details of their itinerary? In their study of visitors to Alachua County, Florida, Crotts and Reid (1993) find that 71% of visitors have decided upon recreational activities prior to departure, 4% have made these decisions while en-route and 25% have made these decisions after arrival in the county. Travelers who make their activity decisions after arrival in the county were typically long haul and international visitors. This latter finding tends to contradict the


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assumption that the most highly involved travelers will have the most extensive travel plans. There are two alternative explanations for this apparent contradiction; either (1) information for planning the vacation was not available to long haul visitors, or (2) long haul visitors chose to leave the details of their vacation until arrival. Regarding the independent travelers she studied, Parr (1989, p. 108) presents the following observation: Some knew exactly what they wanted to do and although they had not pre-booked a holiday, they intended to keep to an itinerary y [others] had little idea of what they wanted to see and do. And some people enjoyed the element of the unknown y they felt they were on an adventure, full of surprises and spontaneity.

Morrison et al. (1993) have described independent travel as following a fixed or flexible itinerary, but we remain unaware just what degree of flexibility there may be in such itineraries.

3.6. Affect in Tourist Behavior The preceding discussion has indicated that researchers on consumer behavior in tourism have seldom examined the hedonic aspects of tourist behavior. This is surprising, given that many consumer researchers have specifically identified tourism services as especially hedonic purchases. Otto and Ritchie (1996, p. 168) give expression to this very point: Perhaps more than any other service industry, tourism holds the potential to elicit strong emotional and experiential reactions from consumers y Utilitarian and rational information processing schemes which focus on functional or purely attribute-based elements are incommensurate with leisure and tourism.

Otto and Ritchie explore the consumer experience of tourism services. The researchers employ six constructs to describe such experience: hedonism, interaction, novelty, comfort, safety and stimulation. The Otto and Ritchie scale utilizes scale items such as, ‘‘doing something I really like to do’’, ‘‘doing something new and different’’, ‘‘having fun’’ or ‘‘doing something memorable’’. While safety is an important factor in experiencing airline services, hedonism is important in the consumption of tours and attractions. An examination of consumer purchases of tourism services should consider the affective aspects of purchase behavior. A particular point to consider is whether independent travelers might purposely avoid travel planning, and delay choice of itinerary items. Arnould and Price (1993), in

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their study of consumers of river rafting, noted that experiencing the unknown might be a source of hedonic pleasure. Poon noted that new tourists are more spontaneous, with a lower level of vacation planning and a desire to do what comes on the spur of the moment; new tourists, according to Poon, want to experience something different, they are adventurous and view vacation travel as a source of fun. In addition, Parr (1989) in her exploration of independent travelers noted that some travelers enjoyed the element of the unknown and felt they were on an adventure, full of surprises and spontaneity. In conclusion, an integral element of decision-making for an independent traveler’s choice of vacation itinerary may be to avoid travel planning, and delay decision-making for specific vacation elements until the time they are actually experiencing the vacation.

3.7. Section Conclusions Tourism is a commercial activity involving a broad range of sectors of the service economy. The distinctive features of the marketing of tourism services include shorter length of exposure of the consumer to the service, emotional motives for purchase, the importance of personal sources of information prior to purchase and the importance of image in the selection of tourism destinations and tourism services. A continuing trend in international tourism is the growth in independent travel and relative decline in package travel. Humans may well be born with a sense of curiosity, and a need to explore the world around them. Consumers with a greater need for novelty-seeking display a preference for independent travel. Independent travelers may be more spontaneous, with a lower level of vacation planning and a desire to do what comes on the spur of the moment. No research has sought to model the nature of the independent travel experience as a worthy subject of research in itself. Most research on tourist information search and travel planning takes a uni-dimensional view of the subject matter. In reality, all vacation decisionmaking involves multiple decisions, and many vacations involve travel to multiple destinations. Three different approaches in the literature have attempted to portrait consumer decision-making in tourism: the vacation as purchase consumption system, the vacation as an element in an individual’s ecological system and the vacation as travel decision-making hierarchy. Independent travelers do not pre-book the details of their vacation itinerary. However, do they pre-plan the details of their itinerary?


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Do independent travelers follow fixed itineraries or flexible itineraries? What is required is research into the type and extent of vacation planning undertaken by the independent traveler, and the extent to which such travel plans are actioned. Research is required on the temporal sequence and direction of influence amongst elements – choice of sub-destinations, route, attractions and activities – in the independent travel vacation itinerary. Researchers on consumer behavior in tourism seldom examine the hedonic aspects of tourist behavior. An examination of consumer purchases of tourism services must consider the affective aspects of purchase behavior. An integral element of decision-making for independent traveler’s choice of vacation itinerary may be to avoid travel planning, and delay decisionmaking for specific vacation elements until the time they are actually experiencing the vacation. This study builds a model of the independent traveler decision process for choice of elements of the vacation itinerary. The objectives of this study are that this model should account for: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

extent of pre-trip information search, extent of pre-trip travel planning, the timing of information search, the sources of information used both pre-trip and en-route, the percentage of pre-trip travel plans which are actioned, the factors which influence amount of information search, amount of planning and percentage of travel plans actioned, 7. the temporal sequence in which vacation sub-decisions – choice of subdestinations, route, attractions and activities – are made and 8. the role of affect in these decision processes.

4. DEDUCTIVE PROCESSES IN CASE STUDY RESEARCH To address the research objectives, the researcher considers choice of an appropriate research method. This section justifies the use of case study method to investigate consumer decision-making processes. The section considers the nature of case study research, and appropriate applications of this method. The section discusses approaches to sampling and generalizability in case study research, together with specific issues in validity and reliability. The section justifies adoption of an inductive phase of case study research followed by a deductive phase of case study research. This section

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concludes by discussing the applications of one deductive procedure in particular, deduction by pattern matching.

4.1. Case Study Research Case studies y appear in a variety of guises, across many disciplines both basic and applied. Case studies appear in law, education, history, medicine, psychology, and administrative studies. The uses to which they are put include cultural description, professional preparation, theory construction, biographical study, clinical diagnosis, and policy analysis. Some fields it seems are built almost entirely on knowledge produced through individual, cumulative, and comparative case studies. (Maanen, Manning, & Miller, in Hamel, Dufour, & Fortin, 1993, p. v)

Clinical works in psychological and medical fields and anthropological work provide many of the classic examples of case study research. Unfortunately, case study research has been guilty of a lack of rigor and a lack of representativeness (Lincoln & Guba, 1986). Some commentators have accused case study researchers of undertaking sloppy research, of engaging in subjective observation, of laissez-faire collection of facts and opinions and of responding indiscriminately to the most vivid instances (Hamel et al., 1993). Yet with the adoption of appropriate procedures, case study can be a rigorous method (Perry & Coote, 1994). The work of Robert Yin (1994) does much to bring about a reassessment of case study research. Yin dissociates the idea of case study from that of fieldwork or participant observation. Case study is a method, a research design to be preferred under certain circumstances and research problems. Case study ‘‘investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used’’ (Yin, 1994, p. 3). Case study is the application of multiple sources of evidence to the understanding of a contemporary phenomenon. Data may be qualitative, quantitative, or both (Eisenhardt, 1989). According to Yin (1994), case study is the preferred research method when the researcher poses how or why questions, when the investigator has little control over events and when the focus is on a contemporary phenomenon within some real-life context. The case study is a research strategy that focuses on understanding the dynamics present within single settings (Eisenhardt, 1989, p. 534). Case study is especially useful for investigation of the sequence or process of a phenomenon, as is the situation in this study. Its chief strength lies in the depth of understanding it can permit (Babbie, 1992).


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4.1.1. Generalizability in Case Study Research Research has generalizability when its conclusions are true of people and places beyond those directly studied. In the strictest terms of traditional positivism, an empirical generalization must apply in all contexts. Yet when seeking to explain social phenomena, there are always factors that are unique to a context. Detailed knowledge of the particular case and its nuances in context provide depth of understanding. Such depth of understanding can be the basis for generalization (Stake, 1994). Theorists often abstract theory from a specific case. A well-constructed single case is no longer singular; it explains a general phenomenon. At times, one contrary case is enough to challenge an existing theory (Coolican, 1994). Case study researchers do not generalize by claiming their case is representative of all others. Instead, they generalize by asserting that the people they observed behaved as anyone would if placed in that situation. A field researcher rarely asks, ‘‘What percentage of persons in the populations would respond this way?’’ instead she or he says, ‘‘What I have found true of the people in this study is likely to be true of any people placed in this situation.’’ Field researchers are like laboratory experimenters in this regard. Both assume that the environmental forces or situational constraints they have studied would affect most people the same way. (Kidder & Judd, 1986, p. 170)

If a particular case provides explanation, the question arises just how representative that case is. Although the researcher may study a number of instances of a phenomenon, can the researcher be certain of just how typical those instances are? Careful sample selection methods lead to representativeness. The case study is only microscopic for the want of a sufficient number and quality of cases. A replication design (Yin, 1994) is the study of a number of cases jointly in order to inquire into a general phenomenon or population. The researcher chooses individual cases in a replication design because they provide insight into a phenomenon or larger population of cases. Generalization in case study can be theoretical generalization (Perry, 1997). Such generalization requires the researcher to show that a theory observed working in one case works well in other cases. Theoretical generalization requires the researcher to establish the limits to which the theory applies by undertaking replication research with dissimilar cases. Whether results obtained in one setting will generalize to another setting is an empirical question (Kidder & Judd, 1986).

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4.1.2. Sampling in Case Study Research Of critical importance in case study research is the selection of cases to study. Achieving an understanding of the phenomena under investigation may depend on selection of the correct case(s) to study. Perhaps nothing else differentiates qualitative and quantitative approaches to research more strongly than the accepted sampling methods for each discipline. In quantitative methods, the researcher selects a sample according to probabilistic procedures. In qualitative methods, the researcher selects a sample purposefully. The power of purposeful sampling results from selecting information-rich cases. Information-rich cases are those from which one can learn a great deal (Patton, 1991, p. 169). The researcher can potentially learn some important things from almost any case, but will choose one or a small number of exemplars, leaning towards those cases that seem to offer opportunity to learn (Stake, 1994). A selection is made of specific cases such that they represent environmental variation within the population of interest. The kinds of variation theoretically expected to be relevant will need to be represented (Perry, 1997), using the same logic as that of stratified sampling. Patton (1991) enumerates a number of acceptable methods of sampling in case study research, including: deliberately seeking diversity in the sample, to choose cases which are extreme situations or polar types; intensity sampling – the selection of cases which manifest the phenomenon of interest intensely; maximum variation sampling – to maximize the heterogeneity of the sample along those variables considered crucial to variation in the phenomenon studied (McCracken, 1988) and stratified purposeful sampling – to stratify the sample purposefully, by taking cases that represent high, moderate and low values on the variable of interest (Stake, 1994; Yin, 1994). The current research adopts a replication case study design, utilizing a stratified purposeful sampling approach. According to Yin (1994), the evidence from multiple-case studies is more convincing than evidence from a single case; we can look upon multiple cases as we look upon multiple experiments. The underlying logic is replication, that is, the logic of treating a series of cases as one would a series of experiments with each case serving to confirm or disconfirm the research propositions (Eisenhardt, 1989). When using a multiple-case design, the researcher needs to ask how many cases are necessary. Because the researcher cannot use sampling logic, the


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typical statistical criteria regarding sample size are irrelevant. Eisenhardt (1989) recommends the researcher should add cases until they achieve theoretical saturation. Lincoln and Guba (1986) recommend the researcher sample until the point of redundancy, that is, until no further critical variation is found in the phenomenon under investigation. 4.1.3. Validity and Reliability in Case Study Research Too often in the past, case study researchers have been criticized for being sloppy and for allowing biased views or equivocal evidence to influence their findings and conclusions. Case study researchers may be prone to leaping to conclusions based on limited data; vividness may influence their judgments, they may ignore basic statistical properties, drop disconfirming evidence and reach premature and false conclusions (Eisenhardt, 1989). The issue of internal validity considers whether an investigator can infer that a particular event was the result of the causes hypothesized. Has the researcher followed procedures carefully? Has the researcher considered all rival explanations? Does the evidence support the conclusions drawn? Patton (1991) prescribes a number of procedures to enhance the internal validity of qualitative research, including: Testing of rival explanations – the researcher’s approach should not be to attempt to disprove alternative explanations, but to seek evidence in support of such alternatives. Failure to find supporting evidence for these alternatives increases the credibility of the researcher’s interpretation. Negative cases – the researcher should search for disconfirming cases. To seek out such cases helps establish boundaries for the theory. Negative case analysis can aid in the revision of hypotheses. The objective is to revise the hypotheses until they take into account all cases without exception. The researcher seeks disconfirming data in past and future observations. ‘‘A single negative case is enough to require the investigator to revise a hypothesis. When there are no more negative cases, the researcher stops revising the hypotheses and says with confidence, ‘This caused that’’’ (Cressey, 1953). Patton’s third suggestion is to adopt triangulation procedures to overcome the biases that are inherent in single-methods, single-observer and single-theory studies. There are at least four types of triangulation procedure (Patton, 1991): methods triangulation – checking the consistency of findings generated by different data-gathering methods; this may include both qualitative and quantitative methods;

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sources triangulation – seeking data from more than one source; investigator triangulation – whereby data is gathered by more than one researcher and theory triangulation – considering the data from the viewpoint of contrasting theories. In seeking to establish reliability, the objective is to be sure that, if a later investigator followed exactly the same procedures and conducted the same case study again, that later investigator would arrive at the same findings and conclusions. According to Yin (1994), the researcher establishes internal validity and reliability by documenting a chain of evidence that provides explicit links between the questions asked, the data collected and the conclusions drawn. All interviews should follow a documented interview protocol. It is good practice to keep a formal database, in which each of the evidential data documents is itemized. Other investigators could thus, in principle, review the evidence gathered. The principle is to allow an external observer to follow the derivation of any evidence from initial research questions to ultimate case study conclusions. The research report should make use of citation to relevant portions of the case study database. Lincoln and Guba (1986) describe a number of techniques for enhancing the validity, generalizability, reliability and objectivity of qualitative research. Prolonged engagement refers to the investment of sufficient time in the naturalistic environment to test for misinformation. Persistent observation is the investment of intensity of effort such that the researcher identifies the most relevant features of a phenomenon. Peer debriefing is a process of exposing one’s analysis and interpretation to a disinterested peer. In member checks, the researcher exposes the research findings and interpretations to members of stakeholder groups who provided the data. To establish generalizability of findings, the researcher requires a thick description of phenomena, including a record of the time and context in which data was gathered. Stepwise replication requires that two separate research teams gather and interpret data on a phenomenon. In an inquiry audit, the auditor’s concern would be to ascertain whether the researcher has grounded their findings in the data. The auditor should trace a sample of findings back via the chain of evidence to the raw data. The auditor will judge whether inferences based on the data are logical. The auditor would assess the degree of researcher bias, whether the researcher resisted early closure, explored all aspects of the data to a reasonable degree, did not restrict the enquiry for practical reasons and sought disconfirming data.


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A reflexive journal is a diary completed by the researcher, recording decisions made on choices of research method, and introspections on the data encountered. The research method in this study adopts a number of procedures to enhance the reliability and internal validity of results, namely: testing of rival explanations, seeking of negative cases, triangulation of methods and sources, presentation of a chain of evidence, use of interview protocols, presentation of a database of evidential documents, peer debriefing and the keeping of a reflexive journal. 4.2. Deductive Processes in Case Study Research This chapter subscribes to the view that research findings based on inductive methods are in effect untested findings; that secure conviction in findings can only be a result of theory testing, that is, subjecting inductive findings to deductive processes. A balance of induction and deduction is desirable in case study. One feature of case study research is the frequent overlap of data collection and data analysis (Eisenhardt, 1989). The case study researcher has the flexibility to adjust data collection instruments during the data collection process. These adjustments allow the researcher to probe emergent issues. If a new line of thinking emerges during the research, it makes sense to take advantage by altering data collection, if such an alteration provides the potential for new theoretical insight. Kirk and Miller (1986) view good qualitative technique as a process of alternating inductive and deductive processes: The fieldworker y is continuously engaged in something very like hypothesis testing, but that effectively checks perception and understanding against the whole range of possible sources of error. He or she draws tentative conclusions from his or her current understanding of the situation y Where, for unanticipated reasons, this understanding is invalid, the qualitative researcher will sooner or later y find out about it. (Kirk & Miller, 1986, p. 25)

It is clear that qualitative researchers employ some deductive processes in an informal manner during their research. Deductive processes are a natural part of case study. What is required is to formalize and document these processes. Introducing formal deductive procedures into case study research is the single most important step for assuring strength of conviction in the case study findings. Though Yin (1994) is among the most cited authors on case study method, he stands relatively alone in advocating a deductive rather than

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inductive approach to the design of case study research. For Yin, case study research commences with a statement of propositions – answers to how and why questions – to be tested with the data gathered. While theory building in case study has traditionally occurred in narrative form, according to Yin, the better case studies are the ones in which the researcher has built theory from documented propositions. Cases that confirm the propositions enhance confidence in the validity of the concepts and their relationships; cases that disconfirm the relationships can provide an opportunity to refine the theory. Perry (1997) recommends that case study research commence with an inductive process, ignoring as much as possible the theoretical literature one has reviewed. Initial interviews should be an unstructured exploration of the phenomenon. If data is not forthcoming, the researcher should employ preprepared, open-ended questions to probe broad issues. According to Perry, interview protocols might valuably include use of a quantitative instrument to measure key variables of interest. As the research project proceeds, the researcher uses less and less an inductive approach to findings, and more and more a deductive approach. Preliminary concepts arising from the analysis of early cases guide data collection and analysis of later cases. The researcher specifically hypothesizes a relationship between the phenomenon under investigation and the central theoretical concept on which the researcher selected the sample. Strict deductive procedure requires that the dataset used to test research findings is not the same dataset as was the source of theory building. Replication design case study allows for the separation of inductive and deductive case data. The current study employs an inductive model-building phase, followed by a deductive model-testing phase.

4.3. Pattern Matching as a Procedure for Deductive Case Study According to Yin (1994), the least well-developed procedures in case study research are procedures for linking data to propositions, and criteria for interpreting such findings. What is required is a formal deductive procedure, supported by a chain of evidence linking the study propositions and conclusions drawn. Campbell (1975) describes the idea of pattern matching whereby the researcher relates several pieces of information from a case to a theoretical proposition. What Campbell suggests the researcher do is to describe two potential patterns – one predicted by the study propositions, and one


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predicted by the counterpropositions – and then show that the data matched one set of propositions better than the other did. In this process, one has a research study that has specified multiple, nonequivalent dependent variables. One has predicted an overall pattern of outcomes covering each of these variables. If the results are as predicted, one can draw a conclusion about the effects. If the results fail to show the entire pattern as predicted, the researcher must question the initial proposition. As Yin (1994, p. 104) puts it ‘‘if, for each outcome, the initially predicted values have been found, and at the same time alternative ‘patterns’ of predicted values have not been found, strong causal inferences can be made’’. Such analysis requires the development of rival theoretical counterpropositions. The important characteristic of these rival theories is that each involves a pattern of independent variables that is mutually exclusive: if one explanation is to be valid, the other cannot be. In addition, ‘‘when the theory predicts a fact that would be very unexpected from the point of view of common sense or other theories y the confirmation is correctly a lot more convincing than when the prediction is banal’’ (Campbell, 1975, p. 187). Such a procedure would meet a number of the requirements for improving the validity and reliability of case study research, namely: the testing of rival explanations, providing a chain of evidence, linking propositions to conclusions and exposing case data to peer review. Two examples of case study research employing a pattern-matching procedure can be cited – Wilson and Wilson (1988) and Woodside and Wilson (1995). The Wilson and Wilson study was an examination of competing theories as might best describe the group purchasing process in an industrial setting. The researchers expressed each theory as a set of propositional statements. The case data were typed transcripts of personal interviews conducted in four case study companies. Three trained judges used the propositional statements to evaluate hits and misses of each theory. Each judge coded each proposition as a C (theory confirmed), N (no confirmation) or P (theory partially confirmed) for each of the four cases. The study by Woodside and Wilson (1995) investigates mail-order purchases of gardening products. The predictions of two competing theories, as used by marketing managers, were tested. The researchers expressed each theory as a set of propositions for testing. Rarely is one theory supported entirely and a second or third rejected entirely; however, the case data are likely to support one theory more substantially than other theories. According to Yin (1994), currently there is no precise way of setting criteria for interpreting these types of findings. Campbell called for direct tests of the total of correct and incorrect

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predictions of each theory applied to the case data. Woodside and Wilson (1995) tested the hit ratio for one competing theory versus another statistically with a simple sign test, as did Wilson and Vlosky (1997). Wilson and Wilson (1988) further tested the level of agreement between judges using a simple chi-square test. In summary, pattern matching is a deductive theory-testing procedure that actively employs rival explanations and exposes case evidence and conclusions to independent peer review. 4.4. Appropriate Applications of Deductive Case Study The traditional approach to case study research has been an inductive one. As with qualitative research techniques, an inductive approach has suited areas of investigation where the concepts under study are not clear. Glaser and Strauss (1967) provide a rich description of the qualitative research process as applied to building grounded theory, by inductive methods. The deductive case study is not an atheoretical approach, as is the case in interpretive studies that seek to build grounded theory. Rather, the deductive case study commences with a very firm theoretical base, a base it wishes to explore and test. Common sense would suggest therefore that the strict application of a deductive, theory-testing approach to case study research would only be appropriate in a very different set of research circumstances. That set of circumstances would be: where the concepts to be studied are obvious from the outset, and the researcher can identify hypothesized relationships between these concepts before data gathering commences. As with all case study research, the deductive case study is a particularly appropriate research strategy for investigating issues of process or sequence of events, if data gathering occurs over the period of change, so that the researcher observes the entire process. 4.5. Issues in Procedure for Deductive Case Study In the absence of explicit guidance in the literature, it is appropriate to establish some principles of good procedure for the deductive case study.


91

Such principles would include: that each counterproposition is written to be as near as possible the opposite in intent to its corresponding proposition; that each counterproposition in itself makes good logical sense; each counterproposition has some likelihood of being supported by the data and that the set of counterpropositions as far as possible form a strong, integrated whole, a counter-theory in its own right. As with all case research, some flexibility in research design is desirable, including the opportunity to alter data-gathering instruments if the opportunity arises to explore new propositions. New propositions might arise as data gathering proceeds. To do so implies an element of inductive reasoning in the research process. The deductive process remains intact, in that case data which has not been the source of inductive theory building, can be submitted to an independent theory-testing procedure, in this case theory testing by pattern matching. In conclusion, this section has justified the use of case study method to investigate the research objectives. The research adopts an initial inductive phase of case study research to build a model of independent traveler decision-making. The researcher then undertakes a deductive phase of case study research in which the researcher tests the model by applying patternmatching procedures to the data collected from multiple cases.

5. INDUCTIVE PHASE OF THE RESEARCH The research builds a model of independent traveler decision-making based upon the existing literature and the results of ten pilot interviews with independent travelers. This section presents that model, consisting of 18 propositions. This section also presents an alternative model. The study will then compare two models in the deductive phase of the research.

5.1. Pilot Studies The researchers conducted ten pilot interviews to assist in building a model of independent traveler decision-making. The researcher conducted five interviews with travelers intercepted at a large backpacker hostel in

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Auckland, New Zealand, and five interviews with travelers intercepted at New Zealand’s busiest visitor information center, also located in Auckland. The researcher asked travelers about the amounts and types of information search they had undertaken for the vacation, prior to arrival. The amounts of information search undertaken varied greatly between travelers. The types of information search undertaken included use of both personal and impersonal sources. The degree to which the tourist had planned a vacation itinerary varied greatly between travelers. Many of the travelers had very little planned for their New Zealand vacation; some appeared to distain the thought of having their vacation details planned.

5.2. EI Model: The Independent Vacation as Evolving Itinerary The study produced a model of independent traveler decision-making as evolving itinerary as a result of conclusions from the pilot studies, and further reflection upon the research literature. This EI model portrays the independent vacation as following an evolving itinerary, that is, an itinerary that changes and progresses as the vacation proceeds. Fig. 1 presents the propositions of this model. The model proposes that the independent traveler’s choice of vacation elements is the result of three different types of choice sets – researched before, researched after and opportunistic choice sets. Based upon active search of printed sources of information prior to arrival, the traveler formulates a set of researched before sub-destinations. Soon thereafter, the traveler formulates a travel route connecting their chosen set of subdestinations. While on vacation, research continues – primarily in the form of use of personal sources of information. As a result, the traveler formulates a researched after set of sub-destinations, attractions and activities. Finally, there will be a number of opportunistic sub-destinations, attractions and activities consumed which are neither actively researched nor planned. With all three choice sets, the final selection of vacation elements is based upon hedonic affect anticipated, balanced against constraints of time and expense.

5.3. PI Model: The Independent Vacation as Planned Itinerary The researcher also created an alternative model, the independent vacation as planned itinerary. This PI model portrays the independent vacation as following a fixed itinerary, that is, an itinerary that remains substantially


Fig. 1.

93

Propositions for the ‘‘Independent Vacation as Evolving Itinerary’’ (EI) Model.

unchanged as the vacation proceeds. Fig. 2 presents the propositions of the Alternative Model. The deductive phase of the research would compare these two competing models. Table 1 examines the predictions of the two competing models, in respect of the objectives of the research. The EI model predicts that pre-trip planning will result in no detailed plans, simply a limited number of

94

Fig. 2.

KENNETH F. HYDE

Propositions for the ‘‘Independent Vacation as Planned Itinerary’’ (PI) Model.

researched before items; the traveler will only make detailed plans for choice of attractions and activities for the immediate 24 h period. In contrast, the PI model predicts that pre-trip planning will result in a complete travel itinerary, with detailed plans for choice of attractions and activities made for a period exceeding 24 h. The EI model predicts that the traveler will delay detailed information search until they approach a specific sub-destination; in contrast, the PI model predicts that the traveler will conduct detailed information search before the vacation commences. The EI model predicts that written sources of information will dominate pre-trip information search, and personal sources of information will dominate en-route information search. The PI model makes no prediction regarding information sources. The EI model predicts that almost all pre-trip plans will be actioned; the PI model predicts that very few plans will be actioned.

95


Table 1.

Predictions from the Two Competing Models.

Research Objectives Extent of pre-trip information search Extent of pre-trip planning

Timing of information search

Sources of information used, pre-trip and enroute Percentage of travel plans actioned

‘‘Evolving Itinerary’’ Model No prediction

No prediction

No details planned A ‘‘researched before’’ set of 4 or 8–16 items Travel route decided within 48 h Detailed plans for choice of attractions and activities for the immediate 24 h only Only as the traveler approaches a sub-destination do they seek detailed information on attractions and activities The traveler constructs a ‘‘researched after’’ set of items Chiefly printed sources used pre-trip Chiefly personal sources used en-route Almost all plans actioned Will be strongly disappointed if one of the ‘‘researched before’’ items is not actioned

All details planned A complete itinerary planned No travel route

Factors influencing amount of search, planning and percentage of plans actioned Temporal sequence of elements

No prediction

Role of affect in these processes

Choice of attractions and activities will be based on a balance of affect anticipated versus constraints of time and expense Will take advantage of serendipitous opportunities to experience items neither

Other

‘‘Planned Itinerary’’ Model

Sub-destinations – route – attractions and activities Sub-destinations will dominate pre-trip planning

Detailed plans for choice of attractions activities for a period exceeding 24 h The traveler seeks detailed information on attractions and activities before arrival The ‘‘researched before’’ set represents the complete itinerary All sources used pre-trip All sources used en-route Very few plans actioned Will not be strongly disappointed if one of the ‘‘researched before’’ items is not actioned No prediction

Attractions and activities – sub-destinations – route Attractions and activities will dominate pre-trip planning Choice of attractions and activities will be based on many attributes

Will not take advantage of serendipitous opportunities

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Table 1. (Continued ) Research Objectives

‘‘Evolving Itinerary’’ Model planned nor actively researched The vacation is a freewheeling experience with the traveler relatively unaware of what each sub-destination offers

‘‘Planned Itinerary’’ Model

The vacation is carefully researched and planned

The EI model predicts that sub-destinations will dominate trip planning, and preempt other decisions regarding travel itinerary. The PI model predicts that attractions and activities will dominate trip planning, and preempt other decisions regarding travel itinerary. The EI model predicts that the traveler will balance affect anticipated versus the constraints of time and expense, to determine choice of attractions and activities. The PI model predicts that the traveler will carefully consider the attributes of alternative attractions and activities in their decision-making. The EI model predicts that the traveler will take advantage of serendipitous opportunities to experience items that are neither researched nor planned. The PI model portrays the vacation as entirely researched and planned prior to arrival at the destination. The following section describes the methods employed to test the two competing models of independent traveler decision-making.

6. DEDUCTIVE PHASE OF THE RESEARCH This section describes the multiple-case, replication, deductive case study method employed to test the two competing models produced in the inductive phase of the research. The section also describes the sources of data used to address each of the research objectives. The study employed a multiple-case replication deductive case study design (Yin, 1994). Though a qualitative study, this research does not adopt an inductive, interpretative, phenomenological approach; the study applies a deductive approach for purposes of model refining and testing (Campbell, 1975).


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To observe the process of tourist decision-making in action, the study employs a repeated-measures, before-and-after design, with data gathered on two separate occasions in each independent traveler’s vacation. An initial interview was conducted with travel parties within 24 h of arrival at an international destination not previously visited (i.e., New Zealand); a second interview was conducted with the same travel parties within 24 h of their departing from New Zealand, at the end of their vacations. The interviews sought to probe and record content of cognitive sets at these points in time, rather than retrospectively: The initial interview investigated the extent and content of traveler research, awareness and planning relative to New Zealand sub-destinations, attractions and activities and travel route. The researcher examined the data on a case-by-case basis. The final interview investigated actual vacation behavior in terms of subdestinations visited, routes taken, attractions and activities experienced. Again, the researcher examined the data on a case-by-case basis, with each traveler’s behavior compared with his or her plans and intentions. The case study researcher should adopt a number of procedures aimed at improving the validity and reliability of results. The study adopts the following procedures: following an interview protocol, seeking of negative cases, triangulation of methods and sources, providing a database of evidential documents and providing a thick description that notes the time and context of data gathering. In addition, a reflexive journal was kept in which notes were made regarding methodological choices and interpretation of the case data.

6.1. Sampling The population from which the study sample was drawn is as follows: independent travelers, who are first-time visitors to New Zealand and are not visiting friends and relatives as a major element of their vacation. The researcher selected travel parties to maximize diversity within the sample. The study utilizes stratified purposeful sampling. Three strata were critical for diversity in the study population, namely, nationality, travel party size and mode of transportation. The study sought diversity of

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nationality by interviewing some travel parties from each of North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The study sought diversity of travel party size by interviewing some individual travelers and some traveling dyads. Diversity of transportation mode was sought by interviewing some travelers who were backpackers, some traveling by rental car, some traveling by motor home and some traveling by public bus. The researchers conducted all initial interviews in the city of Auckland, the major gateway for inbound international tourism to New Zealand. The researcher sought the sample by intercepting tourists at two locations: The Aotea Square Visitor Information Centre, Auckland – this is the busiest tourist information center in the country, visited by a sizeable proportion of all independent travelers entering the country and fielding in excess of 3000 enquiries per day. CompanyX, Auckland – CompanyX is a business with a clear majority of market share for the hire of motor homes in New Zealand. CompanyX operates just two depots in New Zealand, of which Auckland is the largest. The CompanyX depot is the first destination of many independent travelers after immediately disembarking from their inbound international flight. The sample selection procedure was to approach the next available traveler. The researcher approached potential respondents as they browsed brochure racks or sat waiting for assistance. The researcher asked each person approached a series of screening questions:

had they visited New Zealand before? when had they arrived in the country? had they pre-booked any accommodation or transport arrangements? were they visiting New Zealand friends and relatives? and was their departure flight from Auckland?

A small percentage of travelers had a departure flight from New Zealand’s other major international gateway, Christchurch, and thus would not have qualified for a Final Interview. In total, the researcher approached some 190 potential respondents; on average, one in six persons approached met the qualifying criteria. Of all potential respondents who met the qualifying criteria, there was near unanimous agreement to participate in the research.

99


6.2. Initial Interviews The initial interview with each respondent took 15–20 min. The sample of 32 initial interviews was conducted during the months of December 1996–January 1997. The study employs focused interviews following an interview protocol (Yin, 1994) (Fig. 3). The author conducted 28 interviews, and a trained Japanese-speaking interviewer conducted 4 interviews. The researchers taperecorded and transcribed all interviews in full, and a note was made of the time, date and place of interview. The study applied a process of triangulation to the data; the study utilized multiple data sources and multiple methods of measurement, as follows: the interview transcript; quantitative measures of length of vacation planning time, length of vacation, size of the researched before set and responses to two checklist items. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Fig. 3.

Interview Protocol for the Initial Interview.

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KENNETH F. HYDE

The researchers requested the flight details for each travel party that had booked their departure flight from Auckland. The researchers arranged for each travel party to re-contact the researcher on their return to Auckland, at a predetermined meeting point, or via a 24 h telephone answering service. The researcher offered each travel party a picture book as an incentive to participate in the final interview. 6.2.1. Checklist Items The study utilized two checklist items against which to triangulate data obtained in the interview transcript. Each item required a yes/no response: I would have liked more detailed information about New Zealand before I arrived, but it was not available and I wanted all the details of my vacation itinerary planned before I arrived. 6.2.2. The Researched Before Set The study examined interview transcripts for each travel party, to identify the list of sub-destinations, attractions and activities they planned to experience on their vacation. This was termed the researched before set. In all cases, this set was in response to unprompted questions, for example, where do you plan to go? What activities do you plan to undertake? What do you plan to see? The researcher examined the list further to delineate: Specifically Planned items – items which indicated particular knowledge of the destination because they were peculiar to a New Zealand vacation (e.g., Waitomo Caves, jetboating) and Generally Planned items – items that failed to indicate specific knowledge of the destination, because they were not specific to a New Zealand vacation (e.g., swimming, shopping). 6.3. Final Interviews Of the 32 travel parties participating in the Initial Interview, 20 reported at the end of their vacation, for the Final Interview. (The remaining 12 parties failed to report back). These then represent 20 complete case studies. The author interviewed 18 travel parties; and the Japanese-speaking interviewer interviewed 2 travel parties. The researcher conducted a focused interview following an interview protocol (Fig. 4). Though this protocol appears considerably briefer than for the initial interview, respondents invariably spoke with enthusiasm and at length about the details of their vacation experiences. A number of travel

101


? ? ? ?

? ?

? ?

Fig. 4.

Interview Protocol for the Final Interview.

parties referred to their trip diaries when speaking to the interviewer. Final interviews lasted an average of 60 min each. Again, the researcher applied a process of triangulation, with multiple data sources sought as follows: interview transcript, responses to a checklist (Fig. 5) and a record of the travel route taken. 6.4. Analysis of Quantitative Data The study took a number of quantitative measures of each traveler and his or her vacation. These measures would assist in answering research objective 6: to investigate the factors that influence amount of information search, amount of planning and percentage of travel plans actioned. Table 2 displays the quantitative measures taken which were relevant to the answering of research objective 6. Table 2 lists independent and dependent measures separately. Following the collection of the measures as listed in Table 2, the study calculates Pearson correlation coefficients between interval/ratio measures to establish any relationships between independent and dependent variables; the study calculates cross-tabulation measures between nominal measures to establish any relationships between independent and dependent variables. Section 7 provides the results of these analyses. 6.5. Testing the Two Competing Models by Pattern Matching The study formulated two competing models in the inductive phase of this research – the EI model and the PI model. The study now tests

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KENNETH F. HYDE

Fig. 5.

Table 2.

Checklist for the Final Interview.

Quantitative Measures on Travelers and their Vacations.

Independent Measures Characteristics of the vacation Length of time flight booked Length of vacation Characteristics of the traveler Single or dyad Age Country of origin Backpacker or not

Dependent Measures Amount of search Hours of search by the individual Hours of search by the travel party Amount of planning No. specifically planned items No. specifically planned items per day No. planned sub-destinations No. planned activities No. planned attractions Degree of planning of travel route Percentage of plans actioned % of plans actioned % of elements which were planned % sub-destinations which were planned % activities which were planned % attractions which were planned


103

these competing models using a pattern-matching procedure (Wilson & Wilson, 1988). Such a procedure meets a number of the key requirements for improving the validity and reliability of case study research, namely: the testing of rival explanations, providing a chain of evidence that links propositions to conclusions and exposing case data to peer review. Each of 4 judges examined the 18 propositions of the EI model and the PI model. These judges were each highly educated academics, being two senior lecturers in marketing, one senior lecturer in tourism and one senior lecturer in management studies. Rather than a full set of transcripts, totaling 99,000 words, the study presents judges with a case summary for each case, containing the following data: name, age, country of origin and occupation of interviewees; dates, times and places at which initial and final interviews conducted; length of stay, length of time vacation booked and whether New Zealand was the only destination; amount and type of travel research, and whether or not a travel route had been planned; an inventory of specifically and generally planned items, with items checked that were actioned, a calculation of percentage of items which were actioned and a calculation of percentage of items which were subdestinations; an inventory of the vacation, with items checked that were planned and a calculation of percentage of items which were planned; excerpts of transcript from the initial and final interviews which might bear upon the judgment of propositions and a copy of responses to the final interview checklist. The evidence thus presented to the judges represented a triangulation of methods and of sources, being both quantitative and qualitative data, from observation, interview and checklist items. Before commencing the judgment process, each judge undertook a brief training session, and judgment upon a practice case. The training session involved a discussion of each proposition. Each of the four judges completed the practice case (case 13), and discussed the judgments they had made. The four judges analyzed all subsequent cases independently. To undertake the process of judgment, the study provides each judge with a written set of propositions and counterpropositions, a copy of each of

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KENNETH F. HYDE

20 case summaries and a checksheet for each case on which to record:

support for proposition a, or support for proposition b, or lack of evidence on which to judge the proposition, plus any written comments upon the judgment made.

Pattern-matching method requires that the model as a whole is tested (Campbell, 1975; Yin, 1994). To test the model with degrees of freedom, the study examines a pattern of independent outcomes – that is, the propositions of the model – for each case. The study subjects each case to 4 18 judgments, to see if the case supported the EI model or the PI model. The study employs Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks tests to test the level of agreement among judges. The study employs the same independent judgments to see if the data supports each propositions or each counterproposition. In total, the study brings to bear 4 20 judgments on each proposition. Again, the study employs Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks tests to test the level of agreement among judges.

6.6. Application of Data Gathered to the Answering of Research Objectives Yin (1994) speaks of embedded research designs as particularly robust research designs. By embedded design, Yin means case study research that involves the collection of multiple sources of data – such as documents, interview transcripts and quantitative measures. Such multiple sources of data provide the researcher with multiple perspectives upon the phenomenon under investigation. Where these diverse sources provide a consistent and concurring image of the phenomenon under investigation, the weight of evidence for the selected interpretation is substantial. While the current research program is qualitative in nature, the study gathers both qualitative and quantitative data. The research design is in effect an embedded research design. A number of items of quantitative data have been collected which will assist in answering the research objectives. In total, this embedded research design with its quantitative measures, its case study narrative, and its model testing by pattern matching would address the research aim of building a model of the independent traveler decision process for choice of elements of the vacation itinerary.


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7. RESULTS The aim of this research is to build a model of independent traveler decision processes for choice of vacation itinerary. Such a model would need to account for a variety of aspects of decision-making as outlined in the research objectives. The study constructed two competing models, in the inductive phase of the research, that provide alternative answers to these research objectives. The key procedure by which the study tests these models is the procedure of pattern matching. However, the embedded design of the research program allows the application of three diverse sources of data to the research aim and objectives, namely, quantitative measures, case study narrative and deductive model testing using pattern matching. This section therefore presents the reader with these three types of evidence in support of the study conclusions. Firstly, the section presents the results of statistical tests conducted on quantitative data collected for the 20 independent travel parties. Secondly, in a more traditional approach to the analysis of case study data, the section presents narrative evidence in the form of narrative synopses for a selection of the cases. Finally, the section presents the results of the pattern-matching test of the two competing models. These three unique forms of evidence provide the reader with a consistent picture of the decision processes involving in the independent traveler’s choice of vacation itinerary. Section 7.1 provides an overview of these 20 travel parties, their vacation research and planning and the characteristics of their vacations. Section 7.2 describes the results of correlational tests and cross-tabulations between the travel behaviors of interest – namely information search, travel planning and action – and a variety of predictor variables including characteristics of the vacations and characteristics of the travelers. Section 7.3 provides example synopses of three of the case studies. The final section, Section 7.4, presents the results of model-testing using a pattern-matching procedure. Each of four judges examined the 18 propositions of the EI and PI models against summaries of each the 20 cases. The section presents results on which cases support the model as a whole, and tests each proposition with data from each case.

7.1. The Twenty Cases This section outlines the characteristics of the sample of 20 case studies, their travel research and planning and the vacations they experienced. Table 3

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Table 3. Case

Characteristics of the Twenty Cases.

Country

Age

Occupation

Only Destination

1 2

Korea Switzerland

backpacker bus rentadent

backpackers backpackers

yes yes

USA

yes

rental car

Sweden

no

purchased a car

lodge bed and breakfast slept in car

no

4

yes

5 6 7

Sweden USA England

student paramedic secretary pilot – teacher teacher secretary internet master self-employed programmer

no yes

3

25 30 32 50s 40s 24 23 31 31 29

no yes no

bed and breakfast backpackers backpackers

no yes yes

8

Australia Australia

10

Germany

11

Saudi

yes

hotel bed and breakfast bus, backpacker backpackers, bus, rental van camping ground rental car camping ground, bed and breakfast motor home motel

12

Switzerland

yes

motor home

13

Germany

no

14

Germany

no

travel pass (bus, flight) rental car

15

USA

manager self-employed salesman student engineer clerk engineer – – – programmer teacher technician bank officer self-employed

no

9

yes

16 17

Germany Austria

18

Israel

54 40s 23 24 28 28 50 40s 30s 30s 31 25 32 31 30s 40s 30s 26 22 24

bus backpacker bus bus, backpacker bus, fellow traveler’s car, rentadent, flight rental car

– stonemason secretary student

19 20

Japan England

29 26

unemployed tax adviser

no no

yes yes yes

Transport

Accommodation Backpacker

no no no

motor home motel backpackers

no yes

motel

no

rental car

bed and breakfast

no

yes yes

bus, train purchased a car

no yes

no

backpacker bus, fellow traveler’s car, hitchhike, borrow car, rental car hitchhike train, bus, fellow’s traveler car, backpacker bus, flight

backpackers tent, camping ground backpackers

yes

backpackers backpackers

yes yes


107

provides a summary of the characteristics of the 20 travel parties. Case study replication design requires that there is considerable diversity in the sample. These 20 cases meet this criterion. Eight of the travel parties were travelers vacationing alone; twelve of the travel parties were dyads, being ten mixed gender couples and two single gender couples. Travelers came from a very diverse range of host countries – continental Europe (n ¼ 7), North America (n ¼ 3), Australia (n ¼ 2), Scandinavia (n ¼ 2), Great Britain (n ¼ 2), East Asia (n ¼ 2) and the Middle East (n ¼ 2). Regarding the age of travelers, eight parties consisted of individuals in their twenties, eight parties consisted of individuals in their thirties and four parties consisted of individuals in their forties and fifties. Travelers came from a diverse range of occupational backgrounds, including students, secretaries, teachers, bank tellers, technicians, computer programmers, professionals and the self-employed. For twelve of the travel parties, New Zealand was the only destination on their vacation. For the remaining eight travel parties, the current vacation involved visiting at least one other international destination. Travelers traveled around New Zealand by a very diverse range of transportation modes – rental car, motor home, purchase of a car, bus, train, flight and hitchhiking. Accommodation types used included 4-star hotels, motels, youth hostels and a tent. Judging by their choice of transportation and accommodation, the following ten cases fit the accepted definition of backpacker traveler: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 13, 17, 18, 19 and 20. The remaining ten cases, while independent travelers, were not backpacking. 7.1.1. Travel Research and Planning Table 4 details the travel research and planning undertaken by each of the 20 cases. The travelers’ flights to New Zealand had been booked a mean of 13.1 weeks prior to departure, being periods ranging from 1 to 52 weeks. Regarding traveler’s information search prior to the vacation, sixteen travel parties had read a New Zealand travel guide prior to departure. Some travelers had even read two or three travel guides. Three travel parties had consulted travel brochures. Two travel parties had learned what New Zealand had to offer from a travel video, and two had consulted magazines. One mentioned planning their travel itinerary with a friend, one had used the internet, and one had learned a great deal from a travel expo. Regarding the amount of reading by an individual traveler to research the vacation itinerary, this varied greatly, from nil to forty hours. The mean number of hours of research for any one traveler was 10.9 h.

32

10 8 1 8

4

5 6 7 8

10

20

8

3

9

3 4

Flight Booked (weeks)

1 2

Case

travel guide (3)

travel guide travel guide þ 2 books travel guide books brochures travel guide (read it twice) travel guide the net travel guide expo brochures travel guide

Research

Table 4.

2 2 20 15

8 3.5 17.5 1.5 2 4

4 15 15 15 15

Amt Res (hours)

35

4

17.5 1.5 2 4

11.5

30

4 30

Total Res

6

6

4 3 3 5

8

15

8 8

Specific Plans

0.19

0.25

0.40 0.11 0.14 0.42

0.17

0.83

0.50 0.38

Plans Per Day

50

33

100 0 0 100

63

67

50 50

% subDestin

17

50

0 33 100 0

38

20

25 12

33

17

0 67 0 0

0

13

25 38

4

0

0 2 4 0

0

1

0 1

% % General Activity Attract Plan

Travel Research and Planning by the Twenty Cases.

minimal

minimal

yes no no minimal

no

yes

minimal no

Route

108 KENNETH F. HYDE

8

52 20

16

12

3

4 -

13.1

11

12 13

14

15

16 17

18 19 20

Mean

travel guide tramp in NZ -

travel guide, video, 3 books, plan with friend travel guide (2) travel guide (2) booklet travel guide (2) brochures video, library, travel guide travel guide magazines

10.9

11 40 20 20 17.5 12 5 5 20 10 5 5 2 0

5

15.9

5 2 0

20 15

10

29.5

40 40

16

6.8

4 2 6

11 4

9

13

3 11

6

0.29

0.05 0.03 0.07

0.38 0.05

0.69

0.45

0.13 0.39

0.27

49.9

50 0 33

82 25

69

92

67 73

17

29.8

50 100 33

0 0

33

0

0 18

66

20.3

0 0 33

18 75

11

8

33 18

17

1.7

2 0 0

1 4

3

2

2 3

5

no no no

minimal no

yes

yes

yes yes

minimal

Independent Traveler Decision-Making 109

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KENNETH F. HYDE

Recognizing that any information search conducted by the partners in a dyad might represent a cumulative information search effort, the total hours of information search conducted by each travel party (as opposed to each individual) was also calculated. Total hours of information search for travel parties again varied greatly, from nil to forty hours, with a mean of 15.9 h. Travel parties had a mean of just 6.8 specifically planned elements for their New Zealand vacation. The number of specifically planned elements varied from 2 to 15. This represents between 0.03 and 0.83 specifically planned elements per day of the vacation, with a mean of 0.29 elements per day. Most of the specifically planned elements were sub-destinations – a mean of 50% of the elements. On average, the travel parties had planned 3.9 sub-destinations, being a range from nil to 12 sub-destinations. Many fewer activities had been specifically planned – a mean of just 1.6 activities (with a range of nil to four). Activities thus represented a mean of just 30% of all specifically planned elements. The travel parties had specific plans to experience a mean of 1.3 attractions (with a range of nil to three). Attractions thus represented a mean of just 20% of all specifically planned elements. In addition to specifically planned vacation elements, travelers had a very small number of generally planned vacation elements – a mean of 1.7. The number of such elements ranged from nil to five. Few parties had a pre-planned travel route. Just six travel parties had a clearly defined travel route, while six parties had a minimal concept of a travel route and eight travel parties had no planned route whatsoever. 7.1.2. Characteristics of Vacations Table 5 provides a summary of the vacations experienced by each the 20 cases. Travel parties stayed in New Zealand for a period ranging from 10 to 88 days. The mean length of vacation was 35.1 days. By international standards, these are very lengthy vacations. Travelers’ vacations consisted of a mean of 32.8 elements, being many more elements than planned. (The number of vacation elements ranged from 7 to 89.) The mean number of elements per day was 1.2, with a range 0.4–2.7 per day. Travel parties had planned a mean of 20.3% of these vacation elements. (The percentage of vacation elements that travel parties had planned ranged from nil to 86%.)

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Table 5. Case

Length of Vacation (days)

Characteristics of Vacations of the Twenty Cases. Vacation Elements

Per Day

% % which % of Specific % Subdest Actioned Activities were Planned Actioned Planned which were Actioned

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

16 21 18 48 10 28 21 12 24 32 22 24 28 29 13 29 85 88 70 83

7 25 32 36 11 30 21 14 29 31 38 44 28 40 35 36 89 45 28 37

0.44 1.19 1.78 0.75 1.10 1.07 1.00 1.17 1.21 0.97 1.73 1.83 1.00 1.38 2.69 1.24 1.05 0.51 0.40 0.45

86 24 38 19 36 10 0 36 10 13 13 7 21 30 20 25 4 0 0 14

Mean

35.1

32.8

1.15

20.3

75 88 93 88 100 66 0 100 50 83 67 100 64 77 67 82 100 25 50 83 72.9

75 100 100 100 100 – 100 100 100 100 100 71 75 80 78 100 0 – 100 100 87.7

50 100 66 66 – 100 0 – 33 100 50 – 50 – 66 – – 0 50 50 55.8

% Attractions Actioned

100 66 100 – – 50 – – 0 50 100 100 50 100 0 100 100 – – 100 72.6

Of the vacation elements that travelers had specifically planned, almost all – a mean of 73% – were actioned. (The percentage of elements that were actioned ranged from nil to 100%.) The planned element that was most often actioned was the traveler’s choices of sub-destinations. Travelers actioned a mean of 88% of their planned sub-destinations, 56% of their planned activities and 73% of their planned attractions. For these travelers alternative activities are much more substitutable than are alternative sub-destinations.

7.2. Correlational Tests and Cross-Tabulations Correlation or cross-tabulation between items of quantitative data provides answers to research objective 6 – identifying those factors that influence

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amount of information search, amount of planning and percentage of total plans actioned. This section thus describes the results of correlational tests and crosstabulations between the travel behaviors of interest – namely information search, travel planning and action – and a variety of predictor variables including characteristics of vacation and characteristics of the traveler. In the first instance, the research calculates Pearson correlation coefficients between the interval and ratio measures available – namely, characteristics of the vacation, amount of information search, amount of travel planning and vacation behaviors. The research sought to discover which, if any, factors influence the amount of research, planning and percentage of plans that were actioned for these 20 cases (Table 6). 7.2.1. Amount of Information Search as a Predictor of Travel Behaviors The number of hours of information search has a clear relationship with travel planning and travel behavior. The number of hours of information search conducted by the individual traveler or the travel party correlates significantly with the number of weeks their flight was booked prior to the vacation, degree of planning of a travel route and percentage of specifically planned vacation elements that were actioned. Hours of information search by the individual correlates negatively with number of planned activities. Hours of research by the individual also correlates significantly with the percentage of planned activities that were actioned. Thus, individuals who had conducted the least information search had the highest number of planned activities, and were least likely to action those planned activities. Again, the implication is that choice amongst alternative activities appears substitutable. The number of specifically planned vacation elements and number of specifically planned sub-destinations correlates with hours of information search accumulated by the travel party, but not with hours of research by the individual. This provides some evidence of the cumulative effect of information search conducted by the individuals in the travel party. 7.2.2. Low-Search and High-Search Cases The study categorized those travel parties who had undertaken less than 6 h of total information search as low-search cases; the cases that fall into this category are cases 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 18, 19 and 20. The study categorized those travel parties who had undertaken between 8 and 10 h of total information search as moderate search cases; the cases that fall into this category are cases 4 and 15. The study categorized those travel parties who had

113


Table 6. Pearson Correlation Coefficients between Predictor and Criterion Variables.

Char. of vacation

FLIGHT LENGTH

Search

HRSRES TOTALRES

Planning

SPECIFIC SPECDAY SUBDEST ACTIVITY ATTRACT ROUTE

Behavior

ACTIONED ACTDAY ACTPER SPECPER SUBPER ACTIVPER ATRACTPER

HRSRES (n ¼ 31)

TOTRES (n ¼ 20)

SPECDAY (n ¼ 20)

0.72 p ¼ 0.00 0.27 p ¼ 0.14 –

0.54 p ¼ 0.02 0.29 p ¼ 0.20 –

0.17 p ¼ 0.51 0.670 p ¼ 0.00 –

0.87 p ¼ 0.00 0.11 p ¼ 0.55 0.06 p ¼ 0.73 0.25 p ¼ 0.16 0.42 p ¼ 0.01 0.24 p ¼ 0.18 0.51 p ¼ 0.00 0.06 p ¼ 0.73 0.28 p ¼ 0.12 0.00 p ¼ 0.99 0.45 p ¼ 0.01 0.10 p ¼ 0.60 0.45 p ¼ 0.03 0.30 p ¼ 0.15

–

–

0.47 p ¼ 0.03 0.30 p ¼ 0.19 0.50 p ¼ 0.02 0.29 p ¼ 0.20 0.37 p ¼ 0.10 0.59 p ¼ 0.00 0.14 p ¼ 0.53 0.37 p ¼ 0.10 0.05 p ¼ 0.81 0.42 p ¼ 0.06 0.17 p ¼ 0.51 0.45 p ¼ 0.10 0.18 p ¼ 0.52

0.77 p ¼ 0.00 – 0.72 p ¼ 0.00 0.12 p ¼ 0.60 0.15 p ¼ 0.51 0.65 p ¼ 0.00 0.36 p ¼ 0.11 0.58 p ¼ 0.00 0.66 p ¼ 0.00 0.28 p ¼ 0.21 0.12 p ¼ 0.63 0.23 p ¼ 0.42 0.11 p ¼ 0.69

FLIGHT, length of time flight booked; LENGTH, length of vacation; HRSRES, hours of search by individual; TOTRES, hours of search by travel party; SPECIFIC, no. of specifically planned elements; SPECDAY, no. of elements planned per day; SUBDES, no. of planned subdestinations; ACTIVITY, no. of planned activities; ATTRAC, no. of planned attractions; ROUTE, degree of planned of travel route; ACTIONED, no. of vacation elements; ACTDAY, no. elements per day; ACTPER, percentage of planned elements which were actioned; SPECPER, percentage of elements which were planned; SUBPER, percentage of subdestinations which were planned; ACTIVPER, percentage of activities which were planned; ATRACTPER, percentage of attractions which were planned.

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undertaken more than 12 h of total information search as high-search cases; the cases that fall into this category are cases 2, 3, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 and 17. There are clearly distinguishable demographic features that delineate high search from low-search cases. The study calculated statistical tests of crosstabulation comparing the characteristics of low versus high-search cases. High-search cases were more likely to be dyads rather than single travelers (Fisher’s Exact Test, p ¼ 0.03) and more likely to be aged in their thirties (X2 ¼ 6.17, df ¼ 2, p ¼ 0.05). Differences approaching significance were observed for country of origin (Fisher’s Exact Test, p ¼ 0.09) and whether or not the traveler was a backpacker (Fisher’s Exact Test, p ¼ 0.08); highsearch cases are more likely to be from non-English-speaking countries and not backpackers. No significant differences was found based upon whether or not New Zealand was the only destination on the vacation (Fisher’s Exact Test, p ¼ 0.18). Low-search cases undertook vacations averaging 53 days in length (some eight weeks); high-search cases undertook vacations averaging some 20 days in length (some three weeks). The study calculated t-tests to compare the composition of low- and highsearch cases’ specifically planned sets. Once again, a high level of information search is associated with the planning of sub-destinations, but not the planning of activities. Low-search cases tended to have a lower percentage of planned sub-destinations (M1 ¼ 33.3, M2 ¼ 61.3, t ¼ 1.88, df ¼ 13, p ¼ 0.08), and a significantly higher percentage of planned activities (M1 ¼ 49.0, M2 ¼ 13.4, t ¼ 2.53, df ¼ 10, p ¼ 0.05). No difference was noted in the percentage of planned attractions (M1 ¼ 17.7, M2 ¼ 25.3, t ¼ 0.71, df ¼ 14, p ¼ 0.50). 7.2.3. Amount of Planning as a Predictor of Travel Behaviors The study examined the number of specifically planned items per day of the vacation – hereafter termed amount of planning – as a potential predictor of travel behaviors (see Table 6). Amount of planning correlated significantly with number of planned sub-destinations and planning of a travel route. In other words, those people who had planned their vacation in detail were most likely to have a set of planned sub-destinations and a travel route, but no more likely to have planned activities or attractions. Amount of planning correlated negatively with length of vacation; in other words, those travelers with the longest vacations had planned the fewest number of vacation elements per day. Amount of planning also correlated with number of activities actioned per day, and percentage of planned activities that were actioned.

115


The study then sorted cases into low, moderate and high planning groups. The low Planning group consists of those cases with fewer than 0.20 items planned per day, being cases 4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 17, 18, 19 and 20. The high planning group consists of those cases with 0.38 or more items planned per day, being cases 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 14, 15 and 16. Cases 9 and 11 display moderate planning; the study excluded these cases from further analysis. Amount of planning showed no difference according to country of origin (Fisher’s Exact Test, p ¼ 0.41) or size of travel party (Fisher’s Exact Test, p ¼ 0.29). However, a significant proportion of low-search cases were shown to be backpackers (X2 ¼ 12.64, p ¼ 0.00) aged in their twenties (X2 ¼ 19.08, p ¼ 0.00). Degree of planning of a travel route correlated significantly with amount of information search and degree of planning of the vacation. This may suggest that the planning of a travel route is also a central element in vacation itinerary decision-making. The research has delineated a low-search group of travelers, who are more likely to be backpackers in their twenties, from English-speaking countries, traveling alone (Table 7). These travelers are on long vacations. They tend to have few specific plans. What plans they have tend to feature a selection of activities, and yet these activities are readily substitutable. High-search cases tend to be couples, from non-English-speaking countries aged in their thirties, and not backpacking. They are on short vacations. They tend to have many specific plans – especially a selection of must see sub-destinations and a travel route – and are highly likely to action these plans.

Table 7. Low versus High Search Groups. Low-Search Group Demographics Length of vacation Research Planning Proportion of planned items which are destinations Planning of a travel route Proportion of planned items which are activities Plans actioned

High-Search Group

backpackers, twenties, English-speaking, alone long little little low

not backpackers, thirties, nonEnglish speaking, couples short much much high

nil high

some low

few

most

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KENNETH F. HYDE

7.3. Case Synopses This section provides short narrative synopses for three of the twenty cases. The case synopses provide examples of one low search, one moderate search and one high-search case. 7.3.1. Low-Search Case Tom is a 29-year-old self-employed computer programmer from England. It was only three weeks ago that he first considered coming to New Zealand on vacation. He booked his flight to New Zealand just one week ago. He has undertaken very little research for the vacation, just a little reading of his travel guidebook on the plane. He has specifically planned only three items, each of which is an active outdoor activity. His knowledge about New Zealand is extremely poor; in describing what he knows about New Zealand, he mentions general items of scenery such as lakes and mountains. He has overheard from other travelers in the last 24 h that a backpacker bus is a good mode of transport. He has no planned travel route. Q: Do you know any N.Z. placenames? A: Probably get one wrong. Christchurch. Is that N.Z.? Durban? No. Is it Darwin? What’s the capital? Doesn’t that begin with D? Q: Do you know where you might see caves? A: Um, no, not really. But, um, my guidebook will tell me. Q: Any idea where you might be able to do windsurfing and waterskiing? A: I have a feeling I could do them in Auckland, but I may be able to do them anywhere in N.Z.

Tom stays in New Zealand for 21 days. His vacation includes 19 elements, none of which he had planned. His vacation is a little like a slap-stick comedy skit; he displays poor time management, and fails to gets to places he wants to visit, or to do things he wants to, for he often runs out of time. Apart from traveling by backpacker bus, Tom uses a diverse range of transportation modes, including commercial bus services, sharing a car with fellow travelers, renting a car and flying one leg of the journey. He stays in backpacker hostels. He uses his guidebook extensively for choice of places to go and things to do. He believes that he planned the details of his vacation for just the immediate 24 h period. He believes he chose what to do and where to go based on the enjoyment expected, and believes he took advantage of spontaneous opportunities to do unexpected things.


117

I was supposed to be meeting my friends, they were supposing to be meeting me when my aircraft came in y Then I got a message from them that they were in Sydney and that they would be over in two days time. So then it’s like ‘‘Oh wow you know, what shall I do?’’ And then I kind of zipped up to the Bay of Islands to kill two days y But what happened was by the time I had woken up and had breakfast – I’m kind of on holiday so I woke up at 9.30 – and by the time I have breakfast it’s 10.30. Then I wandered round to get tourist information and get my head together and its 11am. Then I’m saying are there any backpackers [buses] going up to the Bay of Islands. And they say they all left at 9am y I have been getting most of my information about what to do in a certain place before I go there, from the guidebook. And then when I get there, I arrive there at the hostel, there’s like an overwhelming array of brochures. Loads of them. So it’s kind of easier to use a guidebook simply because it’s laid out methodically. You could start picking up brochures, you’ll have a big wad, and you know somewhere in a bunch of 15 or 20 of them, is something that might be useful to you y They were late again [his friends]. Starting to bug me. Then got on the ferry y I wanted to get a move on, conscious time running out, so get on ferry met guy I had met in Rotorua, chatting away, he’s got hire car said I could travel with him, suggested some plans. So off ferry Sunday about 6 o’clock, pushing to get to glaciers [300 kilometers away].

7.3.2. Moderate Search Case Mary and Pete are from Chicago, U.S.A. He is in his forties; she is in her thirties. They own a computer graphics business. New Zealand is their only destination on this vacation. They made the decision to vacation in New Zealand some months ago. They are on a short vacation. They have booked a return flight from Dunedin (the southern city) to Auckland (the international gateway). They have a basic travel route planned to get them to Dunedin. They have not undertaken much research for the vacation, only 5 h of research each with travel books, videos and a guidebook. They have nine specifically planned vacation elements, including five sub-destinations. They would have liked more information about New Zealand, but do not want all of the details of their vacation planned prior to arrival. They are interested in pottery and woolen products. This is one of the first trips we have ever come completely unprepared. We have no reservations at any place. We’re just going to just wander around, see what y I got a library book about several months ago, when we first decided to come. And I read up just a little bit of the history and things like that. And then I kind of got busy with other things, and then in the last week or two I started looking at the guidebooks again y Q: When you say you have been advised to spend a lot of time in the South Island, is that advice from somebody who has been here before? A: Yes, acquaintances. There’s somebody I’d talked to, when I said we were going to N.Z., they happened to know somebody who knew somebody y that somebody who worked for the travel industry.

118

KENNETH F. HYDE Q: What was your decision to go to these places most influenced by? A: By the video. Q: How did you choose Dunedin from Chicago? Pete: Auckland’s at the top and Dunedin’s at the bottom. Mary: I mean that’s how easy it is. ‘‘Ok this kind of looks the ticket’’.

Mary and Pete stay in New Zealand for just 13 days, but manage to see much of the two main islands. They stay in bed and breakfast accommodation. They action 67% of their planned vacation items, including four of the five must-see sub-destinations. Their vacation consists of 35 elements in total, 80% of which is unplanned. They have purchased pottery and woolens to take home to the U.S.A. The advice of local people influences the choice of vacation itinerary heavily. They also make use of brochures from information centers. They do not make use of their travel guidebook. They believe that they planned the details of their vacation for only the immediate 24 h period, and that they only sought information on a sub-destination when they arrived there. They consider that they chose where to go and what to do, based upon the enjoyment expected; they are willing to take chances and do spur-of-the-moment activities. While we were in Auckland and we headed north we kind of decided we better get a grip on things and plan something a little bit y We were extremely fortunate with the state of the bed and breakfast, with a retired couple. And they have traveled New Zealand extensively, so they helped us to kinda plan our trip. We kinda circled the places we needed, we wanted to get to. Q: Why did you choose that river rafting operation? A: Once again the people at the B and B. There was River Rats and their daughter had worked at River Rats. And they said ‘‘Oh they’re pretty good, and they’re right down the street’’. I said ‘‘Fine!’’ Mary: And we got there at 10 minutes to 10. And there was a two and a half hour city tour at 10am, and we needed to be on the 2.30 pm ferry. So we hop right on that twoand-a-half city tour. Pete: We were already at the information centre, but the driver came up and stopped us. Mary: On the way to information centre he says ‘‘My tour’s leaving’’ and I’m like ‘‘Ok, just let me just check this out’’.

7.3.3. High-Search Case Jacques and Martina are from Switzerland. They are both in their early thirties; he is a paramedic, she is a secretary. They first decided to vacation in New Zealand twelve weeks ago, and booked their air travel four weeks ago. New Zealand is their only destination. Their long-held impressions of New Zealand are minimal – that it is near Australia, that it is nuclear free.


119

They have read extensively prior to arrival, including a travel guidebook and two picture books. She has read about New Zealand history, and he has read about amenities such as accommodation, transport and prices. They have eight vacation elements planned, including four sub-destinations. They have not planned a travel route for the vacation, but will commence by traveling north. They are concerned about the cost of their vacation. Jacques and Martina stay in New Zealand for 21 days. They travel by budget rental car – ‘‘rentadent’’ – and stay in backpacker hostels. Eighty eight percent of their vacation plans are actioned including all planned subdestinations. However, 76% of where they go and what they do on their vacation is unplanned. On vacation, Jacques and Martina use many sources of information including their travel guidebook, advertisements and brochures in hostels, and personal recommendations from information center staff and fellow travelers. The travelers base some of their choices on positive information received from more than one source. It was in the entry of the backpacking places. It was big photos about an old man, about 75 years, do the trekking with the horses. So photos, and it was not very expensive. So we thought, ‘‘yeh, we can do that’’. It’s a little bit all the time in the backpacking place there’s so lot of information. So you look little bit these small papers. All the time. You see these nice photos, then we was looking Lonely Planet, what you can and everything. And between these two informations you was decided direction to go. The first idea we had was to go to Wellington. Then we saw it was big distance and we didn’t have a lot of money left y we wanted to go to the Mt Egmont. Then we saw the weather, it was raining and so ‘‘no, we don’t want to go over there, we go back to Auckland’’.

7.3.4. The Role of Affect in these Cases The role of affect is apparent in a number of these cases. The majority of respondents speak of choosing what to see and do based upon the enjoyment expected from each option. The respondents speak of taking advantage of opportunistic events to experience attractions and activities they had neither researched nor planned. In addition, the respondents speak of taking chances as being part of the adventure of the vacation. These common observations allude to the work of Arnould and Price (1993), who speak of experiencing the unknown as being part of the enjoyment of river rafting. The observations also allude to the perspective of consumer as hedonic being. The seeking of emotional benefits from the consumption of goods and services guides the actions of the consumer. The Discussion section of this chapter will explore these issues further.

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7.4. Results of the Pattern Matching Test of the EI and PI Models Each of four judges examined the 18 propositions of the EI model and the PI model against summaries and excerpts of transcript for each of the 20 cases. Table 8 provides a record of the ‘‘hits and misses’’ for each proposition of the EI model against each case. The study conducted Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks tests on the judgments made upon each case; the final two rows of each column of Table 8 indicate the results of these tests. All cases, with the exception of cases 11 and 18, provide statistically significant support for the EI model. 7.4.1. Test of Propositions The study conducted Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test on all judgments made on each proposition of the EI model; the final two columns of each row of Table 8 indicate the results of these tests. The following propositions received statistically significant support from the judges: P1a. An integral element in independent travel is the enjoyment the independent traveler experiences from not planning the details of the vacation. P2a. Vacation planning consists of a cognitive set of researched before vacation elements. For some travelers this set will consist of 8–16 elements; for other travelers this set will consist of fewer than four elements. P3a. The most influential information sources in the preparation of the researched before set are Overt Induced II sources (i.e., active search of travel guides and brochures). P8a. The decision sequence displayed by the independent traveler is: subdestinations - travel route - attractions and activities. P9a. Travelers make detailed plans for choice of attractions and activities for the immediate 24 h period only. P10a. Only as the traveler approaches a sub-destination do they seek detailed information on that sub-destination and its attractions and activities (i.e., a process of funneling of information to minimize information load).

100 100 75 100 100 100 25 100 100 50 75 100 25 25 0 100 100 25

75 100 100 100 100 100 100 75 100 75 50 50 25 25 0 100 75 25

100 100 100 100 50 75 100 100 100 100 100 75 75 0 25 100 100 50

6

75 75 100 75 75 100 100 100 100 0 75 100 75 25 50 100 100 0

7 100 75 50 100 100 100 50 100 100 100 75 75 25 0 25 100 100 0

8 100 100 100 100 50 100 100 100 100 100 100 75 75 50 50 100 100 0

9 100 100 100 75 75 100 100 100 100 50 75 75 50 0 0 100 100 75

10 25 100 75 75 75 100 50 0 100 100 100 75 0 50 25 100 100 50

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 75 75 100 25 50 50 100 100 25

100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 75 75 25 50 25 100 100 0

75 75 100 100 100 100 100 50 100 100 25 75 25 0 25 100 100 0

100 100 100 100 50 100 100 100 100 100 100 75 25 50 25 100 100 75

75 100 100 100 100 100 100 50 100 100 100 100 25 50 25 100 100 75

100 100 75 50 100 100 100 100 100 100 75 100 0 0 25 100 100 50

100 100 75 25 100 100 50 100 100 50 75 50 50 50 25 100 100 50

100 100 50 100 100 50 100 100 75 100 100 0 75 25 0 100 100 50

100 100 50 100 100 75 75 100 100 50 100 100 25 25 50 100 100 50

2.13 3.05 3.30 2.24 3.30 2.67 2.10 3.20 2.04 3.01 1.54 3.20 2.17 2.54 2.76 2.17 2.67 1.54 1.99 1.79 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.00 0.01 0.04 0.00 0.04 0.00 0.12 0.00 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.01 0.12 0.05 0.07

100 100 100 100 100 100 25 50 100 100 75 100 25 25 0 100 100 25

5

z p

100 100 100 50 75 100 75 100 100 50 75 100 75 0 100 100 100 50

4

25 0 100 50 100 75 50 75 75 75 100 100 25 25 25 75 75 25

3

1a 2a 3a 6a 7a 8a 9a 10a 11a 12a 13a 14a 15a 16a 17a 18a 19a 20a

2

1

Prop.

Case

Table 8. ‘‘Hits and Misses’’ for Pattern Matching Test.

0.000 0.000 0.010 0.218 0.737 0.000 0.021 0.001 0.000 0.717 0.000 0.008 – – – 0.000 0.000 – – –

– –

p 3.864 3.823 2.595 1.232 0.336 3.920 2.314 3.320 3.920 0.362 3.920 2.636 – – – 3.920 3.920 –

z

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KENNETH F. HYDE

P11a. In addition to a researched before set, the traveler will construct a researched after set of attractions and activities. P13a. The traveler bases their choice of attractions and activities on a balancing heuristic – a matter of balancing hedonics expected from experiencing the attraction/activity versus the constraints of time and expense. P14a. Almost all researched before attractions and activities will be actioned. P18a. The traveler will take advantage of serendipitous opportunities to experience some attractions and activities they had neither planned nor actively researched. P19a. The FIT vacation is like experiencing the fun of the fair, a freewheeling experience of going from place to place, relatively unaware of what each sub-destination offers, extracting as much as possible from each place (given constraints of time and expense), taking advantage of serendipitous opportunities. Insufficient data was available to make any judgment upon the following propositions: P15a. The traveler will be strongly disappointed if they do not experience one of their researched before attractions or activities during the vacation. P16a. Fewer than half of the researched after attractions and activities will be actioned. P17a. The traveler will not be strongly disappointed if one of the researched after attractions or activities is not experienced. P20a. The traveler is most likely to choose those researched after items about which he/she has received information from more than one source. The following propositions failed to receive statistically significant support from the judges: P6a. The researched before set will largely consist of a list of planned subdestinations. Few attractions and activities will be pre-planned.


123

P7a. A basic travel route connecting the set of planned sub-destinations will be decided upon prior to arrival, or at the latest, within 48 h of arrival at the destination. P12a. Information from Unsolicited Organic/Solicited Organic sources encountered en-route (i.e., fellow travelers, information center staff, staff at places of accommodation) will be the most influential in a traveler’s researched after set. This suggests that the researcher should modify propositions 6, 7 and 12 as follows: P6. For high-search travelers the researched before set will largely consist of a list of planned sub-destinations. P7. For high-search travelers, a basic travel route connecting the set of planned sub-destinations will be decided upon prior to arrival, or at the latest, within 48 h of arrival at the destination. P12. While en-route, travelers are eager for information from all sources. With these modifications to propositions 6, 7 and 12, cases 11 and 18 would now support the EI model as a whole.

8. DISCUSSION This research has examined one aspect of consumer behavior and tourism, namely, decision processes for choice of vacation itinerary by the independent traveler. While independent travel is an important and growing sector of the tourism industry, no item of research has yet sought to model the independent travel itinerary as a worthy subject of research in itself. Compared to the general body of knowledge on consumer decisionmaking, the subject matter of this research is distinctive in four respects. Firstly, the subject matter concerns multiple decisions made. Secondly, the subject matter relates to the purchase of intangible services rather than tangible goods. Thirdly, tourism services are especially emotive products. Fourthly, the items purchased are first-time purchases, the consumer is unlikely to repeat in the future; the consumer has no previous direct experience in purchasing any one of these services, on which to base their decision-making.

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It is important therefore to understand which of the many decisions in the choice of a vacation itinerary are most central to a consumer’s vacation planning, and what the sequence of decision-making amongst elements of the itinerary is. In the absence of prior experience with these specific purchases, which sources of information are relied upon by the consumer at each stage of the decision process, and what is the role of affect in this process? Research into consumer decision-making has historically taken the perspective of the consumer as problem-solver. According to this perspective, the consumer seeks to maximize the utility of any decision and to minimize perceived risks. An alternative perspective on consumer behavior is the view of the Consumer as Hedonic Person, a consumer guided by the seeking of emotional benefits from the consumption of goods and services. This section presents answers to the research objectives posed in Section 3. The section presents a model of independent traveler decision processes for choice of vacation itinerary. The section explores the significance of this model to an understanding of tourist behavior and to an understanding of consumer behavior in general. The section discusses the implications of this research for the application of research methods, and implications of the research results for the practice of tourism marketing. The section concludes by discussing the limitations of the research, and by suggesting useful areas for future research.

8.1. Conclusions on Research Objectives This research sought to build a model that would account for the following characteristics of independent travel:

extent of pre-trip information search; extent of pre-trip travel planning; the timing of information search within the chronology of the vacation; the sources of information used both pre-trip and en-route; the percentage of pre-trip travel plans which are actioned; the factors which influence amount of information search, amount of planning and percentage of travel plans actioned; the temporal sequence in which vacation sub-decisions – choice of subdestinations, route, attractions and activities – are made and the role of affect in these decision processes.


125

The study has employed three diverse sources of data to address these research objectives: univariate and bivariate analysis of quantitative data, case study transcripts and a pattern matching, deductive test of a model of traveler decision-making. A consistent picture has emerged of independent traveler decision processes. Previous research discussed in Section 3.4 has indicated that the amount of pre-trip information search varies greatly between consumers. In particular, research on travel behavior by Crotts (1992) and by Schul and Crompton (1983) had identified a group of high-search consumers, and a group of low-search consumers. The travelers studied in the current research also displayed considerable variation in amount of pre-trip information search; amount of reading completed to research the vacation itinerary varied from nil to 40 h for any one individual or travel party. In addition, the research has also identified a high-search and a low-search group of consumers. On average, travel parties had fewer than seven specifically planned elements for their vacation. This number is similar to the size of cognitive sets found in other purchase decisions including choice of vacation destination (Crompton & Ankomah, 1993; Hauser & Wernerfelt, 1990; Woodside & Sherrell, 1977). Almost half of these specifically planned elements were sub-destinations. The travel parties had planned many fewer specific attractions or activities. A minority of travel parties had a preplanned travel route. Travelers’ vacations consisted of a mean of 32.8 elements. In other words, the travelers had been neither specifically nor generally planned 80% of vacation elements. Morrison et al. (1993) have described independent travelers as ‘‘following fixed or y flexible itineraries’’. The current study provides some indication of just how flexible these itineraries may be. Studies by Crotts and Reid (1993) and Jeng (1997) suggested that domestic consumers vacationing in familiar destinations undertake most information search and travel planning prior to departure. The current study of international travelers to an unfamiliar destination has presented a very different result. For the travelers studied, a majority of information search and planning occurred after arrival at the destination. Travelers made detailed plans for choice of attractions and activities for the immediate 24 h period only. Only as the traveler approached a sub-destination did they seek detailed information on that sub-destination and its attractions and activities. The earliest studies of consumer information search for vacation planning had identified personal sources of information as being the most important

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in travel decision-making (Jenkins, 1978; Nolan, 1976). However, other research has indicated that types of information sources used in travel planning may vary by type of traveler and stage of the vacation. In the current study, the most influential information source in the preparation of vacation plans prior to arrival at the destination was active search of travel guides and brochures. Sixteen of the twenty travel parties had read a travel guide prior to arrival at the destination. This finding concurs with research that suggests that travelers seeking to explore new and unfamiliar destinations are likely to rely upon printed sources of information (Etzel & Wahlers, 1985; Gitelson & Crompton, 1983; Snepenger, 1987). Woodside and MacDonald (1994) comment that researchers have undertaken little research on consumer information search activities that occur while the traveler is on vacation. While on vacation at their destination, consumers in this study sought information from many sources to assist choice of itinerary items. While on vacation, these consumers were eager for information about local sub-destinations, attractions and activities. This finding is in accord with previous studies that indicate that consumers on vacation utilize both personal and impersonal sources of information to assist decision-making (Fesenmaier et al., 1993; McDonough & Ackert, 1986; Tsang, 1993; Udd et al., 1992). No previous longitudinal studies were located describing the percentage of a travel plans that consumers put into action. The information presented here appears unique in this regard. Of the vacation elements these travelers had specifically planned, almost all – a mean of 72.9% – were actioned. This indicates that knowledge of a consumer’s specific travel plans may provide an accurate prediction of actual vacation behaviors. Consumer choice of a vacation itinerary is a decision plan involving multiple decisions. Woodside and MacDonald’s (1994) General Framework for Consumer Choice of Tourism Services identifies the key elements in a consumer’s vacation itinerary, but leaves unanswered what the temporal sequence in choice of these elements might be. In this study of independent travelers to New Zealand, the decision sequence observed for choice of vacation elements was, sub-destinations - travel route - attractions and activities. Several findings point to sub-destinations as being the central element in planning the vacation itinerary. Most specifically planned elements were sub-destinations. High levels of information search were associated with precise planning of sub-destinations, but bore no relationship to degree of planning of attractions and activities. Most planned sub-destinations were actioned. Several findings point to the conclusion that alternative activities


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are substitutable. Individuals who had the highest number of planned activities were least likely to action these plans. Section 2 has discussed the role of affect in decision-making. The consumers in this study appear to use a simple affect referral heuristic, in that a consumer’s choice of attractions and activities is based on the pleasures anticipated from each choice, given constraints of time and expense. Of the constructs considered, the study has identified amount of information search as being most central to predicting other aspects of consumer behavior and independent travel. Amount of information search is the strongest predictor of amount of travel planning, and percentage of travel plans that are actioned. The research has identified a low-search group of travelers, who are more likely to be backpackers in their twenties, from English-speaking countries, traveling alone. These travelers have few specific plans. What plans they have tend to feature a selection of activities, and yet these activities are readily substitutable. High-search travelers tend to be couples, from non-English-speaking countries, aged in their thirties, and not backpacking. They have many specific plans – especially a selection of must see sub-destinations – and are highly likely to action these plans. Notwithstanding this, even the most planning of individuals experiences a vacation where the majority of elements are indeed unplanned. Previous research had indicated that demographic characteristics of consumers could predict amount of information search (Etzel & Wahlers, 1985; Gitelson & Crompton, 1983; Snepenger & Snepenger, 1993). The current study has found similar results. Characteristics of the travelers studied predicted levels of search, planning and action.

8.2. A Model of Independent Traveler Decision-Making for Choice of Vacation Itinerary The study has applied three diverse sources of data to answer the research objectives, and a consistent picture has emerged of the independent traveler decision-making process. Existing models of consumer behavior in tourism have generally taken a consumer as problem-solver perspective. They have also taken a singular view of consumer behavior in tourism by concentrating on modeling a consumer’s choice processes for a single decision, the choice of travel destination. They have taken a static view of travel planning and travel behavior by neglecting the processes that occur after destination choice.

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Woodside and MacDonald (1994) recognized that vacationers do not plan many important travel decisions at the start of a vacation. These researchers consider it crucial to research the temporal sequence of a consumer’s choice of tourism services during the vacation. Their General Framework for Consumer Choice of Tourism Services suggests that choices amongst vacation elements are interdependent, and that researchers should identify the principle direction of influence amongst these vacation elements, by undertaking longitudinal research into consumer vacation decisionmaking. The aim of this chapter has been to build a model of the independent traveler decision process for choice of elements of the vacation itinerary. This section presents such a model, verbally, diagrammatically and as a set of objective statements (Figs. 6 and 7). This model further develops the Woodside and MacDonald General Framework. Firstly, the model identifies which travel sub-decisions take precedence in influence over the others. Secondly, while the Woodside and MacDonald Framework does not indicate which processes occur before a consumer’s arrival at their destination, and which occur after arrival, the model presented here makes these processes explicit. Thirdly, the model makes explicit which information sources are most influential at various stages of the vacation. The independent vacation is like experiencing the fun of the fairground, a freewheeling experience of traveling from place to place, relatively unaware of what each sub-destination has to offer. An integral feature in independent travel is the enjoyment the consumer experiences from not planning the details of the vacation but rather from experiencing the unknown and unexpected. Rather than following a fixed itinerary, the itinerary of an independent vacation evolves as the vacation proceeds. Prior to departure on the vacation, the typical consumer will undertake research and planning of the vacation itinerary. Research will chiefly consist of reading of printed material, such as travel guides on the destination. The traveler will formulate a set of planned sub-destinations. The traveler is highly likely to act upon this researched before set of sub-destinations. The consumer is less likely to act upon their pre-vacation choice of activities. Amount of information search and vacation planning varies greatly between individuals, dependent upon demographic characteristics of the traveler and level of involvement in choice of itinerary items. High-search travelers have a more detailed vacation itinerary planned, which is dominated by a selection of must see sub-destinations, and highly likely

active search of printed sources of information on destination formation of "researched before" set of sub-destinations

Fig. 6.

choice of travel route

choice of attractions and activities

AT DESTINATION

active search of information from many sources

formation of "researched after" set

opportunistic items

choice of sub-destinations

A Model of Independent Traveler Decision Processes for Choice of Vacation Itinerary (I).

BEFORE ARRIVAL AT DESTINATION

Characteristics of the traveler

Independent Traveler Decision-Making 129

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Fig. 7.

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A Model of Independent Traveler Decision-Making for Choice of Vacation Itinerary (II).

to be acted upon. Low-search travelers have little in the way of a planned vacation itinerary, chiefly a set of planned activities, which in the final vacation are readily substitutable. Upon arrival at the destination, consumers are eager to receive information on sub-destinations, attractions and activities from any source,


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personal or impersonal. The traveler chooses the vast majority of their vacation elements after arrival at the destination. The traveler formulates a researched after set of options. The sequence of vacation decision-making is firstly choice of sub-destinations, then choice of travel route, then choice of attractions and activities. The traveler generally delays their choice of attractions and activities to experience at any one sub-destination until within 24 h of arrival at that sub-destination. In addition to researched before and research after itinerary items, the consumer will take advantage of some serendipitous opportunities to experience a number of sub-destinations, attractions and activities that they have not actively researched nor planned. At all times, a consumer’s choice of attractions and activities is based on the pleasures anticipated from each choice, given constraints of time and expense. Morrison et al. (1993) have stated that independent travelers ‘‘may use pre-arranged or fixed itineraries or they may have flexible itineraries’’. However, it aids us little to simply assume the nature of independent travel is independence and that independent travelers sometimes adopt flexible itineraries. Until now, it has been unclear whether the vacation itinerary of the independent traveler is pre-planned. This model provides an indication of the type and extent of vacation planning undertaken by the independent traveler, and the extent to which such travel plans are actioned. The model accommodates the ideas of those tourism theorists discussed in Section 3 who believe many humans have a real sense of curiosity, and a need to explore the world around them (Anderson, 1970). The model in large part concurs with the ideas of Poon (1993), that independent travelers are more spontaneous, with a lower level of vacation planning, a desire to do what comes on the spur of the moment, are adventurous, view vacation travel as a source of fun, and want to be in control. The research has identified a low-search group of travelers, and a highsearch group of travelers. There are clear demographic differences between these two groups, and clear differences in the type of independent vacation they undertake. The former group appears to be the same as Loker-Murphy and Pearce’s (1995) backpacker sector of the market – travelers on extended vacations, staying in budget accommodation. The latter group is not a group of backpackers, but a group of independent travelers on shorter vacations, utilizing upscale modes of transportation and accommodation. One might even see an analogy with Cohen’s (1972) classification of tourist roles, with the low-search group being more akin to drifters, and the high-search group being more akin to explorers.

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This study suggests there are three characteristics that distinguish independent travel: the traveler experiences an evolving itinerary rather than a fixed itinerary, the traveler is willing to take risks in their selection of vacation elements and the traveler possesses a desire to experience the unplanned. Furthermore, the conditions under which the independent travel experience is likely to arise are:

the vacation is a multi-destination vacation, forward bookings of accommodation and transport have not been made, the traveler lacks familiarity with the destination and the traveler perceives levels of risk to be low or irrelevant.

The current research has involved travelers to an international destination, but this does not necessarily imply that independent travel is restricted to international tourism. Multi-destination tourism can occur at a number of levels of abstraction – (a) a tour through several countries, (b) a tour through a single international destination or (c) domestic tourism. It appears that such multi-destination tourism is likely to become independent travel when the above listed conditions exist. The critical element appears to be a lack of familiarity with the destination. Otherwise, in the instance of the traveler who is familiar with the destination, the percentage of planned elements is likely to rise accordingly. Provided the vacation is of sufficient duration, there may come a point in the chronology of the vacation when even the most planning of individuals begins to experience unplanned, freewheeling independent travel. This experience may arise at some point in the vacation when (a) the traveler no longer perceives risk as high or relevant, and (b) they feel some portion of the enjoyment of undertaking the unplanned. The independent travel phenomenon may arise because of an individual’s desire for freedom, which is indeed one of the defining motives for much vacation tourism. The following section explores in more depth the likely hedonic benefits and motives for independent travel.

8.3. Implications for Consumer Behavior Theory Consumer research has traditionally focused on packaged goods and durable products, while neglecting investigations of consumer purchase and


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consumption of the arts, popular culture, leisure and entertainment services (Bettman, 1979; Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982). Wells (1993) criticized the field of consumer behavior for concentrating on investigations of earlystage, low-level consumer decisions such as choice between brands of packaged goods. He implored consumer researchers to investigate more complex consumer decisions. The current chapter is one such investigation. It has examined the processes occurring in a complex decision plan (Park et al., 1981) involving a great many purchase decisions – a consumer’s choice of vacation itinerary. By its very nature, the vacation represents a different facet of consumer life. This is a facet of consumer life where the usual constraints of responsibility, use of time and finances, are somewhat relaxed. We might expect to observe quite different consumer behaviors during vacation time. The key feature of independent travel identified in this research has been the consumer’s desire for flexibility of action, while avoiding planning and delaying decision-making. The behaviors observed here are analogous to a retail-shopping trip. The Point-of-Purchase Advertising Institute defines a number of types of purchase (Anonymous, 1994). Before entering a supermarket or shopping mall, a consumer may have a written plan for multiple purchases – planned purchases. Yet by the end of their shopping trip, the actual shopping behaviors displayed involve a majority of unplanned purchases, and possibly a number of impulse purchases (Leeds, 1994). Likewise, in the independent vacation, before arrival at a destination the consumer may have a plan for multiple purchases – the researched before set. In the case of highsearch travelers, this plan is more extensive. Yet by the end of the vacation, the actual behavior displayed involves a majority of unplanned purchases, including researched after items and spontaneous purchases. The model of independent travel this study has presented has similarities with Rook’s (1987) description of impulse purchasing. In independent travel, the consumer at times displays risk taking, sensation seeking and a relative disregard for the consequences of their actions. How do we explain this behavior? Does the independent traveler display the actions of consumer as problem-solver, or the actions of Consumer as Hedonic Person? Which perspective on consumer behavior best explains why consumers behave as they do on an independent vacation? The consumer as problem-solver perspective offers some explanation of independent traveler behavior. Section 2 has described the imperfect problem-solver who merely seeks satisfactory solutions to problems, wants to reduce information load, avoid risks and may potentially delay

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information search until necessary (Newell & Simon, 1972). The independent traveler’s behavior regarding choice of vacation itinerary might reflect a desire to minimize cognitive effort, by delaying information search until necessary (Bettman, 1979; Bettman et al., 1991). Perhaps the consumer believes they can make a better decision by delaying information search. There is a hedonic perspective to a consumer’s choice to expend cognitive effort. Consumers do not always seek to minimize cognitive effort. In some instances, consumers seek experiences that involve cognitive effort. Examples may include solving the daily crossword, playing a game of chess, or undertaking an intellectual pursuit. In the case of planning a vacation, high-search travelers may enjoy seeking out travel information and fantasizing about the details of their future vacation. Low-search travelers might not feel that all the effort of researching and planning the details of a vacation is worth the discomfort of cognitive effort. Consumers intend their vacations to be enjoyable experiences; even the efforts expended in vacation planning should be enjoyable. The choice of whether or not to expend cognitive effort may be a hedonic-based choice. Section 2 has discussed the role of perceived risk in the consumer decision processes. The factor of perceived risk may also offer some explanatory power here. Some consumers feel apprehensive about their future vacations – concerned about standards of accommodation, concerned for their own health and safety, concerned that transportation might not be available. Other consumers do not perceive this level of risk. Perhaps it is the level of perceived risk that helps determine the amount of vacation research and planning. This is an area worthy of further investigation. But what must also be considered, is that for the majority of consumers independent travel is about seeking risks; independent travelers in many instances are risk takers (Boze, 1987; Mowen, 1995). The perspective of consumer as problem-solver does not allow for the possibility that consumers will seek risks rather than avoid them. Future research might attempt to measure the extent to which independent travelers enjoy risk taking. Level of risk taking might increase as the vacation proceeds, and the traveler feels less anxious about the consequences of the choices they make. Optimal stimulation theory may explain levels of risk taking. Yet, these suppositions on cognitive effort and perceived risk do not go far enough to explaining why the consumer wishes to delay decision-making, avoid vacation planning and seek to experience the unknown.


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Section 2 has discussed the perspective of Consumer as Hedonic Person. According to this perspective, decision processes for choice of tourism and leisure services would not revolve around seeking to solve any problem; rather the consumer’s goal would be to provoke feelings and emotions (Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982). This perspective provides a more parsimonious and convincing explanation of why the consumer avoids a fully planned vacation itinerary. The consumer avoids vacation planning. Flexibility of action and experiencing of the unknown are fundamental to the hedonic experiences they are seeking when they choose independent travel. This observation adds to the insights into consumer choice of leisure activities provided by the study of Arnould and Price (1993). The tourism and leisure literatures identify a number of hedonic benefits. The tourism literature recognizes a human need for exploration, sometimes termed the Ulysses Factor (Anderson, 1970). Tourism theorists propose that human beings need to explore the world around them and seek out novel experiences (Lee & Crompton, 1992). Freedom of choice may be the defining characteristic of leisure (Neulinger, 1974). Independent travel offers an opportunity for freedom of choice in where to go, what to see and do, which is rarely available in other leisure activities. Perhaps the closest experience to independent travel might be the freedom enjoyed by some consumers on a relaxed and frivolous shopping trip. Intrinsic motivation is also inherent in leisure (Iso-Ahola, 1979, 1980); this includes experiences of challenge, mastery and adventure. Travel to a new destination places the consumer in an unfamiliar and challenging environment. Independent travelers face daily challenges of how to travel on to their next destination, how to locate attractions, how to obtain information on transportation timetables and optional activities. Undoubtedly, independent travel provides many consumers with experiences of mastery over the physical and social environment. Other characteristics of the leisure experience provide insight into the hedonic experience of independent travel (Gunter, 1987): escape from the everyday – vacations represent a facet of life different and apart from the everyday, a facet of life with fewer responsibilities, concerns and constraints; spontaneity – these are the devil-may-care, just do it experiences (Rook, 1987); timelessness – to forget oneself by becoming fully immersed in an activity;

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fantasy and the exercise of creative imagination – part of a consumer’s vacation experience is the living out of fantasies held about places and activities (Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982); self-realization – for some consumers, independent travel may offer personal development experiences, by exposing the consumer to new and unfamiliar situations where they have to develop new skills and new confidence. The role of independent travel as a personal growth experience is an area worthy of future investigation. In summary then, independent travel provides an opportunity for the consumer to experience a number of hedonic benefits.

8.4. Implications for Method This chapter should provide some guidance to researchers of consumer behavior and tourism, that research methods need not be restricted to the use of snapshot questionnaire surveys. Most research into consumer behavior and tourism has adopted questionnaire survey methods. This provides limited insight into consumer behaviors, as a mere snapshot of attitudes and behaviors is provided. A number of tourism researchers have called for more longitudinal studies of tourist behavior. The current research employs methods that, though not strictly longitudinal, are an improvement upon snapshot surveys. To observe the process of tourist decision-making in action, the study has employed a repeatedmeasures, before-and-after design, with data gathered on two separate occasions in each independent traveler’s vacation. The study comprised of an initial interview with travel parties within 24 h of arrival at their international destination, as well as a second interview with the same travel parties within 24 h of their departure from that destination, at the end of their vacation. The interviews sought to probe and record content of cognitive sets at these points in time, rather than retrospectively. Rather than aggregating data across subjects, the study makes a detailed comparison between pre-vacation research and planning and actual vacation behaviors, on a case-by-case basis. This has provided detailed and valuable insight into the consumer decision processes involved, and their influence upon actual travel behaviors. This chapter should provide some guidance to researchers, regarding the role and application of deductive processes in qualitative research.


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It has been argued that a balance of induction and deduction is required in research. What is required in research is not a qualitative stage, followed by a quantitative stage, but an inductive stage followed by a deductive one. Qualitative researchers have traditionally emphasized inductive procedures in their research, yet theory derived from inductive research is untested theory. Researchers should introduce formal deductive procedures into qualitative research to assure conviction in the research findings. This requires the separation of inductive and deductive phases of research. The approach adopted in the current research has been the procedure of theory testing by pattern matching. While the traditional inductive approach to qualitative research has suited investigations where the concepts under study are not clear, application of deductive approaches to qualitative research would only be appropriate under a different set of circumstances: the investigation is not a phenomenological one, the concepts to be studied are obvious from the outset and hypothesized relationships between these concepts can be stated before data gathering commences. In the absence of explicit guidance in the literature, the current research has established several principles of good procedure for theory testing by pattern matching. These principles are: that each counterproposition is written to be as near as possible the opposite in intent to its corresponding proposition; that each counterproposition in itself makes good logical sense; each counterproposition has some likelihood of being supported by the data and that the set of counterpropositions as much as possible form a strong, integrated whole, a counter-theory in its own right.

8.5. Implications for the Practice of Tourism Marketing For some decades, the New Zealand tourism industry catered primarily to the packaged tour market. This traveler was constrained to visiting set attractions and activities at busy sub-destinations along the main tourist traffic route. As such, business opportunities in the tourism industry were generally constrained to the provision of product that met the requirements of the package tour wholesaler, delivered at a location along the main tourist traffic route. Such opportunities were necessarily limited in number.

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The past 20 years have seen obvious changes in the composition of the New Zealand tourism industry. Tourism businesses are no longer constrained to locations along the main tourist traffic route, and no longer limited to the small numbers of businesses selected by the package tour wholesaler (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, 1996). Rather, growth in the numbers of small tourism operations has reached a such point where it would probably now be difficult to find any rural settlement that does not have at least one tourism operator, and difficult to find any rural township that is not proclaiming its unique attractiveness in one or other regional tourism publication. These changes in the tourism industry have not been simply because of the growth in absolute visitor numbers, but rather because of growth in the independent traveler sector. Fuelled by reports of growth in numbers of independent travelers, and by reports that such travelers are no longer constrained to the main tourist traffic route (New Zealand Tourism Board, 1994), large numbers of budding entrepreneurs have sought to establish small tourism businesses in every corner of the country. Perhaps however this rush to establish small entrepreneurial tourism ventures has been overly optimistic (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, 1996). Previous research by this author has suggested that many of these entrepreneurial ventures fail to survive longer than 12–24 months (Hyde, 1993). In addition, many of those businesses that do continue to operate do so as part-time businesses, merely in support of the owners’ existing sources of livelihood. What has been lacking is an understanding of the independent traveler, and their needs. In general, many small tourism operators do not understand the total context of the industry nor how their business fits into that context (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, 1996). That context is the behavior of the independent traveler, as described in this thesis. As marketers of tourism product, small tourism operators need to understand their part in a phenomenon called independent travel. The independent traveler is one who operates outside of the normal conditions of commercial mass tourism. These consumers do not want to purchase an all-inclusive travel package; they simply purchase travel to a destination, and leave flexible the details of their itineraries at that destination. This study has identified the importance of planned sub-destinations in independent traveler vacation behavior. The research has identified that for many travelers there exists a selection of must see sub-destinations that the traveler plans before arrival in the country, and that in the vast majority of instances, the traveler acts upon. Clearly there exists an opportunity here for


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destination-marketing organizations to attempt to have their regions recognized as icon sub-destinations. The best medium for doing so would probably be the travel guidebook, a medium consulted by the large majority of travelers interviewed for this research. To gain placement in travel guidebooks as a must see destination, destination-marketing organizations would be best to target the writers of travel guidebooks, offering them familiarization tours of the region. The research has identified two relatively distinct groups of independent travelers. The low-search backpacker group typically undertakes little prevacation information search and planning. The high-search non-backpacker group typically undertakes much more pre-vacation search and planning. The effective placement of marketing communications would be quite different for each of these groups. Only the high-search group would appear to be receptive to marketing communications delivered offshore to intercept them during vacation planning. Effective placement of marketing communications again would be in travel guidebooks, and on Internet pages. The research has suggested that both high-search and low-search independent travelers might delay most information search and decisionmaking for choice of attractions and activities until the final 24 h upon approaching a sub-destination. For operators of attractions and activities the most efficient avenue for promotional expenditure is probably to concentrate their budget at the local level. For such local organizations, large-scale expenditure at a national or international level is less likely to be an efficient use of promotional budgets. A well-organized network of visitor information centers, the i-SITE visitor information centers, supports independent travel in New Zealand. When first established, these centers were encouraged to provide much outof-region information. It appears however that the majority of independent travelers may not be seeking out-of-region information. Quality information on the local region, its attractions and activities, would satisfy the needs of the independent traveler. Independent travelers while on vacation are eager to receive information and advice upon the options available to them. It is likely that the independent traveler reacts well to advice and referrals for other subdestinations, attractions and activities. The findings of this paper support the notion of cooperation and mutual referrals between small tourism operators, at a local and an inter-region level. The research has also identified that consumer choice of tourism subdestinations, attractions and activities has a hedonic basis, rather than a basis in the physical attributes of the product. Promotion of

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sub-destinations, attractions and activities should continue to emphasize the emotional experiences gained from such purchases.

8.6. Limitations The research utilized a detailed study of a small sample of travelers. A deductive process of research has shown that the model of independent travel developed here describes well the behaviors of these particular travelers. Clearly a much larger, quantitative study is required to see if this model applies equally well to other travelers in other settings. In particular, the reader should treat those conclusions of this study based upon statistical analysis in a tentative manner, and await confirmation by a large-sample quantitative study. The current study has utilized in-depth interviews with consumers, probing them with a series of questions regarding their travel plans and travel behaviors. Based on these probing questions, the study draws conclusions regarding the precise number of planned vacation elements, and number of elements experienced in the vacation. We might question whether or not the consumers interviewed have provided a completely exhaustive list of their plans and behaviors, or whether the study has underestimated these quantities. If the study has made any error in these measurements, it is more likely to have been an under-estimation of the number of elements in the actual vacation experienced. Such an error would be an error in favor of the conclusion of this thesis, namely, that the independent traveler only plans a small proportion of their vacation itinerary. A final limitation concerns the case summaries presented to judges in the pattern-matching test. These summaries included selections of interview transcript that had a potential bearing on judgment of the propositions; the author carried out that selection of transcript. We might question whether any element of bias could potentially have entered this selection process. Contra to this is the weight of evidence from other sources, including quantitative analysis, which consistently supports the model of independent traveler decision process presented here.

8.7. Further Research The model of independent travel developed here would benefit from wider testing, especially testing with large-sample quantitative research, and


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testing with vacations in different destinations, both international and domestic. Of particular note is the need to test the conclusions of this study regarding the sequence of decision-making amongst vacation elements. The current study has identified a group of travelers to New Zealand for whom attractions and activities do not play a primary role in shaping the vacation itinerary. This might not be the case for travel to other destinations, where icon attractions and activities are likely to play a more central role, such as Niagara Falls or the Eiffel Tower. Perceived risk may have a role in independent travel decision-making. Researchers should examine the role of perceived risk in determining the amount of pre-vacation information search and planning undertaken by the independent traveler. Researchers could examine the extent of risk taking in the decisions made by tourists. Researchers could also examine whether optimal stimulation theory explains such risk taking. Research could also be undertaken to see if the novelty-seeking scale developed by Lee and Crompton (1992) might assist in identifying individual consumers with a greater or lesser desire for independent travel. Research also needs to explore in greater depth the hedonic experiences of the consumers of tourism. Qualitative methods of research would be best suited to such investigations. Perhaps the most interesting area for further research suggested by this thesis would be an investigation of the role that travel can play as a personal development experience. This would require further small-sample longitudinal research.

8.8. Summary This chapter has provided fresh insight into the world of the independent traveler. By employing detailed case study method, the paper has provided an in-depth understanding of the precise relationship between pre-vacation information search, vacation planning and actual vacation behavior for such a traveler. The chapter has built a model of independent traveler decision processes for choice of elements of the vacation itinerary, the Independent Vacation as Evolving Itinerary model. The model indicates that the independent traveler is likely to conserve effort in searching and planning their vacation itinerary, likely to use simple decision heuristics, and to delay choice of vacation attractions and activities until the day of consumption. This model extends upon the Woodside and MacDonald General Systems Framework of Customer Choice Processes for Tourism Services in several

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ways. Firstly, the model makes explicit which travel sub-decisions take precedence in influence over the others. Secondly, the model makes explicit the processes which occur before a consumer’s arrival at a destination, and which occur after arrival at a destination. Thirdly, the model makes explicit which information sources are most influential at each stage of the vacation. The chapter has identified three characteristics that distinguish independent travel, and four conditions under which the independent travel experience may arise. The paper has identified a low-search group of travelers, and a high-search group of travelers, each with clearly identifiable demographic and behavioral characteristics. Consumer research has traditionally focused on the purchase of packaged and durable goods, while neglecting research into consumer purchase and consumption of the arts, popular culture, leisure, tourism and entertainment services. Consumer research has concentrated on investigations of earlystage, low-level decisions such as consumer choice between brands of packaged goods. There has been a lack of research into more complex consumer decisions. This chapter has been an investigation of a complex series of consumer decisions for choice of tourism services. While independent vacations are an important and growing sector of the tourism industry, until now no item of research has sought to model the independent vacation – its research, its planning and its experience – as a worthy subject in itself. The use of a pattern-matching deductive process and an embedded research design has resulted in high multi-source, multi-method validity for the model developed. The use of repeated-measures case study method, rather than a single-shot questionnaire survey, has proven a useful step towards a holistic understanding of this aspect of consumer behavior. For researchers of consumer behavior and tourism, the paper provides some guidance that research methods need not be restricted to the use of snapshot questionnaire surveys. Rather than aggregating data across subjects, as occurs in survey research, the study has made a detailed comparison between pre-vacation research and planning and actual vacation behaviors for each traveler. The chapter provides some guidance to researchers of consumer behavior regarding the use of qualitative methods. Qualitative researchers have traditionally emphasized inductive procedures in their research, yet theory derived from inductive research is untested theory. Qualitative research requires formal deductive procedures to assure conviction in the research findings. The approach adopted in this chapter has been the procedure of theory testing by pattern matching. In the absence of explicit guidance in the


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literature, the chapter has proposed several principles of good procedure for this technique. The chapter has suggested a number of implications for the practice of tourism marketing. Firstly, the chapter has described the context in which tourism operators catering for the independent travel sector must operate. For operators of attractions and activities the most efficient avenue for promotional expenditure would appear to be to concentrate their budget at the local level. It is likely that the independent traveler will react well to advice and referrals for other sub-destinations, attractions and activities; the findings of this research support the notion of cooperation and mutual referrals between small tourism operators, at a local and an inter-region level. The chapter has observed a ratio of 20:80 between planned and unplanned elements of the vacation itinerary for the consumers studied. Future research should test if this ratio approximates the vacation behaviors of independent travelers to other international and domestic destinations. Finally, the chapter has suggested an interesting area for further research, that being, investigations of the role that travel can play as a personal growth experience.

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MURAL-BASED TOURISM AS A STRATEGY FOR RURAL COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Rhonda L. P. Koster ABSTRACT Towns and cities across Canada face rapidly changing economic circumstances and many are turning to a variety of strategies, including tourism, to provide stability in their communities. Community Economic Development (CED) has become an accepted form of economic development, with recognition that such planning benefits from a more holistic approach and community participation. However, much of why particular strategies are chosen, what process the community undertakes to implement those choices and how success is measured is not fully understood. Furthermore, CED lacks a developed theoretical basis from which to examine these questions. By investigating communities that have chosen to develop their tourism potential through the use of murals, these various themes can be explored. There are three purposes to this research: (1) to acquire an understanding of the ‘‘how’’ and the ‘‘why’’ behind the adoption and diffusion of mural-based tourism as a CED strategy in rural communities; (2) to contribute to the emerging theory of CED by linking together theories of rural geography, rural change and sustainability, and rural tourism; and (3) to contribute to the development of a framework Advances in Culture, Tourism, and Hospitality Research, Volume 2, 153–292 Copyright r 2008 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1871-3173/doi:10.1016/S1871-3173(08)02004-1

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for evaluating the potential and success of tourism development within a CED process. Two levels of data collection and analysis were employed in this research. Initially, a survey of Canadian provincial tourism guides was conducted to determine the number of communities in Canada that market themselves as having a mural-based tourism attraction (N ¼ 32). A survey was sent to these communities, resulting in 31 responses suitable for descriptive statistical analysis, using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). A case study analysis of the 6 Saskatchewan communities was conducted through in-depth, in person interviews with 40 participants. These interviews were subsequently analyzed utilizing a combined Grounded Theory (GT) and Content Analysis approach. The surveys indicated that mural development spread within a relatively short time period across Canada from Chemainus, British Columbia. Although tourism is often the reason behind mural development, increasing community spirit and beautification were also cited. This research demonstrates that the reasons this choice is made and the successful outcome of that choice is often dependent upon factors related to community size, proximity to larger populations and the economic (re)stability of existing industry. Analysis also determined that theories of institutional thickness, governance, embeddedness and conceptualizations of leadership provide a body of literature that offers an opportunity to theorize the process and outcomes of CED in rural places while at the same time aiding our understanding of the relationship between tourism and its possible contribution to rural sustainability within a Canadian context. Finally, this research revealed that both the CED process undertaken and the measurement of success are dependent upon the desired outcomes of mural development. Furthermore, particular attributes of rural places play a critical role in how CED is understood, defined and carried out, and how successes, both tangible and intangible, are measured.

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Introduction In a climate of economic and social transition, many rural areas are facing an uncertain future in terms of the viability of their communities, due to

Rural Community Economic Development

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changes in technology, demands for raw materials and declining populations. Reliance on governments to develop and implement strategies to halt economic decline, through such top–down methods as injections of public monies for industrial development and tax breaks for any enterprises agreeing to establish in depressed communities has long since passed (Bryant, 1992; Lehr & Kentner-Hildalgo, 1998). These strategies were imposed on communities as regional programs run by various levels of government whose mandate it was to relieve economic hardship in these regions. Further, such initiatives generally enjoyed only short-term success because once financial incentives were removed, the enterprises proved as mobile as the capital that attracted them (Thurow, 1989). Instead, small struggling communities may find successful development strategies from within – a more bottom–up approach where the goals are realistic and modest (Gill, 1999), and development options are chosen that fit within the community’s culture (Day, 1998), through a Community Economic Development (CED) structure. The use of tourism as one possible CED strategy has become increasingly popular despite the fact this choice is often labelled ‘‘another form of smokestack chasing’’ (Barnes & Hayter, 1992, p. 649). Many towns and villages pursue tourism as a way of ameliorating some of the negative effects macroeconomic forces are having on their communities. Within the context of this research, the use of ‘‘tourism’’ means the various tourism activities that are possible, ranging from cultural/historic to nature-based tourism. This research provides an investigation, through survey and case study analysis, of the use of mural-based tourism as one possible CED strategy within rural communities. Literature concerning both CED and tourism demonstrates that little research has been conducted into how certain development strategies become popular or what prompts their selection at a community level. As a result, there are two layers of investigation and two pertinent questions related to this research. At a macro level, this research will investigate how mural-based tourism strategies have become popular and have been subsequently adopted over varied spatial contexts within Canada. Utilizing a diffusionist perspective in this manner may provide a context from which to understand what types of communities may pursue a tourism-based strategy and whether or not their success can be predicted. This context can be further investigated through a case study analysis of communities at a micro level. The questions under investigation at this scale are, ‘‘What are the factors that contribute to the adoption of mural-based tourism strategies in rural communities?’’ and ‘‘What are the implications of these choices for each community?’’

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Fig. 1.

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Native Heritage. Artist: Paul Ygartua, 1983. Place: Chemainus, British Columbia, Canada.

Based on these questions, the research paper has three main, and several minor, objectives. The first objective is to acquire an understanding of the ‘‘how’’ and the ‘‘why’’ behind the adoption of mural-based tourism as one possible CED strategy in rural communities. A second objective is to contribute to the emerging theory of CED by linking together theories of rural geography, rural change and sustainability, and rural tourism. The third, more applied, objective is to contribute to the development of a framework for evaluating the potential and success of tourism development within a CED process in a rural context through an investigation of the decision-making mechanisms and outcomes of that process. Mural-based tourism, as a form of cultural/historic tourism, has been chosen from among all the possible tourism-based strategies due to the availability of information both in Canada and Saskatchewan, since muralbased tourism is increasingly being used in various settings (Fig. 1). This form of tourism ‘‘business model’’ clearly requires a conscious effort to grow. In other words, mural tourism growth is not a naturally occurring phenomena, but is an attraction in need of explicit nurturing. 1.2. Organization of the Report The remainder of this report is organized into sections as follows. In Section 2 the various bodies of literature concerning rural change and sustainability, CED and tourism are explored to demonstrate how these strands of research are linked and to identify gaps that exist where the relationships between


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CED, tourism and rural community have not been explored. Section 3 follows with a description of the method of the study. This section not only provides a narrative of how the macro and micro investigations were conducted and how the analysis was undertaken, but also describes the philosophy that frames the choice of these particular methods. Section 4 provides an analysis of the macro investigation into how communities adopt mural-based tourism in Canada. This scale of investigation looks at the exemplar community of mural-based tourism and provides a context for how and why it is that this particular strategy has been utilized in various communities and what the results have been from a community perspective. This section also includes a critical discussion of murals as an art form, their use as an interpreter of history and relationship to the tourism industry in general. In Section 5, the stories of mural-based tourism in six Saskatchewan communities are told, based on interviews with community stakeholders, surveys and secondary data. This section provides a view into the CED and tourism experiences of these rural communities, mindful of the Canadian context discussed in the previous section. The research questions and objectives of this study are addressed in Section 6 through the analysis of the data. This section explores the gaps identified in the literature by examining the relationships between CED and tourism and what this means for rural change and sustainability. The report concludes with Section 7 where the findings of this research are summarized, limitations to the study and methodology are identified, contributions to the fields of CED, tourism and geography are specified and future areas of investigation are explored.

2. EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RURAL COMMUNITIES, COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM 2.1. Context of Research This research provides an understanding of why tourism as a development strategy has become popular and spread over varied spatial contexts, and seeks to enhance an understanding of the factors present within communities that allow for the successful adoption of tourism strategies. As a result, this research is broadly placed within an innovation diffusion framework utilizing what Clark (1984) refers to as the structural and process components of innovation diffusion. Innovation diffusion is understood as

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the movement of innovations and ideas, including technical developments, ways of organizing and broadly defined political developments (Brown, 1981; Clark, 1984). Although this research uses the combined structural and process perspectives of diffusion, the intent is not to provide a quantitative analysis of the diffusion and adoption of tourism phenomena. Instead, the purpose is to use these combined theories to understand the processes that influence the decisions communities make as they search for development options. The structural component of diffusion refers to a macro investigation of the linkages between major socio-economic changes and the diffusion of innovations. This approach provides an understanding of diffusion as both a product of and influence upon a given society and economy. Examining the evolution and development of CED is possible with the structural component. The process component of diffusion research allows for an investigation at a micro level; the how and why particular development strategies have been chosen for specific communities. Brown (1981) argues that to fully understand the diffusion of an innovation both the demand and supply sides of the process need to be fully explored. The demand side of diffusion research examines the process by which adoption occurs and is exemplified in the work of Hagerstrand (1953, 1967). The supply side of innovation is represented by Brown’s (1981) market infrastructure perspective, which examines how the innovation is distributed and then implemented in the adoptive location. Brown’s premise is that individual behaviour does not represent free will so much as choices within constraints set by government and private institutions. The spatial manifestation of the subsequent diffusion is a result of the potential adopter’s economic, location, social and demographic characteristics. Clark’s (1984) structure and process components of diffusion have immediate value in analyzing the adoption and diffusion of tourism as a CED strategy at a macro (i.e., Canadian) level, especially when used in conjunction with Brown’s (1981) market infrastructure perspective. Although using the terms CED and local economic development interchangeably, Hayter, Barnes, and Grass (1994, p. 2) suggest that most conceptualizations of local economic development fall under either ‘‘essentialist methodological positions’’ of neoclassicism or Marxist understandings of community development. They suggest that this dichotomous position fails to address the geography and history of communities that may constrain or aid development opportunities. From a neoclassical perspective, local development rests almost exclusively with active agents or entrepreneurs (Coffey & Polese, 1985). In contrast, a Marxist perspective of


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community development suggests that places are constrained and determined by underlying structural forces (Cox & Mair, 1988). Hayter et al. (1994, p. 3) criticize this dichotomy for not allowing the possibility of ‘‘local variation and open-ended outcomes’’ and turn to locality studies (Cooke, 1989) as a body of work sensitive to the importance of context in community development. In locality studies, agency and structure are integrated in understanding how the particular context of a place influences development at the local level. In considering Clark’s (1984) conceptualization of diffusion as having both structure and process components, it becomes apparent that there is a linkage to a locality studies perspective of CED, wherein both macro forces outside and the internal characteristics of the community influence how CED strategies are adopted and implemented within a particular place. The remainder of this section provides a critical review of varied literatures, organized according to the structure and process framework previously described. The literature surrounding globalization, the crisis of the Canadian nation state and historic trends associated with rural areas is examined to explore the socio-economic and political circumstances of rural areas. This examination indicates the need for new ways of understanding development at the community level that moves beyond simple descriptions of what CED is, to more critical interpretations that include concepts of embeddedness, institutional thickness, governance and leadership. These concepts have been chosen because of their relationship to the sets of constraints suggested by Brown (1981) as critical to understanding why certain innovations are adopted within particular locations. Finally, the tourism literature is critically assessed to determine the potential for tourism within rural areas, demonstrating that little research has been conducted to ascertain how or why tourism is chosen as an economic development strategy, how it ‘‘fits’’ within the community’s internal social, economic and political systems, or tourism’s external relationships within the region, province or country.

2.2. Rural Areas as Arenas of Transition If there is one constant affecting rural communities, it is change. (Dykeman, 1990)

Rural areas, specifically within a Canadian context, face many changes and challenges due to globalization, restructuring, the crisis of the nation state, technological change and changing demographics. Globalization is a late 20th century phenomena occurring as a result of unsustained post

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WWII growth, when during the 1970s, the previously growing world economy began to falter. Corporations experienced this economic slowdown as increased international competition and a fall in profits. Their solution was to cut labour and other costs, including moving to lower labour cost locations, transforming from Fordist to flexible modes of production to keep themselves competitive within an increasingly international market, challenging national policies that increased their costs and creating new systems of national governance which supported their strategies (such as the World Trade Organization) (Brecher & Costello, 1994; Schoenberger, 1997, 2000). The results of this globalization process includes a reduction in the barriers to trade in goods and services, integrated financial markets controlled by a few transnational firms, coupled with strategic targeting of international growth sectors by government and industrial alliances in other countries (Apedaile & Fullerton, 1997; Fuller, Ehrernsaft, & Gertler, 1989; McMichael, 1996; Shortall & Bryden, 1997). These outcomes raise particular concern for rural residents whose livelihoods are more likely to be based on natural resources, as the power to make changes resides with absentee corporations that make decisions to fit a corporate agenda and not necessarily the welfare of the affected community. Globalization is also understood as a process that homogenizes and assimilates, ultimately undermining local distinctions. This would suggest that a by-product of globalization is to diminish distinctions of culture and community through various economic and political institutions. The result of these combined forces has been a greater discrepancy between have and have-not communities at all spatial levels including rural places. Bryant (1994), Dykeman (1989), and Shortall and Bryden (1997) suggest that some localities seem able to take advantage of restructuring opportunities through access to information, capital, networks, infrastructure, skills, technology and education, while others who lack access to the same advantages or who have a single industry dependency, continue to struggle. The crisis of the nation-state, a result of the combined processes of globalization and restructuring, is another challenge facing rural areas. This crisis exists in terms of the inability of nations to govern themselves, lack of public belief in government and its ability to protect people from external threats, which have in turn led to a call from citizens for a re-examination of tax systems, public expenditure and social welfare systems (Shortall & Bryden, 1997). In the context of rural communities, this has translated into a continual decrease in subsidization of services that are considered essential


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to the sustainability of small communities (Dykeman, 1989). Day (1998) suggests that it is the combined factors of globalization and the crisis of the nation-state that have led to the resurrection of community-based approaches to development. Regional development is now recognized as having a variety of potential routes, including development strategies that are locally derived and accomplished. Further, it is becoming increasingly apparent that despite globalization and modernization, local variation and uniqueness persist. It is often these very factors that form the basis for locally based development strategies. Within a specifically rural context, Day (1998) suggests that such changes are not new for rural areas as their history is one of a long process of ‘‘progressive absorption’’ by the forces of modernization and urbanization. Several changes to rural Canada, in terms of its demographic, economic and social make-up, are identifiable. There are two major demographic trends affecting rural areas, specifically within a Canadian context. The first is that during the 1950s the non-farm population became the majority of total rural population; by the late 1980s there was no single census division in which farmers in Canada comprised more than 50 percent of the labour force (Fuller et al., 1989). As of the 2001 census, the farm population for Canada as a percent of the total population was 2.4 percent (Statistics Canada, 2001a). Second, during the 1970s the growth of rural areas surpassed that of urban growth for those communities within a 50 km radius of metropolises. All other areas have continued to maintain the status quo or experience further decline. Economies and employment opportunities have dramatically shifted during the past 20 years, where highly skilled, technical, professional and managerial positions are located within metropolises, and the low-skill resource extraction positions are found in rural areas. Exacerbating this shift is a decline in both demand and opportunity in the major rural employment sectors of agriculture, forestry and fishing, largely due to changing technology (Troughton, 1990). The social aspects of rural life have also changed dramatically since the beginning of the 20th century (Fuller et al., 1989). Social relations and networks were dense and overlapping within rural areas and constituted the community. People purchased all goods and services and conducted their business and social life in the same location. These networks have become spatially extended with the development of automobiles, was advanced with the development of highways and declining fuel prices and enhanced by the rural to urban exodus. Because of these changes, rural people reconstituted social networks on the basis of their preferences and available time and money.

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These trends demonstrate that change has been occurring within rural areas for the better part of the 20th century and appear to be continuing. There was a sense of stability associated with these changes based on postwar prosperity, which fostered real choice and facilitated the transfer of people to alternative occupations and regions. This prosperity and stability can no longer be taken for granted, as Troughton (1990) indicates, the demographic, social and economic changes occurring in rural areas have all severely weakened rural employment, settlement infrastructures, and the service and social amenity elements, even for the seemingly more viable communities. The implication for rural areas is that traditional strategies for coping will no longer work. New policies, ways of managing change and new strategies are required and need to be evaluated for effective adjustment to a changing world.

2.3. Community Economic Development In the face of ‘‘placeless powers’’ what might appear to be ‘‘powerless places’’ are taking action. (Douglas, 1994, p. xvii)

CED as a concept and field of study is in its infancy. CED, as a form of economic development, began in the mid-1960s, stemming from the special circumstances surrounding the self-determination movement of Black Americans and spatially centred on inner city ghetto communities. Very swiftly CED became broadly embraced and interpreted as a strategy for the revitalization of any ‘‘depressed or depleted community, rural or urban, of any ethnic or racial concentration’’ (Perry & Lewis, 1994, p. 2). From this context CED became a method of economic development that included the entire community in its efforts and which employed techniques not utilized in traditional economic development. Although CED also used such methods as industrial recruitment and the building of physical infrastructure, it particularly concerned itself with the provision of more socially based projects. The inclusion of ‘‘community’’ in economic development was based on the realization that unless broader objectives were part of the economic development process, any business starts or attractions would likely remain only for a short period before moving to a more attractive location or else fail. CED is concerned primarily with sustaining community and reducing its vulnerability, and although economic initiatives are considered an important aspect, they are viewed as means to various ends, not as ends in themselves (Ashton, 1999; Bryant, 1992; Douglas, 1989). CED involves


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the application of bottom–up approaches to problem solving rather than the traditional top–down approach (Dykeman, 1990; Voth, 1989), utilizing selfhelp, local leadership and initiative, networking and local capacity building. CED incorporates more autonomous forms of local governance, planned diversification of activities, the maximum optimal development of local resources, maximization of community capacity for meeting basic needs, becoming financially self-supporting (Pell & Wismer, 1983). Gill (1999) distinguishes between local economic development, which is locally initiated but may still be controlled by local elite, and CED, which is processoriented, has social as well as economic objectives and is locally administered. Dykeman (1990) suggests that it is through the method of strategic planning that CED is most effectively undertaken, as it requires community participation, continued examination of community attributes and position within the larger economic framework, and continual action on the part of the community. Gill (1999) stresses that as community planning moves beyond strategic planning towards product development and implementation, collaboration within the community is critical. CED therefore can be understood as a process (Bryant & Preston, 1987) aimed at addressing the challenges facing a community within a long term, evolving, communitydriven, collaborative and strategic planning framework. Day (1998) suggests that the key to understanding and developing effective CED strategies is by recognizing the connections among culture, economy and society within a region; interactions that have been overlooked in past research (Day, 1998). The manner in which people act economically, and therefore, the extent to which they can undertake development and have potential success, are wrapped up in the kinds of social relations to which they belong, and in turn the way in which they understand the world. Therefore, cultural meanings and social bonds are inextricably tied to economic action. Day (1998) indicates that such an understanding of the development process is best examined through institutionalist approaches, which examine the societal or cultural context and its role in economic development, treating culture and economy not as separate entities, but as elements that are fused together, shaping community outcomes. The concepts of embeddedness, institutional thickness, governance and leadership structures are part of this institutional approach to understanding development. Although these concepts have been examined on an individual basis, they have been combined within the context of CED, and it is an objective of this research to apply them in broadening understanding of CED in rural communities.

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The common message in institutional writings, for example, Castells (1989) and Mingione (1991), is that the manner in which people act economically and are able to participate in development is enmeshed in the kinds of social relationships to which they belong and, by extension, determines their view of the world. The concept of embeddedness embodies this message where economic action as being inextricably tied to social practices and institutional arrangements. The idea of ‘‘network’’ is instrumental, as the means for linking one group to the others whom they affect. These links are based on trust and reciprocal patterns of communication (Danson & Whittam, 1999). Economic actions form the connections of the network as the links between the wider community in which a local population is bound. Cultural bonds, such as shared commitments, identities and beliefs within a community or locality, form the basis upon which economic action is, and can be, carried out (Day, 1998; Granovetter, 1985; Sayer & Walker, 1992). Embeddedness extends beyond the formal economy to include the informal sector where livelihood activities are perhaps more embedded in social relationships, especially within rural communities where formal economic activity opportunities may be limited (Tigges, Ziebarth, & Farnham, 1998). Various studies (Cowell & Green, 1994; Pahl & Wallace, 1985; Portes, 1994) indicate that the lack of opportunities or the presence of constraints have less of an impact on a community’s ability to undertake economic development, than does the type of ‘‘attitude’’ that is present within that community. In their investigation of restructuring of rural places, Tigges et al. (1998, p. 204) utilized the embeddedness perspective to ‘‘consider how (social) relationships affect people’s experiences with, and interpretations of, the changes occurring in their communities’’. In their view, the embeddedness perspective is strengthened by the inclusion of place as envisioned by Massey (1995), where social/cultural actions continuously construct localities. By combining the ideas of embeddedness with place, economic actions can be understood as being inextricably and uniquely tied to the socio-cultural relationships associated with a particular community. Institutional thickness (Amin & Thrift, 1995) refers to a whole pattern of life in which members are engaged and share a common purpose, cultural norms and values and in which it is impossible to distinguish between economic and social relationships. Institution thickness establishes legitimacy and trust, continues to stimulate entrepreneurship and consolidate the local embeddedness of industry. The combination of features including the


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presence of many institutions, inter-institutional interaction, a culture of collective representation, identification with a common economic purpose and shared norms and values serve to constitute the social atmosphere of a particular locality (Amin & Thrift, 1995). Institutional thickness is concerned with the formal and informal economic institutions found within a community and their ability to interact and create a synergy for development, while embeddedness is concerned more with the socio-cultural aspects of the relationships between community members as they affect economic activity. Governance refers to a process of governing in which governmental and non-governmental organizations work together. Stoker (1997, p. 10) distinguishes between traditional forms of government as the formal institutional structure and location of authoritative decision-making in the modern state and the concept of governance, which focuses on the interdependence of governmental and non-governmental forces working together to meet economic and social challenges. Danson and Whittam (1999) suggest that the development of governance structures has resulted from the combination of declining central government regional subsidies and limited resources within the public and private sectors, to which Hajesz and Dawe (1997) add a growing demand for increased participation in the decision-making process. The result has been the development of collaborative relationships between the government and private sectors and within the government itself to efficiently and cost effectively deliver the required services. When governance structures are formed, the members of the partnership are blending different resources and skills within a long-term coalition to collectively provide a capacity to act that is beyond the scope of any individual member or institution. The concern becomes one of accountability since these governance structures are developed and are driven by the self-interest of their members, which may be incompatible with the public interest or certainly at odds with the interest of those excluded from the network. Theories of governance are united across disciplines in their concern with identifying and analyzing the distribution of political power both internal and external to the local state. The leadership within these structures becomes a critical point for the CED process, for it has the potential to enhance or destroy the development potential within the community. Leadership and citizen participation is a vital element in the CED process and has been viewed as a key to community sustainability. Although individual personalities are recognized as a crucial aspect of leadership, it is

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recognized that the networks connecting leaders to each other, to the community and beyond is equally if not more important for the continuance of community development and movement beyond simple resource mobilization (Brown & Nylander, 1998). Leadership, conceptualized in this way, connects to the emerging ideas of governance in that partnership structures demand good networks in order to be successful. The arguments put forth by Day (1998) regarding institutional theories of development also illustrate the connection to leadership where a simple focus on entrepreneurialism does not answer all the needs of effective leadership and development strategies for communities, and instead there is a need to tap into the deeper culture of the communities and the attributes they possess. 2.3.1. Alternative Strategies within CED A variety of methods employed within a CED framework and current manifestations demonstrate that that these alternative strategies do not exist within a vacuum but are contextually developed both within local circumstances and broader structural forces acting outside the local arena. Some examples of these include worker buy-out schemes to save the declining industry either through worker share purchasing in the case of Sault Ste. Marie and the closure of their Algoma Steel industry or the worker buy-out of the pulp mill in Port Cartier, Quebec. In the case of Milverton Morning, Ontario the community rallied together to purchase a closing factory’s premises and set up their own development organization to introduce new businesses to the community (Douglas, 1994). Another strategy is to devise an entirely different function for the community, such as a retirement destination. Two well-known examples of this phenomenon are Elliot Lake, Ontario and Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. These examples demonstrate that alternative strategies arise out of the internal and external circumstances that communities face and illustrate that decisions result from the experiences of other places. Tourism is another alternative development strategy used throughout Canada that utilizes the link between amenity-based development within a community and tourism, where communities try and lure people either to come and visit (strictly tourism-based) and/or have them come to live (retirement-based) (Perks & Macdonald, 1990). The increasing use of tourism in rural places requires an examination of the context in which these choices are made, with a realization that communities make their decisions based on the particular position they find themselves in, regionally, provincially, nationally and increasingly internationally.


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2.4. Tourism Community tourism development embraces the idea that in addition to private enterprise development, the community can do some things to enhance its economy and society through tourism. (Weaver & Wishard-Lambert, 1996)

Many rural communities are experiencing a declining economic base due reasons previously discussed and these changes have made it apparent to small communities that government-initiated development programs do not solve their dilemmas and that community-derived solutions are necessary. Many communities have seized upon tourism as an industry offering potential for economic diversification, not as an economic saviour, but as an activity that can help compensate for the erosion of their traditional economic base. Tourism has historically not been an actively sought or integrated economic sector within the rural milieu of Canada. Indeed, other than the development of national and provincial parks selected for land conservation and the employment they would supply (Butler & Clark, 1992), rural-based tourism and recreation has inadvertently occurred in those areas located within the urban field that provide an amenity environment (cottage resort development) for people seeking escape from the city (Coppack, Beesley, & Mitchell, 1990). Although these initial developments have expanded to include a broader range of tourism attractions and facilities, the federal tourism industry within Canada remains focused on attracting significant numbers of foreign visitors to specific niche markets (Banff National Park, Niagara Falls, etc.) and appears less concerned with rural tourism potential (Butler & Clark, 1992). At a provincial level, there is a greater awareness of the potential of rural area tourism, but the focus is on attracting intraprovincial travelers or niche market foreign travelers, rather than developing an integrated rural tourism product. Despite the lack of coordinated government-driven rural tourism development within Canada, many communities have determined that sufficient potential exists undertake its development, based largely on the perceived economic, social and environmental advantages of tourism development for rural areas. Much research has addressed and measured the economic benefits of tourism development (Mathieson & Wall, 1982; Murphy, 1985; Pearce, 1989; Reid, 2003), which are commonly measured in terms of direct revenues in the form of tourist expenditures and indirect revenues measured as a multiplier effect within the community or regional economy. In a rural context, tourism can provide an opportunity for the diversification of the economy, by providing employment, encouraging

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entrepreneurialism in associated industry (e.g., cottage industry) and providing continued and increased revenue for existing service industries (Gannon, 1994; Reid, 2003; Schneider, 1993; Van Der Straaten, 2000). The social benefits of tourism are found in the revival of cultural practices, increased pride in and knowledge of place and improved community cohesion as the members rally together to develop the tourism product. Several studies within a developed world context have indicated that tourism development has caused increased community cohesion and solidarity as they band together to protect themselves and their culture from the intrusion of tourists (Buck, 1978; Huang & Stewart, 1996; Meleghy, Preglau, & Tafershofer, 1985; Seigel, 1965). Another ancillary social benefit of tourism development is that the revenues generated can also assist in supporting and developing community facilities for recreation and leisure as well as building up the community’s physical infrastructure (Gannon, 1994; Reid, 2003). Rural tourism may encourage community beautification and revitalization of the built environment, and foster conservation and preservation of habitat and historical resources, previously ignored and often damaged (Schneider, 1993; Gannon, 1994). Within an agrarian community, tourism can create incentives for farmers to expand and diversify their production to meet the needs of tourist interest and food consumption. To maximize these benefits, Butler (1993) stresses that communities must be fully aware of the consequences of tourism development, as many do so with a degree of naivete´. Communities need to mobilize resources, which are often very limited, and the success of other communities that have developed tourism, can seem very promising. Tourism can seriously divide a community over the use of commonly held public areas, the influx of visitors and the use of public moneys and infrastructures, which could have been utilized to aid lagging agriculture or other embedded industries (Butler, 1998). Although employment and revenue may be generated, revenues tend to flow out of rural regions, while employment may merely accentuate the position of rural areas as zones of seasonal and/or low wage economies (Troughton, 1990). Such views are echoed by many researchers (Barnes & Hayter, 1992; Boothroyd & Davis, 1993; Malecki, 1997) who equate the use of tourism as a development strategy with smokestack chasing of traditional regional economic development initiatives, because it has the potential to create a precarious reliance on a single industry. Tourism is further criticized for its weak linkages with other economic sectors, its dependence on extensive marketing, the potential for increasing cost of living because of inflation and land speculation (Gannon, 1994; Murphy, 1985; Mathieson & Wall, 1982; Pearce, 1989).


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A simple discussion of the perceived benefits and shortcoming of tourism as a rural development strategy does not aid in understanding the role of the community and how and why the process of tourism development is undertaken. As Gannon (1994) describes, many rural areas contain valuable resources, skills, abilities, the physical space and appropriate physical environment that have the potential for endogenous development. What is required to facilitate this process is partnership development between government, public and private sectors, and between the people of the community. The use of tourism as a CED strategy requires a critical assessment of the concept of community, for it calls into question who is involved in tourism development and who is excluded. Shortall and Bryden (1997) and Caldwell (1993) suggest that in rural communities exclusion is inherent in the assumption that community needs can be inferred from common space. Instead, presumed apathy needs to be investigated for its potential as a statement of exclusion. Research has indicated that members of a community have varied opinions regarding social, economic and political changes, especially related to tourism development (Draper & McNicol, 1997; Gill, 1999; McCool & Martin, 1994). Factors such as age, length of residency, employment, gender, ethnicity and race determine how individuals view change and its process within the community. If networks are integral parts of CED and its success (Amin & Thrift, 1995; Brown & Nylander, 1998; Day, 1998; Markey & Vodden, 2000), then development strategies that do not fit within the dominant network in a community are at best short-term strategies and are more likely doomed to failure. Within this vein Haywood (1988, p. 106) states that, ‘‘well-developed and stronger tourism planning at the community level is vital if any region y wishes to deliver exciting and novel tourist experiences y As in any business, strategic planning is meaningless unless it is accepted and implemented at the operational level’’. The result is a need for partnerships between all concerned with the tourism product. Butler and Clark (1992) further suggest that if local control is not present, the chances of the development not being compatible with local preferences and needs are increased and the chances of experiencing the expected results are diminished. Planners and policy makers need to re-evaluate and more deeply understand the concepts of success and development that are scale appropriate for rural communities. As Bryant (1997) points out, success based on traditional measurements of employment and population growth are not appropriate for small towns and rural areas whose mandate or goals are to sustain their communities and quality of life. Instead, measurements need to include factors of involvement, appreciation and understanding of the community strategies,

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continuance of businesses and services within the community and the creation of opportunity and potential for employment. 2.5. Conclusion This review of the literature pertaining to rural change, CED and tourism development demonstrates that residents in rural communities are facing many challenges as their economy, quality of life and environment undergo a process of transition. This process of change presents various opportunities for diversification, one of which is tourism. Literature concerning CED indicates that it is a unique form of economic development in which projects are locally driven, and take into account the culture and economy of a place. The process and outcomes of CED can be explored through the inclusion of institutional theories (institutional thickness, embeddedness and governance) and leadership. The use of these theories emerges from several connections that were evident through the literature review. First, there is a link to diffusion and Brown’s (1981) contention that individual behaviour does not represent free will as much as choices within a constrained set of options. Second, these theories have a philosophical relationship to the definition of CED, which describes the importance of governance, layers of community involvement for economic and social development and economic strategies that fit within the local culture. Definitions of CED also refer to the role of leadership, especially in distinguishing processes that are either local economic development or CED. Although tourism faces challenges and criticism from several fronts, many communities continue to pursue tourism development as a CED strategy. The process of investing in tourism as a community-driven development strategy, requires further investigation, including learning if regional cooperation among rural communities may result in better opportunities for a successful outcome.

3. METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS 3.1. Introduction The empirical objective of this research is to gain an appreciation of why mural-based tourism strategies have become popular and spread over varied


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spatial contexts, and to broaden understanding of the factors present within communities that allow for the successful adoption of these strategies. In so doing the process, success and outcome of CED in rural areas is moved beyond a descriptive framework to one more solidly grounded in theories related more generally to rural development and economic development. Various methods have been employed that frame the data collection process and analysis that were undertaken in two stages.

3.2. Data Collection The research was undertaken by first investigating the dispersion of muralbased tourism strategies across Canada at a macro level, followed by a more comprehensive case study analysis of the adoption and subsequent implications of mural use within rural communities in Saskatchewan (i.e., a micro-level investigation). To determine which communities across Canada utilized murals as part of their tourism offerings, vacation guides were obtained from provincial tourism boards/ministries across Canada in 2000. The vacation guides were examined to select the communities that self-identified themselves as having a mural-based tourism attraction. Several provinces, notably British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec and New Brunswick, did not have guides that provided detailed attractions for individual communities. In such cases the tourism board was contacted directly and a list of the communities having mural attractions was obtained. Searching the World Wide Web provided a broader indication of mural attractions in all the provinces. To verify whether all possible communities had been located, a list was sent to the provincial tourism boards, and to the chair of the Global Mural Arts and Cultural Tourism Association (GMACTA), based in Chemainus, British Columbia. Once the communities were identified, persons in the appropriate municipal and provincial government offices were contacted (by email/fax/ mail and/or telephone) and asked to fill out the survey. The survey questioned where the idea for the tourism development came from and when it was developed. Both of these questions were included to trace back to exemplar communities and to map the diffusion of mural-based tourism. Subsequent questions on the survey included why murals were chosen, funding sources, committee structure and membership, who painted the murals, future plans, product development, number of tourists and an indication of how the product it viewed. Thirty-two communities were

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Table 1.

Canadian Communities Identified as Having a Mural-Based Attraction.

Province British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba Ontario Quebec Nova Scotia New Brunswick Prince Edward Island Newfoundland/Labrador Yukon/North West Territories/ Nunavut Total

Communities Identified Chemainus, Lumby, Sparwood, Vernon Grand Prairie, High River, Pincher Creek, Stony Plain Biggar, Churchbridge, Duck Lake, Humboldt, Moose Jaw, Wadena Boissevain, Morden, Winnipeg, Snow Lake Athens, Grimsby, Kenora, Midland, Pembroke, Oshawa, Timmins, Welland None Amerst, Truro (no response) None Mont Carmel, Summerside Bell Island, St. Anthony None 32

Note: In the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick and the Territories of the North there are murals but these are not marketed as tourism attractions. Both of the provinces have developed mural projects aimed at addressing graffiti in urban spaces. Source: Author.

identified (Table 1) and 31 completed the survey, for a response rate of 96.8 percent. Based on the results of the survey, a profile of the communities was created in a spreadsheet format in the SPSS. The questionnaires were complemented by community profiles as constructed from the 2001 Statistics Canada data (Statistics Canada, 2001b). From those communities identified at the macro scale within Saskatchewan, six case study communities (Biggar, Churchbridge, Duck Lake, Humboldt, Moose Jaw, Wadena) were selected (Fig. 2). Saskatchewan was chosen as a study region for several reasons. As discussed in Section 2, many rural communities throughout Canada are experiencing an economic shift in their traditional economies, with commensurate loss of employment, population, education and health services. Saskatchewan’s ‘‘agricultural communities’’ experience mirrors these larger Canadian patterns. These communities are exploring CED approaches and tourism is one possible strategy for economic diversification. Indeed, tourism is the fourth largest industry in Saskatchewan, and the province has investigated


Fig. 2.

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Saskatchewan Case Study Communities. Source: Author.

ways of furthering its tourism potential, especially within rural areas (ACRE, 2002). Interviews were conducted in each of the case study communities during July and August of 2001. A ‘‘snowball’’ or ‘‘chain strategy’’ was employed to

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determine any additional ‘‘experts’’ or ‘‘decision makers’’ that would be appropriate to interview within the community (Bradshaw & Stratford, 2000; Kirby & Hay, 1997; Patton, 1996). Additional interviews were therefore conducted with individuals involved in mural development, the mayor and/ or elected officials in the communities, the economic development officer (EDO) or community development officer (CDO), other economic development association members, the Regional Economic Development Authority (REDA) director and the Tourism Saskatchewan regional representative in which the community is located. In total, 40 in-person and telephone interviews were conducted for the 6 communities. All interviews were conducted using the same scripted set of questions within a semi-structured format. This format was chosen to allow respondents the freedom to provide as much information as possible (Bernard, 2000; Dunn, 2000). The questions asked allowed for an assessment of where the idea for mural development came from, when it was implemented, who was involved, how the community was involved, what the process was for implementing the idea and how ‘‘successful’’ the project had been. After the initial interview, follow-up questions were added on the basis of initial responses. These included, for example, fundraising activities, obstacles faced in undertaking and implementing the project and perceptions of critical support for success. Further secondary information regarding each community was obtained from a variety of sources, including community newspapers, development plans from Tourism Saskatchewan regions and the Regional Economic Development Authorities, and from meeting notes/minutes/documents from the various Mural Committees.

3.3. Data Analysis As with the data collection process, two levels of analysis were required; one for the macro level investigation of Canadian communities and a second one for the case study analysis of mural communities in Saskatchewan. The data collected from the 31 completed surveys were entered into a spreadsheet using SPSS 10.0. At this stage of the research, the objectives were to determine where the idea for mural development originated, to examine how it had spread across Canada, to ascertain why this choice was made and what the results were for the community. The data collected were primarily nominal, resulting in categorical variables. As a result, it was only possible to use descriptive statistics, such as frequencies and


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crosstabulations. Frequency tests were run on all the categories, and these categories were then collapsed and recoded to reflect the commonalities that existed within the categories. This was done because of the small number of cases in several categories or cells. One of the problems with the data was that the sample size of 31 cases was too small to run inferential statistics and have any statistical validity. Despite this limitation, the application of descriptive statistics did allow the development of a context within which to place the richer qualitative responses received in the open-ended portion of the survey, and for the case study analysis more generally. Qualitative analyses of the data were also undertaken as the survey included open-ended questions that some respondents chose to complete. These data were examined utilizing latent content analysis. This is a common form of qualitative analysis wherein data are examined to determine themes that emerge from the content, looking for specific words to determine further meanings of what was said or written (Dunn, 2000). Through case study analysis, an examination of existing theories such as embeddedness, institutional thickness, governance and leadership was undertaken to expand the knowledge of CED in rural areas. As such the data were analyzed using a variety of qualitative based methods. GT is a qualitative research methodology initially formulated by sociologists Glaser and Strauss (1967) that has been further refined over time (Glaser, 2002; Haig, 1995; Strauss & Corbin, 1990, 1998). In its initial conceptualization, GT was developed as an inductive approach wherein research is not undertaken to prove or disprove a hypothesis, but instead seeks to develop a new theory based on the data collected to answer the research question (Hueser, 1999). GT can also be conducted deductively, where the researcher searches through the data for specific themes, while at the same time remaining open to emergent ideas (Miles & Huberman, 1994). This research employed a deductive approach for analysis, based on an examination of the data within the four conceptual areas and their literature. The primary and secondary data collection had been organized around themes I had predetermined through my literature search. Although this could be considered as a flaw in research methodology, it is more an expression of the reflexivity in qualitative research (Dupuis, 1999), wherein appropriate analysis methods emerge as one becomes more intimately involved in the data. This is not to say that all themes were predetermined and the analysis provided in Section 6 is simply a summation of the data collected under those themes. Rather, to paraphrase Bernard (2000), I knew what the major themes were that I wanted to investigate (those associated

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with institutional thickness, governance, embeddedness and leadership) but at the same time, was open to discovering additional themes within the text relating to these areas or pointing in a different direction. It also seems appropriate that such an analysis methodology would emerge when one of the objectives is to determine if these four conceptual areas have relevance and a contribution to make to the theorization of CED.

3.4. Conclusions This section has provided an explanation of how the research project was conducted. The next two sections (Sections 4 and 5) provide detailed descriptions of the data collected for each of the macro and micro levels of investigation, while Section 6 addresses the research questions and objectives of the study through the analysis of the data.

4. AN EXAMINATION OF MURAL-BASED TOURISM DEVELOPMENT ACROSS CANADA Murals are used for different purposes by communities. Some communities use them as an outlet for young people at risk. Others use them for political reasons. Many use them to depict historical themes. (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 2000a)

4.1. Introduction What is it that makes a community chose a particular set of development strategies, amongst the known possibilities? The increasing demand for and use of tourism as an economic diversification strategy has not occurred within a vacuum, but has arisen out of a complex and interrelated set of circumstances described in Section 2. Simply stated, it involves the relationship between economic insecurity and transition, often in primary industries and smaller communities, and the growing leisure population associated with the retiring baby-boom generation. The tourism activities sought by this group increasingly include heritage-based attractions; within Canada, heritage-based tourism is one of the growing segments of the tourism industry, with approximately 43 percent of visitors citing heritage as a reason for their visit (Canadian Tourism Commission, 2002). Harvey (1989, p. 304) suggests that the quest for and interest in heritage is not an unusual trend because,


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the more global interrelations become and the more spatial barriers disintegrate, so more rather than less of the world’s population clings to place and neighborhood. Such a quest for visible and tangible marks of identity is readily understandable in the midst of fierce space-time compression.

Rural areas and small places are often the most vulnerable of locales in the current economic transition and often such places are turning to community-driven strategies that include tourism. Tourism is touted as one of the fastest growing economic sectors, with total expenditures at $54.6 billion, from 93.4 million visitors, amounting to $22 billion or 2.3 percent of Canada’s total Gross Domestic Product in 2001. The development of murals as a tourism attraction is a strategy chosen by a number of communities, as it marries the increasing interest in heritage with the apparent need for economic diversification. Painting murals is a conscious development choice. Developers are not capitalizing and promoting a naturally occurring feature, but are making a conscious choice to pursue tourism by creating something that previously did not exist; the re-creation of local history on the walls of a community to attract visitors. This section examines why mural-based tourism strategies are adopted by a wide variety of communities across Canada, and begins by placing mural-based tourism within the broader heritage-based tourism sector and critically examining its relationship with the concept of authenticity and the marketing of place. This is followed by a discussion of the spread and adoption of mural-based tourism strategies across Canada and a more comprehensive examination of the epicenter of this spread. This section concludes by analyzing why these Canadian communities have chosen murals, what the outcomes of those choices have been and how we might evaluate the success of these strategies, thus providing a context for understanding the case study analysis of mural communities in Saskatchewan.

4.2. Murals and Their Relationship to Tourism Rural places reflect the same national and even international changes in economic, political and social structures as are evident in urban areas (Cloke, 1993). Indeed, for many western countries the development of tourism is often the major policy thrust resulting from a declining agricultural base (Butler & Hall, 1998; Dewailly, 1998). This is becoming so much the case for rural areas that it has led Butler and Hall (1998, p. 117) to paraphrase Harvey by asking of rural British areas ‘‘How many heritage trails, pioneer museums and villages, historic houses, roadside produce

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stalls, authentic country cooking, festivals, country shoppes and Devonshire teas can we stand?’’ Hopkins (1998, p. 142) suggests that ‘‘the fact that tourism has come to the countryside, that it is now commodified, promoted and consumed, is to be expected in the context of today’s global capitalism, the expansion of information and communication technologies, and rising consumer demands for entertainment, leisure and recreation’’. Part of the attraction to rural places is the image tourists have of this space. The concept of ‘‘image’’ has long been recognized within the tourism literature, as often it is the mental images people have of places that form the basis of evaluation and selection of a destination (Butler & Hall, 1998; Hopkins, 1998; Urry, 1990, 1995). Within the last two decades, rural places have begun to systematically attract visitors by re-imaging themselves through ‘‘place marketing’’ (Ashworth & Voogd, 1988; Burgess, 1982; Hall, 1994; Kearns & Philo, 1993; Madsen, 1992; Roche, 1992). The primary goal of the ‘‘place marketer’’ is to construct a new image of the place to replace either vague or negative images previously held by current or potential residents, investors and visitors in order to effectively compete with other places (Holocomb, 1993, p. 133). There are those, however, who caution that place marketing may be ineffective in overcoming negative perceptions of place (Raco, 2003) or that miscommunication of the marketed images may result in consumer dissatisfaction with the product (Ulaga, Sharma, & Krishnan, 2002). Despite such potential risks, a review of the emerging literature on place marketing reveals several important reasons for the increasing importance of place promotion. Heritage has become an integral part of re-imaging communities. This includes the refurbishing of buildings, the recreation of historical events both real and imagined and the representation of history and community through art. It is at this juncture that murals fit within the rural tourism–place– marketing relationship. However, the intersection of art and history calls into question the complex connections between heritage and authenticity. ‘‘Authenticity, I would argue, is a constructed value or set of values, but cannot be accounted for without considering the social and material contexts in which it is located’’ (Meethan, 2001, p. 95). This explanation of authenticity has a particular geographic relevance as it speaks to the importance of place in understanding how something (a historical reenactment, architecture or murals) can be evaluated. In directly examining the relationship between authenticity, tourism and place marketing, Dewailly (1998) suggests that authenticity is often the basis for comparison of a local or regional identity with neighbouring ones. ‘‘It becomes a way of reactivating an ancient heritage, y and exposing tourists to it in order to


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assert difference, cultural richness, identity, and perhaps even prominence or change’’ (Dewailly, 1998, p. 127). Wang (1999) has identified three types of authenticity in tourism as a way of understanding and interpreting the various meanings associated with the tourism attraction. 1. Objective authenticity is applied in situations were the origin of an artifact needs to be established, for example, items used in a museum. 2. Constructive authenticity is a matter of negotiation or ascribed meanings, usually specific to a particular culture or subgroup. What is important is not whether the object fits any measure of external objective criteria in terms of its origin, but rather the socially constructed consensus that it has some form of symbolic value. 3. Existential authenticity relates to experiences of the individual tourists with the recognition that tourists are not mere dupes of the attraction. In many cases, such as at Walt Disney resorts, the authenticity of a particular tourism attraction or space is not contested. In other cases, especially those relating to heritage sites or representations of events, authenticity may become a contentious issue. This is especially the case for those attractions in which neither the intent of the producer(s) nor historical event is accessible to the viewer through interpretive materials or guides, as with heritage-based murals. Heritage typically refers to material culture, and was originally applied to aspects of the built environment considered to be of architectural or historical importance. Concerns about both natural and built environments and culture more broadly have resulted in both national and international legislation to protect, preserve and conserve authentic spaces, not only for the purposes of tourism, but also to create and sustain a sense of nation and place through such symbolic meanings (Anderson, 1991; Lowenthal, 1994). Within tourism, the quest for heritage has seen the preservation of both natural and historic sites, and even the creation of imagined pasts and places for the ‘‘tourist gaze’’. Consequently, many places seek to recreate their history either through re-enactments, theme parks, revitalization of streetscapes based on heritage architecture or even murals, as a way of distinguishing their communities as unique and worthy destinations. However, it is not uncommon for scholars such as Widdis (2000) to dwell almost exclusively on the level of authenticity associated with a particular attraction, often seeking Wang’s (1999) objective authenticity and settling for nothing less. Such a view minimizes other attributes that the presentation of history provides for the community in terms of pride, education,

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entertainment and economic returns. Meethan (2001) suggests that there is more to heritage and authenticity then the simple debate between preservation and commodification. The increasing interest in heritage indicates a didactic purpose of education, fostering a sense of belonging and just plain entertainment. This viewpoint provides the opportunity to move the discussion beyond the simple debate around authenticity to examine what murals (or heritage more broadly) can do for both the community and the tourist. As people become increasingly disconnected from rural spaces, a corollary has been an increase in the romantic image of ‘‘rural’’ as a place where time stands still; where all is good, in contrast with the presumed evil of urban places (Butler, Hall, & Jenkins, 1998). Rural provides a sense of ‘‘rootedness’’; it is the ‘‘place’’ to which people have some familial tie, however distant. Murals seem to feed this need by creating that sense of ‘‘past place’’ on the walls of a community’s buildings. There is, however, a wide variety of content in mural art that does not always portray the ‘‘rural idyll’’. Some murals portray battles, poor working conditions or the subordinate status of minority ethnic groups or women. Murals can be broadly conceived of as a form of art that is readily and freely accessible to the public at large. Based on this research four categories of murals can be defined primarily by the functions they serve and the reasons they were developed. 1. Murals for Public Art include those painted on the walls of cities for a variety of reasons unrelated to tourism. These would include the development and promotion of art and business advertising (Fig. 3). The images found in these murals vary widely, depending upon the sponsor of the mural. 2. Murals for Youth Development include the creation of a mural project specifically to address the needs of a particular age group. Through participation in the program, job skills training, a sense of community and an understanding of history are developed. These murals tend to be eclectic in nature, but are often historically based (Fig. 4). This category would also include murals developed as anti-graffiti projects. 3. Murals for Community Beautification are undertaken to beautify a building or neighbourhood. Although there is no tourism motivation, tourism may result by default. The content of these murals varies, ranging from wildlife and community events to abstract images and historical occurrences (Fig. 5). 4. Murals as a Tourism Attraction are developed and marketed to attract people into the community. The focus is on developing the murals to distinguish the community as a unique destination (i.e., ‘‘place


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Fig. 3.

Welcome to Downtown. Artists: Mandy van Leeuwen, Jennifer Johnson and Charlie Johnston, 2002. Place: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Fig. 4.

Multiculturalism. Artists: Michelle Loughery, and Others, 2002. Place: Vernon, British Columba, Canada.

marketing’’). These murals generally follow a heritage-based theme (Fig. 6). Unlike the other categories, murals developed for tourism purposes represent what a group within the local community believes to be local heritage in combination with what they believe people want to see.

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Fig. 5.

RHONDA L. P. KOSTER

No Title. Artist: Churchbridge High School Art Class (No Date). Place: Churchbrige, Saskatchewan, Canada.

As more communities chose mural development as a tourism attraction, it leads one to question how many more mural-based attractions can exist, as these communities can develop an almost homogenous appearance, especially when one considers that the pool of professional mural artists is relatively small. Communities therefore need to carefully consider the extent to which particular strategies have been utilized elsewhere. This section has placed mural-based tourism development within rural environments as part of the basket of strategies that are utilized in place marketing or place promotion. The remaining sections of Section 4 will explore how and why various communities have utilized murals.

4.3. The Spread of Murals across Canada This section provides an examination of mural community location, including the origin point of the idea and the year of implementation. Such an investigation, followed by a discussion of why the communities chose this development option and how they viewed the outcomes, provide a context to view the case study communities in the following sections. By analyzing the survey responses, distinct time periods emerged in which mural development took place and it became apparent that the majority of places were linked to one community as the source for the mural strategy idea. A generation tree of mural development was created (Fig. 7) to graphically demonstrate the spatial and temporal pattern of mural expansion. On the survey, respondents were asked to indicate when they began the mural project and if a particular place influenced their decision. The three


Company Store. Artist: Dan Sawatzky, 1983. Place: Chemainus, British Columbia, Canada.

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Fig. 6.

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1980−1989 Athens ON 1985

1990−1995

1996−2001 Summerside PE 1996

Stony Plain AB 1990

Wadena SK 1996

Duck Lake SK 1990 Moose Jaw SK 1990

Biggar SK 1997

Midland ON 1990 Sparwood BC 1989

Mount Carmel PE 1997

Grand Prairie AB 1991 (Sacramento, CA) Winnipeg MB 1991 Bell Island NF 1991 Pincher Creek AB 1997

High River AB 1992 Boissevain MB 1992

Chemainus BC 1982 (Romania)

Snow Lake MB 1994 Morden MB 1995 Kenora ON 1995 Vernon BC 1998 Humboldt SK 1994

Churchbridge SK 1995 Amherst ON 1995 Oshawa ON 1995 Timmins ON 1995

Welland ON 1988

Fig. 7.

Lumby BC

Grimsby ON 1998

Generation Tree of Mural Development. Source: Author.

RHONDA L. P. KOSTER

Pembroke ON 1989


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time periods were derived based on the responses to these questions. As Fig. 7 and Table 2 illustrate, only six communities did not trace the origin of their idea for mural development to Chemainus, British Columbia (i.e., Grand Prairie, Alberta; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Bell Island, Newfoundland/ Labrador; Wadena, Saskatchewan; Biggar, Saskatchewan and Mount Carmel, Prince Edward Island). As such, the stages of mural development were designated in five-year intervals following the development of the Chemainus murals in 1982. The remainder of this section discusses each of the stages and associated mural developments. Between 1985 and 1989, four communities undertook mural development based on the example provided by Chemainus in 1982 (Fig. 8). This time period is distinct from the next two in which the murals in all of the communities have a historical theme, formalized boards existed to develop the murals and all artists were paid professionals. During this time period, the combination of tourism and community beautification are cited most often as the reasons for developing the murals. The period between 1990 and 1995 was witness to the most mural development, with Chemainus, British Columbia remaining the primary source for the mural idea, either directly, or indirectly through another community (for example, Boissevain, Manitoba). There are some exceptions, with respondents from Grande Prairie, Alberta indicating that they based their mural project on the example of Sacramento, California and those from Winnipeg, Manitoba and Bell Island, Newfoundland/Labrador stating that they developed their murals with no influence from any other community. During this second stage there is greater diversity associated with the types of artists painting the murals. Twelve of seventeen communities utilized professional painters exclusively, two communities (Morden and Snow Lake of Manitoba) relied on volunteer painters, while a further three communities used a combination of both professional and volunteer painters (Table 2). Although most murals (15 of 17) are historically based, there are two communities in which a more diverse array of mural styles was developed. Interestingly, these are also communities that have utilized volunteer painters. The purpose of mural development has become more focused on tourism in this time period, with 9 of 17 respondents citing tourism as the main purpose of mural development. Several of those surveyed (in five communities) also cited community beautification as the sole purpose and three cited the combination of both as the purpose for developing murals. A more mixed approach to the administrative structure for mural projects is apparent, with only ten communities having

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Table 2.

Aspects of Mural Development.

Community

Artist Type

Mural Type

Purpose

Board Structure

Origin of Idea

1985–1989 Athens, ON Sparwood, BC Pembroke, ON Welland, ON Total: 4

Professional Professional Professional Professional

Historic Historic Historic Historic

T, CB T T, CB T, CB

Formal Formal Formal Formal

Chemainus, Chemainus, Chemainus, Chemainus,

Professional Professional Professional Professional Professional Professional Professional, Volunteer Bell Island, NF/L Professional Boissevain, MB Professional Snow Lake, MB Volunteer Morden, MB Volunteer Kenora, ON Professional Humboldt, SK Professional Churchbridge, SK Volunteer Amherst, NS Professional, Volunteer Oshawa, ON Professional Timmins, ON Professional Total: 17

Historic Historic Historic Historic Historic Historic Eclectic

T T T T T, CB CB CB

Formal Formal Formal Informal None None Formal

Chemainus, BC Chemainus, BC Chemainus, BC Chemainus, BC Chemainus, BC Sacramento, CA None Identified

Historic Historic Historic Historic Historic Historic Eclectic Historic

T T T, CB T T T CB CB

Formal Formal Informal None Formal Formal Informal Formal

None Identified Chemainus, BC Boissevain, MB Boissevain, MB Boissevain, MB Chemainus, BC Chemainus, BC Chemainus, BC

Historic Historic

T, CB CB

Informal Formal

Chemainus, BC Chemainus, BC

Historic Eclectic Historic Eclectic

T, CB CB CB T

Informal Informal None None

Chemainus, BC None Identified None Identified None Identified

Historic

T, CB

Informal

High River, AB

Historic

T

Formal

Chemainus, BC

Historic

T, CB

Formal

Vernon, BC

Eclectic

T, CB

Informal

Welland, ON

1990–1995 Stony Plain, AB Duck Lake, SK Moose Jaw, SK Midland, ON High River, AB Grand Prairie, AB Winnipeg, MB

1996–2001 Summerside, PEI Wadena, SK Biggar, SK Mount Carmel, PEI Pincher Creek, AB Vernon, BC Lumby, BC

Grimsby, ON Total: 8

Volunteer Professional Professional, Youth Professional Professional, Youth Professional, Youth, Volunteer Youth

Note: T, tourism; CB, community beautification.

BC BC BC BC


Diffusion of Mural Development 1985–2001. Source: Survey Results (2001).

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Fig. 8.

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formal boards and seven having either informal or no board structure whatsoever. The third stage has limited mural development, but increased variation in several aspects of tourism development. Of the eight mural projects started during this time period, only three utilized professional painters solely, while the remaining five made use of a combination of volunteer, professional and youth artists (Table 2). Likewise, a wider variety of mural types is present, with less use of history as the primary theme for murals and a greater inclusion of eclectic images. Similarly, the purpose for mural development is cited more often as a combination of community beautification and tourism. As the sole purpose, tourism is only mentioned once (Mount Carmel, Prince Edward Island). In only two communities a formalized board was created to develop the mural projects and the remaining six either have an informal board or no board at all. Only two communities cited Chemainus as the source community for the mural idea, while the other three communities cited alternate places that in turn originally obtained the idea from Chemainus as their source for the concept. This demonstrates that the idea for mural development has diffused throughout various provinces. Respondents from three communities believed that their idea for mural development did not come from another community, although it is difficult to assess the accuracy of these claims. 4.3.1. Chemainus as the Epicentre of Mural Development As the previous map, table and generation tree suggest, many of the communities stated that the idea for mural development either originated or can be traced back to Chemainus, British Columbia. To better understand the decision-making the situation at Chemainus is examined more comprehensively. As part of the transition from Fordist to Flexible Accumulation, Chemainus experienced both threats of, and actual, mill closures starting from the early 1970s. In 1983 the major mill was finally closed, with a loss of 650 jobs. When the mill reopened two years later, only 10 percent of the employees were hired back (Barnes & Hayter, 1992). The community needed to move beyond its primary industry dependency and turned to tourism, specifically murals, to do so. In the early 1980s, Chemainus received a provincial grant from the British Columbia government to rejuvenate the main streets of the town. The mayor for the community asked a local entrepreneur, Karl Schutz, to come out of retirement and assist in preparing a plan for the town’s development. Schutz set about convincing the local municipal council and community that it was a good idea to revitalize their community on mural-based tourism. The town’s residents were sceptical of the idea but the revitalization


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committee pushed ahead and eventually the municipal council agreed to commit $10,000 to commission the first five murals (Meisler, 1994). The mural themes were based on a book and photographs by Olsen (1963) entitled Water over the Wheel, a history of Chemainus, and attempted to represent the ethnic, economic and social history of the region. In 1982 the first five murals were painted and by 1986 the number of murals had expanded to over a dozen. Forty new businesses had also opened to cater to the nearly 250,000 annual visitors (Barnes & Hayter, 1992). As of 2002, Chemainus has 34 murals, boasts over 400,000 annual visitors, is home to many thriving shops catering to tourists and has developed into a vibrant artistic community (Chemainus Festival of the Arts, 2002). According to the Chamber of Commerce, Chemainus receives eight to ten tour buses per day from April to October, officials from around the world have come to study the applicability of mural projects to their own communities and in 1995 the Chemainus Murals won the British Airways ‘‘Tourism for Tomorrow’’ Excellence Award (survey results 2002). Along with the positive tourism sector, the mill in Chemainus continues to be profitable and a major employer in the community. Due to the success of ‘‘The Little Town that Did’’ (the copyrighted slogan attached to the community as part of its marketing strategy), Schutz has become a key figure in the spread of mural-based tourism development to many communities across Canada. Due to his influence in the diffusion of mural-based tourism strategies, the next section provides a more detailed look into the man behind the idea, based on both published literature and a personal interview. 4.3.2. The Man Behind the Murals: Karl Schutz While vacationing in Europe during 1970, Schutz visited 15–16th century outdoor ‘‘frescoes’’ or murals on the walls of monasteries in Romania. These murals left such an impression that he felt Chemainus (his home community) could utilize the same idea to build and attract a tourism industry, especially as the town was already struggling with threats of mill closure and downsizing. He took the idea to the Chemainus Chamber of Commerce in 1971, but it was rejected. Once invited to create a revitalization plan in the 1980s, mural development became the centerpiece, despite community resistance to the idea of basing future development on murals and especially tourism. Schutz, however, stresses that mural development is only the beginning of a larger tourism development plan for a community, and that it is the spin-off developments that communities need to focus on and nurture. The winning combination for him is art,

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tourism, marketing, a ‘‘view outside of the box, and the leadership qualities and conviction to do it’’ (Schutz personal communication, 2002). Schutz identifies several key elements that lead to the success of mural development projects. Creativity and visibility in marketing are critical. As an example, he copyrighted the phrase ‘‘The Little Town That Did’’ and utilized it on pamphlets, posters and even on lapel badges that he wore everywhere. The slogan was captivating resulting in a proliferation of questions from people who would read the phrase and ask its meaning. Schutz was happy to provide the ‘‘Chemainus story’’ and people became interested in the town and in the idea of mural development more broadly. This marketing strategy benefited both Chemainus as a destination and Schutz personally. He has become one of the leading experts on mural-based tourism strategies, and as a result has contracted his services to other communities across Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand that are interested in exploring and pursuing a similar strategy. His role is one of facilitator, providing one to two day workshops/ seminars for small groups of leaders in mural development. He is also the president and founder of the (GMACTA), established in 1996. Leadership is another key element, and Schutz stresses that it ‘‘does not mean that one individual does it all. y The only way you are able to achieve your goals is with the dedication and cooperation of others. But it does take leadership to get the cooperation. If you are unable to draw people into your world, then you will not succeed. It has to be an individual; a group or committee never works’’. Further, Schutz has found that when several communities jointly sponsor a workshop session, it does not work, because of community rivalry where each community tries ‘‘to protect themselves for all the wrong reasons. They don’t think of creating a destination’’. For Schutz, geographical characteristics of place, such as location, access to traveling population or community size would have no influence on the outcome of the strategy. When questioned how a small, relatively isolated community would access a large enough visiting population to make the tourism industry viable, he states that this was simply missing the point. Take the crummiest town [that] you have, and you build an Eiffel tower there and see what happens. Now don’t do what most people do and say, well we haven’t got enough money and the know-how, we’ll only make this Eiffel tower half or 30%, instead of its real size. We’ll only build a substitute, half the size. Well forget it. Don’t waste your money. If you are not going to do it right, don’t do it at all y You have got to go [to Las Vegas] if you want to see tourist attractions like I’m talking about y In all the world’s tourist attractions, they are the greatest marketers. And they do it with huge money and they do it absolutely perfect.


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Although not concerned specifically with capital investments in tourism, there is evidence to support Schultz’s claims to Las Vegas-style development in urban centres. Research from within the place marketing and branding literature in tourism suggests that ‘‘fantasy cities’’ (Hannigan, 1998) such as Downtown Disney and Universal City Walk in Orlando, Florida, or NikeTown in New York, are being ‘‘touted by developers and city managers y as the panacea for declining downtowns and suburban shopping centres, signalling the future for public recreation’’ (Anderton & Klein, 1999, p. 14). However, Cai (2002) cautions that branding for rural destinations is an expensive endeavour from the perspective of the operator or community and risky for tourists, because they are unable to ‘‘test drive’’ their destination choice prior to leaving. Unlike urban centres, rural centres do not have the capacity to attract international brands and instead need to create and develop an image that will become recognizable to tourists. Evidence cautions that large-scale investments in remote areas may not garner the expected result in the short term, especially if not undertaken within a larger destination image development and promotion strategy (Cai, 2002; Prideaux, 2002). Schutz’s view on geography not influencing the success of mural-based tourism developments may also be clouded by his frame of reference. Several of the communities involved in the GMACTA have what can be considered extremely positive geographical site and situation characteristics (for example, Katikati New Zealand, Twenty-nine Palms California, Ely Nevada, Chemainus British Columbia and Moose Jaw Saskatchewan). All these communities have access to a large traveling population as a function of their location on a major transportation artery, several are located within developed tourism regions while others are located close enough to large centres to facilitate the day trip traveler. Many rural communities do not share these same advantages, and arguably the success of their mural-base tourism projects is hindered by their inaccessibility. The preceding sections have outlined the characteristics of the mural communities found across Canada, have provided detailed information on both Chemainus, British Columbia as the epicenter for the development and spread of murals across Canada and on Karl Schutz as instrumental in both the success of Chemainus’ mural project and the spread of murals. Ultimately it is difficult to be certain of the influence of this individual, as decision-making takes place on multiple levels, including both cognizant (an individual agrees or disagrees) and unconscious (influenced by personality and background) levels. The following section provides a more detailed

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examination using the survey data to explore why communities chose to develop murals and what the outcomes of those choices have been.

4.4. Findings 4.4.1. Why Murals? Communities of all sizes and in particular those that are considered rural, have sought to establish themselves as unique destinations through place marketing, with tourism becoming an increasingly integral part of that motivation. The findings from this research would support the literature in that mural-based tourism strategies were undertaken primarily to beautify the community in order to attract tourists. As shown in Table 3, 29 percent of the communities cited tourism as one of the reasons for initiating the murals, 19.4 percent cited community beautification as the sole purpose and 45.2 percent cited a combination of community beautification and tourism product/attraction development. The remaining 6.4 percent cited heritage preservation as the reason for mural development. When the communities were grouped into the three different periods of development and crosstabulated with why murals were chosen, an interesting pattern emerges. Tourism development in combination with community beautification remains one of the strongest reasons for developing a mural project across all time periods. However, there is some change in exclusive (tourism or community beautification) reasons. Whereas community beautification does not even enter into consideration in the first time period, it becomes relatively more important over the next two time periods. Table 3.

Summary of Why Murals Were Chosen by Year Grouping (Number of Cases and Percent).

Year Grouping Tourism Community beautification Tourism and community beautification Total Source: Survey results (2002).

1985–1989

1990–1995

1 25% 0 0.0% 3 75.0%

6 35.3% 4 23.5% 7 41.2%

4

17

1996–2000 2 25% 2 25% 4 50% 8


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However, simply examining these communities within a certain time period does not clarify mural development within a complete range of communities, many of which can be considered rural. There is an inherent difficulty in defining a community as rural, as there is limited consensus on what this term means (Bell & Newby, 1971; Deavers, n.d.; Gilg, 1985; Halfacree, 1998; Lapping, Daniels, & Keller, 1989; Mendelson & Bowman, 1998). Although definitions based solely on population size (Mendelson & Bowman, 1998) provide a concise standardized numerical parameter based on a census, they do not reflect the influence of an urban centre on its immediate hinterland. To accurately assess the role of tourism within rural communities, this research used a Classification of Region Types developed by Coffey and McRae (1989), which categorizes communities on the basis of settlement size and location relative to a major urban area as either central or peripheral. Coffey and McRae’s (1989) service centre delineation combines population and distance from a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), where central communities are defined as having a population greater than 100,000 and being within 100 km of a CMA. Peripheral communities are those whose population is less than 10,000 and are located more than 100 km away from a CMA. As Table 4 illustrates, of the 30 communities comprising the study population, only 2 fit Coffee and McRae’s definition of central communities (Winnipeg and Oshawa). To better reflect the influence several of these communities as service centres within their rural hinterlands, the analysis was revised to substitute the Census Agglomerations (CA), which has an urban core population of at least 10,000, for CMAs as the central nodes. By utilizing the CA unit and the same distance requirements (inside or outside a 100 km radius) the number of central communities rose to ten, resulting in a combined total of twelve central communities in the study population. In other words, 60 percent of the communities can be considered peripheral or rural, and 40 percent can be considered central or urban. Distinguishing central and peripheral communities on the basis of their choice of mural development indicates that murals are chosen strictly for tourism purposes in peripheral locations, while a combination of tourism and community beautification is more often associated with central locations. The period of mural development was then crosstabulated with location and motivation for mural development (Table 5), illustrating that while the differences in motivations between central and peripheral communities are not that large, there is a discernable pattern. Peripheral communities choose murals increasingly for community beautification or in combination with tourism more often than for tourism purposes alone. This

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Table 4. Community

33,494 3,812 1,618 26,148 9,589 3,666 9,345 36,983 1,207 1,495 619,544 6,142 796 1,412 2,243 624

KM Distance to CMAa

KM Distance to CAb

383 Vancouver 317 Calgary 403 Vancouver 65 Victoria 39 Edmonton 220 Calgary 56 Edmonton 466 Edmonton 796 Winnipeg 246 Winnipeg CMA 115 Winnipeg 230 Regina 194 Saskatoon 168 Saskatoon 88 Saskatoon

51 Kelowna 97 Cranbrook 72 Kelowna 30 Naniamo 186 Red Deer 97 Lethbridge 161 Lethbridge CA 565 Thompson 63 Brandon CMA 192 Brandon 30 Yorkton 166 Yorkton 90 N. Battleford 63 Prince Albert

CMA Central

CA Central

Peripheral

central peripheral peripheral central peripheral peripheral peripheral central peripheral peripheral central peripheral peripheral peripheral peripheral peripheral

RHONDA L. P. KOSTER

Vernon, BC Sparwood, BC Lumby, BC Chemainus, BC Stony Plain, AB Pincher Creek, AB High River, AB Grand Prairie, AB Snow Lake, MB Boissevain, MB Winnipeg, MB Morden, MB Churchbridge, SK Wadena, SK Biggar, SK Duck Lake, SK

Population (2001)

Size and Centrality of Mural Communities.

Total

32,131 5,161 21,297 16,214 13,490 15,838 48,402 1,026 139,051 43,686 9,470 399 1,161 14,654

70 Regina 124 Saskatoon 26 Hamilton 144 Toronto 150 Ottawa-Hull 205 Winnipeg 24 St.Catherines/Niagra 87 Kingston CMA 274 Sudbury 193 Halifax 10 St. John’s 331 Saint John 296 Saint John

CA 162 N. Battleford 81 Brantford 55 Barrie CA CA 132 Brantford 22 Brockville CMA 554 Pembroke 107 Truro

central peripheral central central central central central peripheral central peripheral peripheral peripheral peripheral

35 Summerside CA

central 2

10

18


Moose Jaw, SK Humboldt, SK Grimsby, ON Midland, ON Pembroke, ON Kenora, ON Welland, ON Athens, ON Oshawa, ON Timmins, ON Amherst, NS Bell Island, NF Mont Carmel, PE Summerside, PE

Source: Statistics Canada (2003), Author’s Calculations (2003). a The community population is greater than 100,000 and is located within a 100 km radius of a CMA. b The community population is greater than 10,000 and is located within a 100 km radius of a CA.

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RHONDA L. P. KOSTER

Table 5. Summary of Why Murals Were Chosen by Year Grouping and Central or Peripheral Location (Number of Cases and Percent). Why Murals

Peripheral Communities

Central Communities

1985–1989 1990–1995 1996–2000 1985–1989 1990–1995 1996–2000 Tourism

1 50.0%

Community beautification Tourism and community beautification Total

1 50.0% 2

4 36.4% 2 18.2% 5 45.4% 11

1 20.0% 2 40.0% 2 40.0% 5

1 33.3%

2 66.7% 2

3 50.0% 2 33.3% 1 16.7% 6

1 33.3%

2 66.7% 3

Source: Survey results (2002).

latter motivation declines consistently in relative terms for peripheral communities over the three time periods. In contrast, while central sites also chose murals for a combination of both community beautification and tourism, tourism as the sole reason is cited more frequently. In summary, the reasons for mural development have evolved since the 1980s when community beautification on its own was not a factor in making that decision. Since then, community beautification has become a reason for mural development in combination with tourism development. In spatial terms, it is evident that murals are chosen primarily for economic-based tourism reasons in peripheral locations, while in central locations murals are chosen more often for a combination of community beautification and tourism. As indicated in the literature (Perks & Macdonald, 1990) community beautification is often undertaken not only for tourism-related purposes specifically, but also to encourage broader economic development. By improving the amenity base of the community, which includes not only physical infrastructure and leisure opportunities but also the appearance of the community itself, the community becomes perceived as an attractive place to live and do business, thereby attracting other people and companies to the region. 4.4.2. Murals and Intended Outcomes Survey respondents were asked to weigh the perceived impacts of muralbased tourism on their community in terms of: 1. adding jobs, 2. bringing in more money,

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3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

increasing economic diversification, encouraging businesses development, fostering pride in place, augmenting a greater understanding of the community and its history, encouraging people to move to or remain living in the community and assisting community members in reaching their CED goals.

Responses to these eight items were subsequently collapsed into three categories for analysis; economic (adding jobs, creating new business, bringing money into the community and increasing economic diversification), community (increase in community pride and understanding of local history) and CED (goals for tourism development). Table 6 provides a summary of the data by taking the average of the percent responses provided in the surveys. Because the number of opportunities to select an economic outcome is slightly inflated (four options) compared to the other two categories (two options for community and one option for CED), then this reclassification of responses may introduce a bias towards the ‘‘economic’’ category being selected by respondents. Potentially this limits the ability to interpret respondent’s views as accurately. If this were true it may be expected that this increased opportunity to select economic options would lead to the economy category being over-represented in the results. As illustrated in Table 6, the response rates show that respondents chose ‘‘community’’ reasons relatively consistently more than ‘‘economy’’ reasons, and this pattern appears to be consistent across time and location. These factors increase the confidence that this is not a potential source of bias in explaining participant’s beliefs in the intended purpose of the strategy. As Table 6 demonstrates, a general finding applicable to all respondents is that mural-based tourism has had a positive impact in achieving the goals Table 6. Goals

Economic Community CED

Does This Strategy Achieve Its Intended Purpose? Average Percentage of Agreement. All Cases (%)

62 74 50


Year Grouping (%)

Location (%)

1985–1989

1990–1995

1996–2000

Central

Peripheral

65 80 60

73 73 55

48 65 29

82 82 50

51 74 47

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RHONDA L. P. KOSTER

set out by the community, in terms of generating increased pride in, and understanding of, place. These statistics are supported by statements within the open-ended portion of the survey including the following. The murals help to create a sense of community as artists and community members develop partnerships to make their visions realities y The murals have a huge piece of everyone in them; this is why they are so successful.

Only 50 percent of the respondents indicated that mural-based tourism had aided them in achieving their CED goals. However, why did half of the respondents feel that mural-based tourism had not aided them in reaching their CED goals? Part of the answer lies in exploring the types of additional activities the communities had undertaken. An open-ended question on the survey asked respondents about other types of activities being pursued in the community. Based on the responses, six categories of activity types were identified (Table 7). Activity type was then crosstabulated with the location variable to determine if (a) there was a difference in opinion regarding the perceptions of CED success between those communities that did undertake other activities and those that did not, and (b) there was a relationship between the types of activities undertaken and the community location. Although the analysis indicated that many communities (N ¼ 22) undertook additional economic development activities within their community, there was a greater degree of belief that mural-based tourism had assisted the community in reaching their CED goals in those communities that did not list additional activities. This may be due to the fact that a Table 7.

Types of Activities Pursued and Community Location.

Activity Type

Number of Responses

Community Location Central

Infrastructure (water, sewer, roads, energy) Community and youth (community services, policing, youth programs) Community beautification (parks, planting, store front upgrades, sidewalks) Business attraction (industry, call centres, factories) Other tourism (festivals, spas, attractions) Entertainment and sports (concerts, sporting events, sporting facilities) Retirement (developing amenities to attract retirees) Source: Survey results (2002).

Peripheral

5 4

3 1

2 4

10

6

4

11 5 4

1 2 3

10 3 1

1

0

1


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larger number of communities listing additional economic development activities are from the third time period (1996–2000) and therefore may have had less time to recognize the outcomes of their mural developments. Further, a large proportion of peripheral communities (63.6 percent) indicated that additional economic development activities were being sought. Due to a more limited set of resources (for example. money, people, businesses) it may be more difficult for these peripheral communities to realize their goals (for example, Winnipeg versus Churchbridge). Crosstabular analysis regarding types of additional activities and community location (Table 7) indicated that the most often cited activities were community beautification and business attraction. Spatially, respondents in central places more often cited community beautification than did peripheral locations (60 versus 40 percent). Conversely, those in peripheral locations were far more likely to cite business attraction as an additional activity than were those in central locations (99 versus 1 percent). The other types of development activities were more equally cited, but centrally located communities were more likely to have undertaken entertainment and sports attraction and development and infrastructural improvements while peripheral communities tended to undertake community and youthrelated activities and broader tourism development. When the communities are examined in the three periods of mural development (Stage One 1985–1989, Stage Two 1990–1995 and Stage Three 1996–2001), interesting trends emerge. Economic factors were more likely to be cited in the Stage Two category of places than in the Stage One or Stage Three groups. When examining a specific element of the economic category it becomes evident that respondents in both the Stage Two and Stage Three categories were more likely to agree that mural-based tourism has benefited the community in terms of increasing businesses. This may be a result of an increased perception of the importance of entrepreneurialism since 1990. Indeed growth in the number of government and non-government organization programs available across Canada to assist and encourage entrepreneurialism in communities would support this contention (Christenson, 1982; Cook, Howell, & Weir, 1985; Martin & Wilkinson, 1985; Youmans, 1990). Over time, for both the community and CED goals, there is a consistent decline (60–29 percent) in the perception that mural-based tourism has assisted the community in achieving their goals. The change in level of agreement is least for communities in the Stage Three (1996–2001) grouping. However, when the ‘‘neutral’’ responses are examined, the proportion of responses in this category is higher during Stage Three than in the earlier stages (Table 8). This may suggest that there is more uncertainty as to how

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Table 8. Goals


RHONDA L. P. KOSTER

Does This Strategy Achieve Its Intended Purpose? Average Percentage of Neutral Responses. All Cases (%)

Year Grouping (%) 1985–1989

1990–1995

1996–2001

15 20 0

16 11 27

37 7 43

24 12 6


Table 9. Does This Strategy Achieve Its Intended Purpose? Combined Average Percentage of Neutral and Disagree Responses by Location. Goals

Community Location (%) Central


9.5 9.5 24

Peripheral 25 13.5 26.5


tourism will impact the community when the strategy has been newly adopted. Although respondents generally agree that mural-based tourism has assisted them in achieving their community-related goals, the level of agreement does decline over time with the strongest support coming in the primary period. A general conclusion is that there appears to be greater uncertainty as to whether mural-based tourism will benefit those communities that adopt mural development late. This suggests that time spent in product development and marketing plays a crucial role in how the success of such a project will be viewed. In one interview, a CDO suggested that it takes two years for a community to see the benefits of an ad campaign or brochure. The findings from this research would support such sentiments. As Table 9 illustrates, there is a much higher level of agreement that mural-based tourism has assisted the communities in achieving their economic, community and CED goals in more accessible communities. A comparison of community location and time period of mural establishment indicated that 89 percent of peripheral communities had undertaken


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mural projects between the second and third time periods, compared to only 75 percent of central communities. Given that peripheral communities have more recently undertaken mural development, it is informative to compare peripheral and central communities with the combination of neutral and disagree categories of responses. Such an examination determined that respondents in peripheral locations tended to disagree or be ambivalent while respondents in more accessible places had a greater level of agreement (Table 9). Again, there may be a greater degree of uncertainty concerning the nature and level of impact on the community for those places that are developing their tourism product more recently, especially in smaller peripheral communities where murals may be one of very few tourist attractions. A crosstabulation, conducted on the variables of community location, mural board structure and level of education, revealed that the more centralized communities were also more likely to have formally structured boards, and board member’s level of education was significantly higher than boards in peripheral locations. Much of the literature on CED and success factors (Markey & Vodden, 2000; Flora et al., 1999) suggest that the qualifications and training of decision makers has a direct bearing on the human capacity to develop their product, to set indicators to assess its development and to better evaluate and improve upon their development framework. This is reflected in this research, as community members in centrally located communities tend to have higher levels of education and more frequently appear to believe that their mural-based tourism developments have been positive.

4.5. Conclusions Mural-based tourism results from the combination of increased interest in heritage and place marketing of rural spaces to overcome economic reliance on escalating uncertainty in the primary industry sectors. Although a mural project may be undertaken for purposes other than tourism or heritage, very often it does evolve into an attraction for the community. In Canada, mural-based tourism exhibits a definite pattern of development, both spatially and temporally, with the epicentre for the origin of the idea being Chemainus, British Columbia. As indicated, this is largely due to the leadership and entrepreneurialism of Karl Schutz who worked to sell the Chemainus idea to other communities across Canada, North America and New Zealand. Although answering part of the question as to why particular places have chosen mural development, his role indicates that it is equally

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important to examine why places do not engage in a particular CED strategy. In the case of mural development, it may be that murals are viewed by many communities as a source of beautification and pride, but not something worth promoting (that is, not a development strategy). Some communities, such as Winnipeg, are beginning to realize the value of their community beautification projects. The ‘‘Take Pride Winnipeg!’’ community mural project won the 2003 Innovation Award at the Keep America Beautiful conference in Washington, D.C. in December. The executive director of ‘‘Take Pride Winnipeg!’’ expects the award will boost tourism in the city, and give Winnipeg a new positive image (Skerritt, 2003). This would suggest that murals may be an entry point for tourism as a CED strategy. There were three distinct stages for mural development across Canada, with the largest number of projects undertaken during Stage Two (1990–1995). More peripheral places than centrally located communities have chosen this strategy. In most cases, murals have been chosen for tourism development purposes, and this is especially the case within peripheral communities. This is due to the changes in the primary industries upon which the community had depended. In central locations, it is the combination of tourism development opportunities and community beautification. Those communities that have undertaken mural development in earlier time periods have a greater degree of ‘‘satisfaction’’ and belief in their product than those communities that have recently undertaken the project. It also tends to be central communities, those located closer to larger population bases and other amenities, which perceive their ‘‘product’’ as successful. This section has provided a context to understand why some communities undertake mural development and what the outcomes of that choice have been. The next section provides an in-depth description and examination of six case study communities located in Saskatchewan that have undertaken mural development projects. An investigation at the case study level allows a more intimate examination into the questions of why a mural-based strategy was chosen, how the project was undertaken, what process was employed and how it has been viewed by the community more broadly.

5. SASKATCHEWAN STORIES OF MURAL DEVELOPMENT To complete a project [like the murals] y is something that shows you that small town Saskatchewan is still there. That really far back mentality of let’s group together and head for a goal and finish it, is there. And it was all volunteer. (Interviewee)


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5.1. Introduction Both rural and urban communities across Canada have developed muralbased tourism for a variety of reasons, but predominately to address reliance on a single industry in decline. This section provides a detailed description of the communities in Saskatchewan that have undertaken mural development projects, and as their stories will indicate, not all communities have undertaken this venture for tourism-based reasons, although tourism may have been one of the ultimate outcomes. Each of the Saskatchewan case study communities was originally identified in the cross Canada process. In the following sections, information regarding the community’s location, demographic and socio-economic profile, ‘‘mural story’’ and other community development activities provides a geographical profile to better understand CED in rural places. Table 10 provides a summary of the characteristics of each of the case study communities.

5.2. Community Stories 5.2.1. Wadena Mural development was undertaken in 1996 as a community beautification project for a Home Coming festival, with no intention of long-term tourism development. The choice of murals came from the original organizer of the group, Rose Palechka, who had painted a mural in her sitting room and believed that murals would be a good way to ‘‘improve’’ the community (Wadena News, 1996a). To determine if local businesses would be interested in having murals painted on their buildings, Palechka approached the downtown merchants, who were supportive of the idea and offered to assist with the costs. An article was placed in the local newspaper that explained the mural idea and invited participation of all community members. Despite a large number of people attending the initial meeting, only four women ended up undertaking the project, calling themselves Wadena Mural Images. They began painting murals during the winter in a building donated by the Town Council, which did not offer any additional financial support for the project. Despite the financial assistance of local businesses, additional funding was necessary and the group developed a fundraising campaign and by the time of the Home Coming, five murals had been painted and additional local businesses began making requests to sponsor murals on their buildings (see, for example, Fig. 9). The concept behind the project was

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Table 10. Elements

Comparative Summary Table of Saskatchewan Mural Communities. Wadena

Population (2001) Start date Objective

1,412 1996 Community beautification

Origin of idea Artist type Selection process Number of murals Board structure Local government dollar input Approximate total Cost of murals Funding sources

Churchbridge

Duck Lake

Moose Jaw

Humboldt

32,131 1989 Tourism

5,161 1993 Tourism

Chemainus, BC Professional Formalized 9 Formal None

Chemainus, BC Professional Formalized 33 Formal $250,000

Moose Jaw, SK Professional Formalized 8 Formal None

$6,650

Unknown

$100,000

$825,000

$40,000

Individual, community group and corporate donations, fundraising projects

Individual and Community Federal and community group volunteers municipal donations working bingos as government, fundraiser individual and corporate donations

Source: Koster and Randall (2005).

Individual, community group and corporate donations

RHONDA L. P. KOSTER

624 1990 Tourism

Local Hobby Painter Volunteer Not applicable 19 Informal None

796 1995 Community beautification Pembroke, ON Volunteer Not applicable 13 Informal None


Fig. 9.

205

Saskin, No Date. Artists: Rose Palechka, Lenora Hordos and Brenda Holte. Place: Wadena, Saskatchewan, Canada.

to create original scenes that reflected the unique past and present characteristics of Wadena and Saskatchewan. The Board of Wadena Mural Images did not have a formalized committee structure, although they did keep records of events and money raised. Two of the original four women now run the mural project, while the other two have continued to paint murals independent of the original group. A total of 19 murals have been constructed since 1996, each costing approximately $350 for supplies (Wadena News, 1996b). The group raised approximately $5,000 through various fundraising projects, (e.g., beef on a bun, selling meat pies, cook books and calendars), and the remainder consisted of inkind donations of paint and supplies. The volunteer time has been significant; for example, the group recently completed a mural that they estimate required 582 h of painting and research, a time frame that would be typical of most of the 19 murals. The four women and others interviewed in the community all expressed the belief that the murals have been extremely successful. In these interviews it appeared that the success of the mural project was measured anecdotally by the compliments received from the Home Coming visitors, continued local requests to paint more murals after the Home Coming was over along with requests to paint in other communities, by the carloads of people coming to tour and indications from new residents that they were happier about moving to Wadena when they saw the murals. At the time the interviews were being conducted, the structure of Wadena’s local government was in transition. Both the Economic

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RHONDA L. P. KOSTER

Development, Tourism and Recreation Director and the Town Engineer were relocating and the current Town Council was utilizing the opportunity to restructure the two positions into a single Town Foreman with a Town Council Economic Development Sub-committee. The rationale was that the town did not require a paid position due to lack of economic development in the region. The amalgamation of the two positions and the view that there was a lack of economic development opportunities indicates that economic development in Wadena was not a priority in two ways. First, by combining the two jobs the town would be limiting in the range of economic development or other activities it could undertake. Second, those interviewed indicated that Wadena was ‘‘holding its own, not dying or growing y right now [economic development opportunities are] in a lull, people [are not] opening their pocket books to start anything. But our main street is pretty full right now, but I suppose if a spot were to come open they [the economic development committee] could be out there trying to attract somebody in’’. In contrast, others interviewed indicated frustration with the lack of support received from council and community members to undertake any type of development within the community. Despite these conflicting views, volunteer committees within the community have capitalized on a variety of events that attract a number of visitors to the community. As is the case for many rural communities, both curling (they have hosted the Scott Tournament of Hearts, the annual national women’s curling championship) and hockey have provided both entertainment for local residents as well as a tourism draw to the community. Wadena has been able to capitalize on its location near the Quill Lakes to attract both hunters and birders. For example, at the end of May Wadena hosts a Shore Bird Festival, attracting between 150 and 200 people every year (Wadena News, 1997a). Although the exact number of birders to the region throughout the year is unknown, the Ducks Unlimited office in Wadena receives visitors and inquiries throughout the year, indicating additional visitation within the region (Wadena News, 1997a). Perhaps more significant to the community and its economy are the hunters that come to the region, attracted by the high concentration of waterfowl. In 1996, a group of residents, calling themselves the Hunters Promotion Committee, requested money from the Wadena Economic Development committee (EDC) to promote the region to hunters in the United States and Europe as one of the best places to hunt migratory birds (Wadena News, 1996c). Since that time, the group has developed a data base of the hunters for mailing promotional materials, they have provided assistance with accommodation as many of the hunters are billeted out to


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families or rent accommodations that are not being utilized (e.g., farm houses) and they have held ‘‘hunter suppers’’ every Wednesday evening during the hunting season, described by a committee member as a social we hold at the curling rink, it is big enough to hold everyone. We buy them [the hunters] supper, our committee, and then we have refreshments, a bar and then we have raffle tickets. And what they purchase in raffle tickets and liquor offsets what we pay for their supper. And then the local people pay to get in. We’ve had up to three hundred people.

In addition to these larger attractions, Wadena also hosts a Sports Day in June, Vintage Days in July and are a stop along an annual summer wagon trek, which is a three-day event that attracts approximately one hundred riders and involves day time trekking and night time entertainment. 5.2.2. Churchbridge Mural development in Churchbridge began as a community beautification project in 1995 to celebrate the 90th birthday of Saskatchewan, when the Arts Club painted a mural on the wall of the local hotel. The positive community response and approval of this one mural convinced Town Council to encourage the Arts Club to paint 13 more murals, primarily highlighting the settlement heritage of the community (see, for example, Fig. 10). The total cost of Churchbridge’s murals is unknown, as local service clubs or private donations provided most of the materials. The eight-member Arts Club, developed in 1985, is an informal organization of women with an interest in the arts. Town Council provides the group with very limited funding but does support project ideas. The Chair of the Arts Club has encouraged a broad range of activities and age groups to become involved in mural-related activities, most recently including hanging banners on light standards along Main Street. Her rationale is that painting the community’s heritage provides an opportunity, ‘‘y to honour those on whose shoulders we stand y’’ and because, ‘‘y it brings people together y it [becomes] everybody’s mural’’. The mayor is more pragmatic in his rationale for support, indicating that greater involvement of youth might indirectly encourage them to remain in the community. Other tourism initiatives have evolved out of the murals-as-a-communitybeautification-project, including development of a tourism booth, a monument honouring a local artist whose design is on the 1992 Canadian Quarter coin, and the retail sale of post cards depicting the murals. The mayor has no illusions that Churchbridge will become a tourism destination

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Fig. 10.

RHONDA L. P. KOSTER

Postage Stamp Series, No Date. Artist: Churchbridge Arts Club. Place: Churchbridge, Saskatchewan, Canada.

and changes in the numbers of visitors are not measured, but he stated that he was happy with the increased number of visitors who come to see the murals. Both the Mayor and the Chair of the Arts Club stated that increased community pride and broad-based community participation were other positive outcomes of mural development. Churchbridge has an active and evolving community development agenda, undertaken by the Churchbridge Community Development organization (CCD) and lead by a dedicated CDO. In interviews with community members and in newspaper articles, the CDO was mentioned repeatedly as having contributed a great deal to the social fabric of the community (The Four Town Journal, 2000a). Through her partnership building (with theEDC, the Town Council, the REDA) and grant writing abilities, she has brought a number of social and economically focused programs to the town. The CCD calculates that during an 18-month period (between 2000 and 2002) they garnered over $200,000 in grant money.


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Their success is tangible in terms of the range of social programs offered in the community. These include a day camp for children aged five and up, bringing the Internet to the town through the Community Access Program, the development of an Odd Jobs Squad to assist residents, especially seniors and the Churchbridge Family Enrichment Program (which provides funding to families requiring financial support of their children’s activities). Economically, the CCD has developed a number of programs to attract people and business to the community. For example, the MOVE COW project was developed and promoted to attract ranchers from Alberta (where rangeland is limited) to the Churchbridge region where quality rangeland is affordable and readily available. The CDO has also developed a community profile (available on the town’s web site) to assist potential businesses, farmers or residents in learning about the various attributes of the community. The group also organizes an annual trade show that is attended by people from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. In addition, the CCD also provides limited financial support to various organizations within the community, including the Arts Board and the agricultural society. Despite enthusiastic verbal support for the work of both the CCD and the Arts Club, the Town Council offers limited financial support to either group. The chairs for both groups expressed frustration with the Council. The chairperson for the Arts Club spoke of waiting for over a year and the town council still had not provided some promised supplies. She stated that this lack of support ‘‘dampened our spirits’’. Despite frustration, both groups continued to work towards improving the social, economic and cultural fabric of the community, as evidenced by newspaper articles regarding both groups’ activities. 5.2.3. Duck Lake Unlike Wadena and Churchbridge, mural development that began in Duck Lake in 1990 was chosen explicitly to increase tourism, and community beautification was only considered an added benefit. The idea was actively pursued by the Mayor in 1990, who indicated that he read about the murals of Chemainus and thought Duck Lake could achieve similar tourism-related success. He personally solicited community members to form a Mural Board and invited Karl Schutz to a fundraising banquet. The mayor stated that the large turnout at the initial fundraising banquet was an indicator of community support for the idea of developing murals. The Duck Lake Mural Board had broad community representation, including youth, seniors, business, Me´tis and First Nations organizations,

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Fig. 11.

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Signing of Treaty 6, No Date. Artist: Gus Froese. Place: Duck Lake.

and decided to use Saskatchewan-based professional painters only. The Board had a formalized selection process for the mural themes (based on the cultural heritage of the region) and artists (see, for example, Fig. 11). Compared to Wadena and Churchbridge, the nine Duck Lake murals were very expensive, costing approximately $100,000 in total, acquired primarily via fundraising. It was the impression of the former Mayor that community participation and support for the fundraising was strong, as evidenced by the large numbers of residents willing to work bingos in Prince Albert (a 45 min drive north) to raise the necessary funding. The Town Council redeveloped Main Street to provide a forum for the murals by accessing the Main Street grant programs available at the time along with the New Careers Corporation grants (Heritage Canada, 2003). Local businesses supplied the materials and local participants in the New Careers program provided the labour. The Mural Board developed a logo to promote the mural project, calling it, ‘‘History in the Painting’’, while the town adopted the logo ‘‘Faces of Honour’’. The former Mayor stated that the Board and the community in general initially believed that the level of media attention, the number of long distance telephone enquiries, numbers of visitors and the ‘‘sense of community pride’’ would all constitute indicators of project success. Further the Mural Board had expected future revenues derived from the


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creation of both paid-guided and self-guided tours for visitors, retail sales of mural pamphlets, books, shirts, prints, post cards, and the display and sale of the modellos (i.e., original paintings submitted to the Mural Board for adjudication). It was also originally understood that the artists would come back each summer either to create new murals or to maintain existing ones, and that visitors could interact with the artists as they worked. All of these were expected to lead indirectly to increased business, the creation of new enterprises to support the tourism industry and continued expansion of the outdoor gallery of murals. After ten years the former mayor was less sanguine. The existing murals have begun to deteriorate, no new ones have been painted, and the expected community economic benefits have not materialized, despite hiring two economic development marketers. The Mural Board Chair believes that the murals have increased the number of visitors (although no records of visitation have been kept), but that ‘‘y there’s [not] been that much of an economic boom out of it other than attracting visitation y A lot of people just y drive through with their cars and then leave. The whole idea was to get them to stop and use our services. There is a small percentage that does, but not as much as we would like’’. When questioned as to why the mural development had not achieved its goals, the former mayor stated that he believed no one from the community had taken a leadership role in the mural development nor did they have the knowledge to promote auxiliary tourism. He stated further ‘‘it is always easy to build it, harder to operate it’’. Karl Schutz, who had assisted Duck Lake with their mural plans, cited the lack of continued visionary leadership and inappropriate hiring of marketing personnel as reasons for the lack of success in Duck Lake. Schutz maintains that leadership and mentoring of new leaders are the keys to the successful development of any tourism strategy. He further argues that communities must see mural development as part of a comprehensive attraction. The former mayor suggested that although the Mural Board had a vision for the community having several anchors for attracting visitors, it is possible that the broader community did not fully understand how to support such development. For example, by the mid-1990s, several additional businesses began, including an art gallery, a vacation farm and a restaurant, all of which are still in operation. However, no planning to work with surrounding communities to promote the region as an attraction was undertaken. There are a number of attractions and festivals that take place annually within the region, including Celtic Games, First Nations Celebrations at Fort Carleton, a rodeo, pilgrimage to St. Laurent Shrine and a Me´tis gathering called ‘‘Back to Batoche’’.

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Economic development initiatives within Duck Lake have been limited, largely due to an inactive EDC and the fact that it is no longer part of the REDA in Prince Albert (PA REDA). There are a number of reasons for this situation. Duck Lake had belonged to the PA REDA for a very brief period during the late 1990s, during which the town was able to garner grant money through the REDA Enhancement Partnership Fund for the museum. However, the EDC at the time left because they believed the PA REDA was not offering the kind of support they required. Interviews with the current PA REDA Executive Director indicated that the authority has struggled for some time to define itself in its current affiliation with the local chapter of the Chamber of Commerce. As a result, he believes many communities with the PA REDA region became disenchanted with the authority and did not maintain membership. During 2002 they restructured with the hope of attracting the communities that had left. Another perception for the inactivity of the EDC in Duck Lake was as a result of a ‘‘deal gone sour’’, as described during one interview. A member of the EDC had been contacted by a company in the United States for a potential business start. The EDC invested a great deal of time and resources to aid the company in obtaining grant money to move into the area, only to discover that the company was fraudulent and that the entire idea had been to take the grant money and leave. The interviewee explained that, ‘‘They [the US company] needed the Town Council to approve certain elements of the application in order to get the money y I know one incident should not stop everything, but it was so devastating. We were really excited about the potential for this’’. Subsequent to that experience, the EDC became inactive, and the town office answered all enquiries. In an interview, a council member indicated that the Town Council offered tax breaks to interested businesses and that they sell unserviced lots for 20 dollars, with the condition that the builder undertakes construction within a year. Bell Pulse (a pea splitting and shipping plant) moved to Duck Lake in 2001, attracted by this tax incentive and the availability of an empty elevator with access to the railroad for transportation. He noted that one of the limitations to further business attraction is the small reservoir that supplies the town’s water. ‘‘If there was a fire, we wouldn’t have enough water to put it out, and that is a concern for a business’’. The current Town Administrator stated that in 2002 there had been calls to the Town Office requesting information for business start ups, so there was hope that perhaps the EDC would become active again.


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5.2.4. Moose Jaw Mural development began in 1989 as a result of a letter sent to City Council by a resident of Moose Jaw who had seen the Chemainus murals and thought it would be a good idea for the city. Based on this letter, a Council member and business owner put forward a proposal to City Council, which voted in favour of the suggestion and consulted with Karl Schutz. He was able to convince the City to dedicate $250,000 in seed money to start the murals. This amount was held in an account by the City and was depleted by 1995. The original intent for mural development was to assist with the redevelopment of the downtown core and to create a tourism attraction. The expectation had been that mural development would act as a catalyst for broader tourism development within the city. Moose Jaw established a formal Mural Board, with a mission and formalized in city by-laws. Initial Board members were selected in 1990 on the basis of recommendations from a Steering Committee established by City Council. The artist and mural selection process was formal and not limited to Saskatchewan artists. Murals were restricted to the downtown area, and had to depict the history of Moose Jaw (see, for example, Fig. 12). The Board invites applications from artists or local residents, and then decides what they can afford to paint, determines a suitable location and hires the artist. Moose Jaw currently has 33 murals, costing between $10,000 and $25,000 each, including artist fees and materials. Although the initial seed money provided by the City allowed for the development of most of the murals, the Board also undertook a number of fundraising events and received money from Western Economic Diversification Canada, a federal government development agency. The Murals of Moose Jaw Board receives an annual

Fig. 12.

River Street Red. Artist: Brian Romagnoli, 1991. Place: Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada.

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operating grant from the City of Moose Jaw of $10,000, and has developed the Foundation for the Murals of Moose Jaw Inc. as a separate administrative body from the City. The Foundation applies for various grants, accepts private and corporate donations and holds a limited number of fundraising events on behalf of the Mural Board. The original intent of the Mural Board was to maintain the existing murals and to develop others, with revenue raised through the sale of limited edition prints and associated merchandise. The Mural Board ‘‘y have discovered, as other cities with murals have, that because the murals exist within the public domain, it is very difficult to sell limited edition prints. And it depends on the mural and the artist who created it. If the artist has a name, the print sells better’’. As a result, the Mural Board found itself with a significant amount of capital invested in merchandise that was not selling. A local business purchased the lot, at roughly two-thirds the original cost, and now pays an annual licensing fee to the Board of approximately $100. Although the Mural Board no longer organizes tours, they are arranged upon request. As well, a City-owned trolley car tour of downtown Moose Jaw provides information and viewing of some of the murals. The tourism industry in Moose Jaw has grown significantly over the past decade, as measured by numbers of tourists and tourism-based revenue. Statistics from Tourism Moose Jaw indicate that the number of visitors has increased from 96,000 in 1998 to 169,000 in 2001, while expenditures have doubled from $15.2 million to $30.7 million over the same time period (Power, 2002). The tourism industry has also expanded, evidenced by the building of Temple Garden’s Mineral Spa and hotel complex, the creation of the ‘‘Tunnels of Moose Jaw’’, the development of Casino Moose Jaw (with an additional 18 indoor murals), the construction of a new Tourism Information Centre along the Trans Canada Highway, the development of an Arts and Cultural Centre and the refurbishing of many of the storefronts along Main Street. Downtown redevelopment and the construction of tourism attractions suggest that Moose Jaw’s murals have been extremely successful for the community and its broader economic development, and strongly linked to the original mural project objectives. An elected official and Mural Board member stated that, ‘‘y increased tourist numbers have indicated to business owners that improvements such as storefront and interior renovations are economically worthwhile. Furthermore, tourism has encouraged the development of new small businesses and has attracted ‘‘big box’’ retailers to the city’’. In 1995 a large chain grocery store (Super Store) opened an outlet in Moose Jaw, followed by Wal Mart and Garden Market IGA (another grocery store) in 1999 and


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other retail chains in 2001. Moose Jaw was also the first city in the province to open a Safeway Gas Bar and where Galaxy Theatres (a large multi-screen movie theatre complex) chose to open their first Saskatchewan location (a $4 million investment). Those interviewed felt that much of this investment had been driven by tourism and the service sector, and according to the EDO, these investments and plans have amounted to a city that is ‘‘not dying y that is more than a humorous name’’. To paraphrase Urry (1990) it is a city that has put itself within the tourist and business gaze. 5.2.5. Biggar The mural project was undertaken in 1997 in conjunction with the design for a new museum. The museum had previously been located in the basement of the library and the plan had originally been to move the museum into an existing heritage-style building. However, the building burned down and a new structure had to be built to house the museum. Due to financial constraints, pre-engineered steel building construction was chosen for the new building and consequently, it in no way had the appearance of a museum and more closely resembled an equipment dealership. A mural was therefore included in the plans for the building to help identify it as the museum. The mural itself was painted by Gus Froese between 1996 and 1997 and cost the museum approximately $6,000. It was painted on crezen board rather than directly on to the building itself. The museum is a community museum, meaning that there is no one owner. Instead a Board of Directors from the community oversees its operation and functioning, while the day-to-day operations are managed by a Director. The focus of the museum is the history and story of Biggar and area, and the mural depicts this history (Fig. 13). There are a number of other painted ‘‘signs’’ in the community, created to promote the town theme of ‘‘New York is big, but this is Biggar’’ and their claim to the largest deer killed in the region. Although the community is listed in the Saskatchewan Vacation Guide (Tourism Saskatchewan, 1999) as having a mural attraction, there is only the one mural on the museum, chosen specifically to beautify and identify the building, with no intended contribution to a tourism strategy for the community. While interviewing the Director of the museum, it became evident that Biggar would prove to be an interesting case study as the community was attempting to revitalize through community development training and strategic development, which included a tourism component. Over the course of 18 months, a group of 21 people came together with the aim of developing a strategic plan for the community, based on broad

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Fig. 13.

RHONDA L. P. KOSTER

No Title, 1997. Artist: Gus Froese. Place: Biggar, Saskatchewan, Canada.

community participation in the process. The group was named the Biggar Committee for Community Development (BCCD), and by the end of the 18 months, the committee had identified 7 strategic development areas, and formed sub-committees to carry out research and work, under the coordination of an executive committee that would oversee the implementation of the strategic plan. Tourism development was one of the seven strategic areas, with a focus on the community attributes such as its history and New York theme (‘‘New York is big, but this is Biggar’’), the artistic talents of its community members and the attractions in the region. There are currently no active tourism attractions or developments in Biggar, despite the fact that at two different times they have tried to develop a Tourism Committee. Both failed and the only remnant is the New York t-shirts, which the museum now sells. There has been no attempt from the town to join the West Central tourism region. The museum is one of the attractions in the community along with ‘‘Little Apple Productions’’, a local theatre group that has run continual productions for 20 years and draws large crowds of people from the region and beyond (in 1999 over 3,800 people attended a production of ‘‘New York is Big, but this is Biggar – The Musical’’). There are a number of event-based attractions as well, including The Biggar Brit Rally, which is a motorbike rally originally hosted by a local resident and now organized by the Biggar


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Museum in conjunction with the economic development office. The Annual Show and Shine attracts many classic car enthusiasts to view vintage automobiles. Other seasonal attractions are hunting, snowmobiling, music and dance festivals, hockey tournaments, and an antiques and collectibles show. Despite the community strategic planning process, there are a number of barriers to its implementation and the growth of the community, as identified by those interviewed. As with many rural communities, Biggar’s population is aging, with the 18–35 cohort being very small. A consequence is ‘‘an old boy’s club’’ mentality that makes it very difficult to undertake any progressive ideas within the community. One interviewee suggested that ‘‘although most people seem to understand and buy into the need for long-term vision they get bogged down in the ‘how to’ area y some [ people] are detail people while others see the big picture’’ and this has a dramatic effect on how the group is able to undertake strategic planning and development. Support of local business is fair, but is challenged by the proximity of Saskatoon and residents’ attitude that ‘‘they can drive to Saskatoon y and pay for their gas by going to buy butter at Costco’’. Although recognizing that these challenges are present, those involved in Biggar’s CED planning and implementation feel confident that the town will continue to move progressively into the future. ‘‘y We have to look at Biggar and say y we are going to be the regional center y So that’s how we’ve set ourselves up, that’s where we want to be’’. 5.2.6. Humboldt In 1989, the Humboldt City Council reasoned that, because the local agricultural industry was lagging, the council needed to find a way to diversify their economy (Korte, 2002). Tourism, focused specifically on a German cultural heritage theme, was chosen to reflect the European settlement roots in the region. The Bank of Commerce required a new building with wheelchair access, so they donated their older heritage-style building to the City. This provided a focal point for the Tourism Committee, which turned the building into the Willikommen Centre. The Centre acts as the tourism information site housing a gift shop and provides meeting space. The German theme was developed both in social-cultural and physical terms. The Tourism Committee hired a Director of Special Events and Tourism, who developed a series of festivals [Mai Fest, Sommer Fest, Erntedank or October Fest, Weihnachtsbaum Beleuchtung (Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony) and St. Nikolaus Tag (a visit from St. Nicholas)], provided opportunities for classes in German folk art painting and language and assisted in the development of folk dance (Waldsee Tanzkreis) and choral (Waldsee Singkreis) clubs. She also encouraged the development of

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German cuisine in the local restaurants by bringing German chefs in for training sessions. To enhance these cultural changes, the City of Humboldt provided grants of up to $1,500 to merchants in the downtown core to refurbish their storefronts in the half-timber style associated with the Black Forest region of Germany. Many of these initiatives were undertaken not only to attract tourists but also to develop a collective sense of community or identity based on German culture and traditions. By the early 1990s it had become apparent that despite encouraging tourism development, there was a need for something else for visitors to see and do. A group of community members decided that outdoor murals would enhance the German theme and diversify the local tourism product. A formal Board, ostensibly representative of the local population, was appointed by City Council in 1993. In interviews, Board members stated that there were very specific requirements for the murals, including adherence to the German theme (see, for example, Fig. 14) and the use of professional painters. Humboldt has eight murals, each costing approximately $5,000. Although City Council was supportive, no municipal government funding was provided and the Board had to fundraise for the murals, largely through corporate sponsorships as well as individual and group donations. Those interviewed stated that the murals had achieved their intended purpose by providing another anchor for tourists. Although the number varies, the city receives approximately six bus tours a year, and a guided tour of the murals forms part of the trip organized by the Willikommen Centre in Humboldt. Prior to the development of the German tourist theme and the murals, the tourism industry was marginal in Humboldt and visitation was

Fig. 14.

No Title, No Date. Artist: Gerhard Lipp. Place: Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Canada.


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and is still not recorded. The only estimate is based on those who sign the guest register at the Willikommen Centre, which indicates that Humboldt receives an estimated average, based on those who sign the guest register, of three to five hundred visitors per year. Based on the lack of specifics, it appears that measurement of mural development impacts is still largely anecdotal. Although the city has not had an EDO for many years, the Mayor indicated that a Committee has recently been created by City Council that will be ‘‘looking for y what is missing here in town and what can we do to entice it’’. This group will be independent of the city and is comprised of a variety of business people with connections to various industries. The philosophy behind its creation is that these individuals are linked to other places through their business associations and therefore know who may be looking for a place to relocate or start a business. This group will then be able to promote Humboldt to outside businesses thinking of relocating. The mayor indicated that the key to community growth comes from within the community itself, believing that the murals and tourism have been very successful in supporting economic development more broadly within the community, citing an increase in the number of stores (including national chains like Peavey Mart), restaurants and even international fast-food restaurant outlets (e.g., A&W and McDonald’s). ‘‘We like the fact that McDonald’s moved in. Not the fact that it is McDonald’s. But the fact that those people tend to do their research fairly well. It sends a signal’’. To support new business creation, the city has an industrial park policy wherein a business constructing a new facility will receive tax concessions based on the number of jobs created. This has encouraged the development of some businesses. However, several other industries that have moved to Humboldt have not been eligible for such concessions because they were not building a new premise. Examples included Doepker Industries, which relocated to Humboldt despite being wooed by Alberta and Farm World Industries, a Ford New Holland farm implements dealership. Big Sky Pork (a hog barn industry) grew from a husband and wife team based from their farm, to a company employing 350 people with their head office in Humboldt. That development has resulted in spin-off companies to facilitate the hog barn industry, including DSI, a company that makes cement flooring for hog barns and Belaire Systems, which makes hog barn ventilation equipment that is exported internationally. Despite such positive growth indicators, some of those interviewed indicated that while tourism has been recognized as an economic generator, the community or businesses have bought into it fully, likely due to the fact that business owners need to see tangible results quickly and do not understand

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how the tourism industry works. Another interviewee echoed these statements by sharing frustration with businesses that were unwilling to add German cuisine, participate in sidewalk sales by dressing up or by refurbishing their storefronts. In spite of such challenges, the Tourism Director and Councillors continue to promote Humboldt as a place to visit or live.

5.3. Conclusion The purpose of this section was to provide an overview of the mural development process in each locality to better understand the practice of community development more broadly within rural places. This examination has demonstrated that communities of differing sizes have undertaken murals for varying reasons with tourism being an outcome in each situation. Although the populations of the case study communities varies from over 35,000 to less than 700 and has continued to decline since the 1996 census, the activity level (as denoted by the number of clubs, services and businesses) in each place defies the myth of ‘‘dying rural populations’’. The time I spent in each place with a number of citizens suggested to me that these residents do not see their communities as dying, perhaps at worst as ‘‘holding their own’’. There is a sense of optimism of having choices within parameters that are only limited by what members are willing to invest in time and effort. There are obstacles (largely relating to fiscal limitations and government) but these are not considered insurmountable. Mural development provides an indication of the level of commitment of rural peoples and their will to find creative solutions and options to provide a quality of life for residents who chose to make these communities their home. In the next section, GT analysis is undertaken to draw out the main themes, critically comparing the experiences of the six communities to address the broader objective of contributing to the debate and understanding of how tourism-based CED is understood, defined and carried out, and how successes, both tangible and intangible, are measured.

6. AN ANALYSIS OF MURAL-BASED TOURISM AS A COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY What we have seen once again this past summer certainly underlines the fact that tourism continues to hold tremendous potential for this area. (Four Town Journal, 1998a)


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6.1. Introduction The main objective of this research is to contribute to an emerging theory of CED by creating a conceptual link between various theories associated with rural and community development and the actual practice of CED. The beginning of this section therefore examines the four theoretical areas of institutional thickness, embeddedness, governance and leadership, with tourism, murals and other economic development strategies serving as crosscutting themes. Such an analysis aids in determining if these concepts have relevance within CED and to determine their use as a lens though which to assess the sustainability and success of a tourism-based strategy for rural areas. This analysis addresses several ancillary objectives including an examination of the sustainability of rural places, how CED is practised within rural communities and a fuller examination of how certain strategies become attached to development approaches. The final section of Section 6 contributes to the development of a framework for evaluating the potential and success of tourism development within a CED process in a rural context. In addition, this section examines the viability of tourism as a CED strategy in creating community sustainability.

6.2. Exploring Possible Linkages to Community Economic Development Theory Various theories or concepts could have been utilized to provide a fuller understanding or theorization of CED, so why choose institutional thickness, embeddedness, governance and leadership? Initially, these concepts were chosen because of their relationship to the set of constraints outlined by Brown (1981) as critical to understanding why certain innovations are adopted within particular locations. A further examination of CED-based research indicated that the social and human ‘‘capacitybased’’ literature had been theorized and understood as part of the CED process (Markey & Vodden, 2000; Flora et al., 1999), but a void existed in terms of the relationship of CED to economic factors, government and leadership. The conceptual areas of institutional thickness, embeddedness, governance and leadership collectively appeared to form a web providing a more complete picture to address a theoretical void in the CED literature. The remainder of this section is organized under each of the conceptual areas of institutional thickness, governance, embeddedness and leadership. Each section begins with a brief review of the concept and is followed by the

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findings. Section 6.4 provides the analysis and findings relating to success and evaluation. 6.2.1. Institutional Thickness Institutional thickness, as discussed in Section 2, is a theory developed by Amin and Thrift (1995) as part of the institutionalist movement in economic geography, and refers specifically to urban areas within a globalizing economic environment. Their concept is formulated around four factors (Amin & Thrift, 1995): 1. a strong and varied institutional presence (including firms, financial institutions, Chambers of Commerce, training agencies, economic development agencies, government agencies, etc.); 2. high levels of interaction between the institutions at a local level; 3. the development of structures of control, coalition building and collective representation in order to minimize sectionalism and unwanted behaviour and 4. the development of mutual awareness and involvement in a common agenda among and between these institutions. In discussing the emergence of institutionalism in economic geography in a special edition of AREA, Amin addresses the criticism that only local institutions are highlighted and the theory fails to address the influence of national and international institutions. Instead he suggests ‘‘there is no reason why these distanciated institutions cannot be placed centre stage in any institutionalist study of local economic development and change’’ (Amin, 2001, p. 1239). Although Amin (2001) does speak about the importance of the influence of non-local organizations, he refers specifically to national policy interaction regulations, remote business elites (multinational corporations) and their impact on an urban region. For this research, the concept of institutional thickness is applied within a rural context, and although evidence supports its inclusion in understanding CED, it becomes apparent that the region plays a dominant role in understanding the successful outcomes of that development and that indeed, institutions exogenous to the local arena, but within a provincial or national context, play a significant role in determining outcomes. MacKinnon (2002) further criticizes IT for its emphasis on global–local dynamics as downplaying the continuing significance of the nation state as a key site in governing political economy and geography. As subsequent analysis will demonstrate, this is a key factor in sustainable rural CED.


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Data analysis indicates there is a relationship between institutional thickness and CED, but within a rural context, its structure is different than envisioned within Amin and Thrift’s (1995) urban context. There are various ‘‘thickness levels’’ that are identifiable in rural communities, each with a role to play in the development and sustainability of the rural community. Part of this analysis responds to the criticisms levelled at the theory of institutional thickness. In essence, the research demonstrates that the four premises of the theory do provide a way of understanding CED in rural and small towns and cities, but the ‘‘thickness level’’ varies in scope, function and scale. The analysis of both primary and secondary data collected indicates that community organizations, volunteers, businesses and individuals, and local government constitute the institutions and are important to the sustainable function of primarily rural communities. Some of these thicknesses can actually work against the process of CED. The following sections discuss each institution in turn. Community Organizations/Committees. A Community Organizations/ Committees forms one of the institutional thickness levels in rural communities and is comprised of organizations like the Chambers of Commerce, credit unions, service groups (e.g., Lions, Lionettes, Jaycees), churches, volunteer associations and various economic development, tourism and social development committees that are present within the community. These groups are crucial to the sustainability of rural communities as they provide the framework upon which various economic, social and recreational projects are based. This thickness is evident in the support various projects garner from these organizations and committees, for example, the commitment of organizations such as the Kinsmen, Jaycees and Lions within a particular place to support projects such as the town hall in Wadena (Wadena News, 1997b) and the swimming pool in Humboldt (Humboldt Journal, 1985, 2000a). In the smaller communities, similar organizations provided monetary assistance to the mural projects. In addition to supporting and fostering community-based projects, it is evident that organizations also provide a level of thickness through their support of other organizations. For example, the Business Improvement District (BID) voted unanimously to give $10,000 from their own downtown beautification fund to the mural project because it benefited what the BID was trying to accomplish (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1990a). In a similar manner, the CCD organization and the Lion’s Club in Churchbridge supported the mural project in that community.

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A further level of thickness is supplied by the Chamber of Commerce, which provides another area of support for the community, ranging from its traditional role as ‘‘community booster’’ to promoting local businesses to act as part of a lobby effort to obtain community recognition at provincial or federal government levels. The Chamber of Commerce and/or the EDC undertakes business promotion but usually as a result of a provincial government program, such as the ‘‘buy local days’’ competition sponsored by Saskatchewan Tourism in the mid-1980s. This is what you would expect from such groups and it is not scale specific (that is all case study communities participated in these events). What is interesting is that business promotion is dependent on leadership; there has to be a leader and group willing to develop around that leader for such actions to be undertaken. What this analysis indicates is that within a small community there exists an ‘‘institutional thickness’’ in terms of a network of participants (Douglas, 1989; Bryant, 1992; Ashton, 1999), that can and does support community improvement or community development projects and this type of thickness is critical to the success of endeavours, especially those that are at a large scale and cost a considerable amount of money. Volunteerism. The volunteer element of rural and small urban communities comprises another critical level of thickness. Documents and interview transcripts indicated that such places have a strong reliance on the willingness of citizens to donate time and money to various projects within the communities. The volunteer commitment in these rural places is very high, with small numbers of residents often required to participate in a variety of capacities on numerous boards. This leads to volunteer burnout, limits innovative thinking and can result in individual agendas being advanced to the exclusion of alternate ideas, resulting from the overlap of members on various committees within a community. Not only this can lead to individual agendas being advanced, it also serves to limit the capacity of groups to accomplish their goals. These issues do not appear to be scale specific as the sentiment was shared by all interviewees. Volunteerism as a thickness is not always a positive layer because there are too many committees doing similar work and in the case of Moose Jaw, there appears to be little desire to amalgamate these groups. Other communities (such as Humboldt and Biggar) have combined groups doing similar work, such as the Tourism and Economic Development committees. In addition to the relevance of overlapping leadership are concerns regarding the limited participation by a broad range of community


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members. When the range of participants is limited it calls into question whether the process has moved from CED to LED where participation is limited to an ‘‘elite’’ community leadership (Gill, 1999). The volunteer capacity is particularly challenging within small communities because of the large aging population. For example, those interviewed in Duck Lake and Churchbridge indicated that their seniors comprise nearly 40 percent of their total populations and although they are very supportive, it does leave much of the organization and work to the 30–50 year old population that is also struggling with family and work commitments. For example, in one of the Community Development groups interviewed, there are eight members, most of whom are older gentlemen. The chair of that committee appreciates their support but indicated that she has, ‘‘a bit of a problem in the fact that they are not savvy when it comes to computers and almost anything I do they are very thrilled with! But at the same time it is sometimes difficult to get them moving on things because they don’t understand what is available out there’’. Volunteerism plays a critical role in developing tourism in rural places, perhaps best exemplified through the development of murals as described in Section 5. Other attractions, however, often rely on volunteer support. For example, in 1986, the provincial government turned over responsibility for the provincial park located near Churchbridge to the town, because the government no longer wanted responsibility for the park (Four Town Journal, 1988). The cost of operating the park was estimated to be $7,000 per year, with no revenue potential to that date. In 1998, the park made its first ever profit of $1,425, attributed to the small group of seniors who volunteer their time to collect campground fees and perform various other tasks in the park (Four Town Journal, 1998b). Not only does this example illustrate the importance of volunteers to small communities, but also demonstrates how communities are forced to rely on volunteers if and when government offloads responsibility for, in this case, facilities. Another example comes from the museum in Wadena, which suggests how valuable volunteers are in maintaining attractions for the tourism industry in rural communities. The Wadena and District Museum, established in 1993, hosted 1,200 visitors in 1995, with guests from across Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia (Wadena News, 1996d). The number of tourists to the museum only reflects the number of people who chose to sign the guest register and are considered to be the minimum number of visitors. The museum also acts as a tourism information centre giving out promotional materials, brochures and information regarding gas stations, restaurants, garages, accommodation, etc. The volunteer-based

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museum committee sustains the enterprise, putting in an estimated 5,000 h of work at an estimated minimum value of $35,000. This volunteer work promotes tourism, preserves community heritage and benefits visitors to the area and includes all aspects from labour to fundraising projects for the facility. Visitor notations in the guest book suggested that in comparison to city museums the artefacts and machinery at the Wadena Museum are located in the area where they were actually used, resulting in a more authentic and interesting tour (Wadena News, 1996e). Businesses and Individuals. Both businesses and individuals work together to support development projects indicated by the financial support and volunteer time devoted to specific projects, such as mural development. For example, the Wadena Mural Images group indicated that when they held an initial organization meeting they garnered the commitment of ten local businesses to have a mural painted on a building wall, all offering to help with painting costs. There are a variety of ways, however, in which this thickness level is dysfunctional and can actually be a detriment to the CED process, especially when it comes to comprehending the tourism industry. Businesses need to understand how they can capitalize on and benefit from the broader tourism activities in the community. An example from Biggar demonstrates this lack of cohesion. The arts, including music, dance and theatre, are an important element to the community members of Biggar. Each year, Little Apple Productions stages a major theatrical production, attracting a large audience, not only from Biggar but also from surrounding communities. For example, the 1985 production of The Sound of Music drew 2,000 people (Biggar Independent, 1985a), while the 2000 original production of New York Is Big, But This Is Biggar – The Musical drew a crowd of 3,800 (Biggar Interviewee). Despite the fact that a large number of residents participate in the production and volunteer many hours, similar support is not evident from local businesses during the run of the production. Evidence comes from a Letter to the Editor in which a visitor from Rosetown (a community located 58 km from Biggar) noted that after the production was over, there was not one restaurant open to have a coffee or something to eat (Biggar Independent, 1985b). Instead the visitors ended up with a bag of chips and a pop from the local gas station for their drive home. Local businesses must provide a level of ancillary services to augment the activities or attractions within their community in order to entice visitors to stay and to ‘‘get into their pockets’’ as one interviewee so eloquently stated.


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Another dysfunction of the businesses-as-thickness-level is the connection between business ownership and Town Council. This can serve to act as a negative thickness, when business owners view the addition of new businesses as a threat and can be exacerbated when roles overlap between Town Council leadership and business ownership. For example, hoteliers in Humboldt were concerned about Council’s decision to encourage a Bed and Breakfast industry within the region, citing increased competition for their businesses as the reason (Humboldt Journal, 1994a). Although Town Council thought the addition of a Bed and Breakfast industry would be fair competition, they did decide that local government should not take an active role in establishing or promoting a business. In such cases, business as a thickness level may serve as a barrier to reaching the outcomes of a CED process. This thickness level does not appear to have the same dysfunction in smaller urban centres (Moose Jaw), perhaps as a result of a larger population base and greater variety of businesses. There is strong evidence for community support of projects that are undertaken within the community, and this seems to be the case regardless of whether the project is facility creation (for example, the building of a new pool facility in Humboldt (Humboldt Journal, 1985, 2000a)), community health (for example, a community vehicle to transport those in need of health care (Wadena News, 1996f)), economic development (for example, the North East Terminal project in Wadena (Wadena News, 1991a)), and even the mural projects. The evidence is in the number of people who support events, who give generously to the project fundraising and who will assist in whatever other capacity they are able. There does seem to be some scale-related differences between communities in this regard, as the types of support described here are not as evident in Moose Jaw. Examples such as these relate to the CED literature, which suggests that community members must maximize their community capacity to undertake projects or to provide self-sustaining programs for community benefit. Individuals emerged as an important element of institutional thickness related to mural projects, especially in the three smallest communities (Churchbridge, Duck Lake and Wadena) where the projects required a significant investment of volunteers. Individuals contributed not only by donating their time (as artists or to work bingos to raise funds) but also in donating goods (for example, bake or craft sales) and money for supplies. Individual contributions to the mural projects in Wadena and Churchbridge included significant time and out-of-pocket expenses for the artists and individual community members who provided food and shelter for the painters.

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Local Government. Local government is another level of institutional thickness within a community that can either aid or hinder the projects undertaken. Although governance is discussed separately, local government as a thickness level in rural CED is explored in this section. As a level of thickness in rural or small urban places, a Town/City Council can demonstrate support for economic or community development projects in a variety of ways. Often their financial or mentoring support is critical to the continuation of community groups and the outcomes they are trying to achieve, for example, the commitment of Moose Jaw City Council to the Murals of Moose Jaw project, or the Town Council in Biggar providing funding for community members to undertake the leadership training that led to the development of the BCCD. However, there are times when a council’s actions are detrimental to committee activities. Churchbridge’s CCD is a case that demonstrates the discord between community and local governance in small communities. This organization was formed as a result of a tangible void in community service provision within the town, which the existing EDC, due to terms of incorporation, could not address. Although the group received considerable recognition for its activities as discussed in Section5, the Town Council remained hesitant to invest public money to support the organization, choosing in 2000, to pay $2,037.50 to remain a member of the Yellowhead Regional Economic Development Authority, but not provide the requested $10,000 to the CCD (Four Town Journal, 2000b). Part of the relationship between local governments and various community committees is to oversee or guide the direction of the oftendisparate groups towards the larger vision for the town or city. Essentially, it is following the framework from institutional thickness, in getting the ‘‘thicknesses’’ to become aware of what each other is doing, of having a common objective and of having a framework to keep everyone going in the same direction. This in turn relates to the CED literature on the importance of networks and local capacity building (Douglas, 1989; Bryant, 1992; Ashton, 1999). Several examples from the case study communities illustrate where such a process is in place and it appears not to be scale-based. For example, Moose Jaw City Council implemented an interim by-law to prevent anyone from undertaking development that did not fit in with the embryonic Municipal Development Plan, which among other items, addressed ongoing downtown redevelopment (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 2000b). In this instance, local government is proactively supporting the work of countless committees to ensure they reach their broader goals.


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Regional Thickness. Perhaps the most critical aspect of institutional thickness, as applied to rural places, is the regional context within which each community operates, as it impacts on the sustainability of rural communities and the projects they choose to undertake. When applied to a rural context, institutional thickness must be considered beyond an urban municipal border, and as MacKinnon (2002) argues, consideration of relationships to the national and international scale must be taken into account. Although institutional thickness should be inclusive of these scales, I would argue that the first step for rural communities in Saskatchewan is to move their frame of reference from a town focus to one that includes the region that surrounds them as the concept of regional economic and service coordination amongst rural communities is often not easily embraced. All the various thicknesses previously identified as at work within a rural context and CED must be expanded beyond a single town and coordinated at the regional level. This brings the concept of networks to prominence where leaders (municipal, business, committees) come together to capitalize on the surrounding regional options in economic and community development. However, networks as utilized in the context of institutional thickness are defined as ‘‘interconnections’’ referring to the connections between individuals within a region and their willingness to exploit shared needs to benefit the region as a whole, not an individual town. Interested community members must capitalize on or develop levels of connections to outside expertise and funding opportunities to build the internal capacity of the community to undertake a chosen project. For example, one interviewee utilizes her connections with individuals to obtain support for the various programs she runs and in return opens these programs to the surrounding communities. I am very fortunate because I have very good contacts with the Saskatchewan Association of Recreational Professionals, Saskatchewan Culture and Industry Canada so I’m often feeding information to the [regional] REDA office y If you have membership, boy you sure can get good information on different grants and stuff.

Another interviewee identifies this issue as ‘‘getting on the radar screen’’. We are not on anyone’s radar screen. I mean, what decision makers think, ‘‘yeah, Moose Jaw’’. They don’t, so we have to get better known. And to get better known you have to have proper referrals, qualified entrance to decision makers y If someone is looking at doing a plant relocation or locating an operation, we need someone who knows that individual, knows their decision making process, knows that industry and is able to get access to decision makers to get us in front of them. But it has to be viable too, we have to do our homework y You need the right people looking in the right areas so that you don’t waste a whole pile of money on something that is speculative.

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As this example illustrates, it is critical to develop interconnections between business and industry leaders and between community leaders so that each can assist the other. In addition, these statements indicate the importance of choosing development strategies and exploring opportunities within the existing capacities of the community. This is a theme that is explored in the section on embeddedness. Tourism and Institutional Thickness. As discussed in the previous section, the boundaries of institutional thickness have to be extended beyond the limits of one community in rural areas to include the attributes accessible to the population on a regional basis, and this is especially the case for tourism as an economic development strategy in rural areas. Several layers of thickness are identifiable as required at the regional level, termed attraction and partnership, and at a more localized level, termed infrastructure and facilities. The institutional thickness required at a regional level refers to the presence of enough attractions and a sufficiently high level of service to become a destination area. Although local governments, businesses, individuals and various committees support tourism (murals in particular) to varying degrees, regionalism in tourism development is a crucial thickness for rural communities that are dispersed. Individual small rural communities rarely have enough or varied attractions to entice visitors to come for the extended period required to garner the economic benefits that are possible. Tourism may not be an appropriate industry to consider in every case because there must be a threshold level of services to make the industry viable. When communities chose to work independently of the region and surrounding attractions, they do not experience the same benefits as those that choose to work together. One interviewee explained how the need to work on a regional basis has become evident. [At the time of the mural project (1990)] the focus was to get them to Duck Lake. Period, you know. And the reality was that, you could get them to Duck Lake, but they could do the museum and the murals and be done in a half a day. And then they’re gone y there’s no economic boost unless they stay overnight. And that’s what the whole idea behind our marketing strategy right now, is to try to get people to come into this area and stay in this area. Now whether they stay here or at Jack Pine Stables, then Jack Pine Stables and Duck Lake reaps the benefits or if they stay in Bellevue, then Bellevue reaps the benefits. But at least we’ve got them in this region. And we’ve given them a good package.

Not only does this indicate a need to work on a regional basis in tourism development, it also demonstrates that to reap the potential economic


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spin-off benefits of tourism, visitors must stay overnight, and that there has to be enough to see and do available in a regional package (Roberts & Hall, 2001). The need for partnerships, as expressed in CED, is a critical thickness in tourism where attractions and businesses have to work together to promote one another and not view each other as competitors. They also need to pool their often-limited resources, for expenses such as marketing, which can be extremely expensive; for example, a business-card sized ad in the Saskatchewan Tourism Literature Series is $500. In response to such costs, one interviewee stated they are developing a ‘‘lure brochure’’ with multiple partners within the region in order to develop a destination package for tourists. As he indicated, Everyone has basically tried to do things on their own for so long. And as I said, marketing, even if you want to put in a business card ad in any of the tourism publications you’re looking at anywhere’s between $450 and $500 dollars y It’s ridiculous and y this is why we strongly felt that if we could pool our resources, y then we could actually put together a marketing strategy, a ploy that will go out and we will advertise as a region. So one full-page ad might cost $1000, but it will advertise everybody and if you divide it amongst the players, then it comes out to less.

The need to work with neighbouring towns and attractions points to the necessity of partnerships between tourism businesses or attractions to augment the number of attractions available, thus increasing visitation. For example, two women from Humboldt developed a brochure of businesses and industries in Humboldt and surrounding region for tourists, based on a similar brochure they had seen from Minnedosa, Manitoba. The brochure ‘‘features businesses that are off the beaten trail, that aren’t immediately visible like the ones on Main Street. These are places that represent the strong cottage industry in our area’’ (Humboldt Journal, 2000b). These women are bringing regional business interests together to promote them collectively along with the region as a whole to potential visitors and those living in the area. Such networking between businesses builds the financial capacity of communities to become self-supporting, another key element of CED (Pell & Wismer, 1983; Boothroyd & Davis, 1993). In addition, the importance of local business supporting each other in tourism development was evident in the case study communities. For example, the development of the Cultural Centre in Moose Jaw was made possible by financial contributions of, among other institutions, tourism businesses in the city including Casino Moose Jaw and Temple Gardens Mineral Spa because they recognized that in assisting such locally based

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developments it would boost visitation, benefiting their businesses (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 2001a). The exclusive development of murals will not provide enough of an attraction to garner economic benefits of any magnitude. Instead, murals are to be created as part of a set of tourism venues and the resulting ‘‘agglomeration of attractions’’ will hopefully serve to provide an economic ‘‘critical mass’’ that may aid a community. This is a key factor relating specifically to mural development as a tourism strategy that community members need to be clear on. The murals are not the end product but should be considered as part of a larger set of attractions to the community or region. Of the case study communities, the Mural Board in Humboldt deliberately chose to create their murals to augment the existing attractions within their community. For Moose Jaw, murals were credited as being the catalyst for greater tourism development within the city. Although Duck Lake’s Mural Board understood this premise of mural development, they were not able to exploit their potential to the extent they had hoped. An infrastructure and facilities thickness must be present at a local level for tourism to be successful. This level of thickness takes time and a financial commitment that is not always available within a small community. Although discussed within the section on embeddedness, this thickness level is what makes tourism a more complex industry than most community leaders understand. Tourism development is based on having a package of services, attractions and ambiance much of which requires investment of capital that does not have an immediate return. The following quote comes from a councillor in Moose Jaw, who advocated such investment, recognizing that: fixing up streets and laying sidewalk bricks may not seem like a viable way to attract investment, but it’s part of a cycle. You can’t have a run-down road and expect people to believe there’s a first-class spa at the end of it. If you make the surrounding environment attractive and unique, it makes the existing businesses successful and, in turn, brings in more business. (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1990b)

This cycle of investment is critical to the successful outcome of a tourism strategy. Much as the work of Richard Florida (Florida & Gates, 2001; Florida, 2002a, 2002b) suggests for urban growth, investments must be made in community tourism infrastructure, broadly defined as sidewalks, quality street surfacing, signage, creative lampposts and flower boxes, among others. Investments also must be made in tourism-related facilities, including everything from swimming pools, parks and playgrounds, to museums, restaurants and shops. Several of the case


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communities in this study have made these investments, and Duck Lake provides an illustrative example of how all these thickness levels work in combination within a given rural place. Duck Lake developed the murals as an attraction with the intent of becoming a single destination for tourists. However, the mural committee realized that the murals and the regional museum are not enough to bring visitors to the community and stay for a long enough time period to be of economic benefit to the businesses in the community. Instead, there is a recognition that they need to work with other communities and attractions in the region. In so doing, they are also developing partnerships to pool their collective resources and promote one another to develop the kinds of destination packaging that tourists want. As the Mural Chair indicated, tourists are starting to look for a day excursion, a two day excursion or they’re starting to look for packages, an itinerary. Something that’s all planned for them, all they have to do is put their dollar down and off we go y I think every one of us realizes too that we are just not financially able to do the level of marketing that we need to do on our own y I was saying to the mural board it makes way more sense to invest a couple hundred dollars to a strategy like this, than try to do it on our own because we just don’t have the coverage y We cannot purchase the kind of mileage that this little package is going to bring.

The mural committee recognized the need to do more than just murals and invested in the tourism infrastructure required to support tourism by beautifying their Main Street and developing good signage for the murals. Unfortunately the planning beyond this was not cohesive and the committee did not choose to capitalize on the existing facility attributes. Located within the centre of town is a green space that includes: A movie set staging a turn of the century, prairie community Main Street. The set was developed for a documentary on Almighty Voice, a member of One Arrow First Nation who was arrested by the North West Mounted Police in 1885, escaped incarceration and was finally captured in 1879 (Ricketts, 2004). The actual sod jail that held Almighty Voice is part of the set. A 1940s school house that had been the museum. A playground. These existing structures could have been refurbished, expanded and updated to create an agglomeration of attractions, which would have augmented the mural attraction resulting in people spending time walking through the community.

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Instead, a new museum was created outside of the town along the highway (the murals are in the community) and the restaurants that developed to support the ‘‘hoped-for-soon-to-be-booming’’ tourism industry and art gallery are located on the highway, not in the community. The result is a disjointed and largely un-interpreted set of tourism attractions. For example, visitors to the community would not find nor understand the significance of the green space previously described unless it was pointed out. And even though the town is small, the different attractions and services are located far enough away from each other that it does not encourage pedestrian activity but instead, ‘‘drive by tourism’’ which does not get the tourist to stop, get out of their vehicle and spend money. The following quote from one interviewee provides a description of what is the quintessential ingredient of rural tourism and planning, [We have to] realize or make a decision, if we are going to be a port, to places like Green Water, Fishing Lake, people going from Manitoba to Saskatoon y Or are we going to be a destination? And if its going to be a destination, then what’s going to be our niche?

This is the key point for rural community leaders to recognize if considering tourism as an economic development strategy. Tourism must be developed on the basis of something that fits within the community’s existing and future capacity to develop and sustain, and the town itself has to be viewed as a destination within a region. Moreover, planning must capitalize on the facilities and capacities (historic, cultural, volunteer, money) that the community possesses. 6.2.2. Governance The term governance is widely used within both academic and practitioner circles and its use signifies a concern with a change in both the meaning and content of government. Its application is wider to include the ways in which governmental and non-governmental organizations work together. Although speaking directly to the experience in Great Britain, Goodwin (1998) suggests that at a local level, the institutional map of rural local government has been transformed into a system of governance, which involves a range of agencies and institutions drawn from the public, private and voluntary sectors. A similar transformation within rural Canada and specifically Saskatchewan as occurred with such programs as the Regional Economic Development Authorities, Tourism Authorities and Health Districts along with various kinds of voluntary agencies. Stoker (1996, as cited in Goodwin, 1998) suggests that the utility of the governance perspective is to formulate


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important questions regarding rural issues, and he sets out five different propositions including, (1) an examination of those involved in governance, (2) responsibilities for social and economic issues, (3) power relationships, (4) self-governance and (5) the capacity of such arrangements to ‘‘get things done’’. In the context of this research, the relevant questions to address concern the actors/institutions involved, the relationship between them and because CED is understood to be a ‘‘bottom-up’’ strategy, how government policy can and does influence decisions made at a local level. Top–Down versus Bottom–Up. Examining the data indicated that the central premise of CED as a grass roots, bottom–up approach to development was challenged at a governance level. Does any development idea really come from within the community or is it a result of outside government influence? Does government encourage certain community responses through the types of programs and grants it offers? The top–down versus bottom–up distinction is critical in rural places, especially when the implication or supposition is that bottom–up is inherently more sustainable and will help in keeping a rural place ‘‘viable’’. What emerges from this research is that in fact many communities do try to capitalize on grant dollars available and therefore what they undertake can be influenced by the investment agenda of the government. For example, the economic development and tourism committees in Humboldt elected to merge their two committees to avoid overlap and to capitalize on grants, stating that ‘‘today’s thrust behind economic development is tourism and grants currently available are more geared to tourism as opposed to economic development issues’’ (Humboldt Journal, 1991a). Is planning really from the bottom–up if a community can only get funding support when governments choose to support such endeavours because it is now on their ‘‘radar screen’’ as one interviewee stated? In 1986, the provincial government would not support a tourism proposal to revitalize the downtown of Moose Jaw based on its 1920s heyday of illegal drinking and gambling (Regina Leader Post, 1986). Fifteen years later, the provincial government committed $3 million to assist the city in its project (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 2000c). The role of government through policy is to utilize available expertise to determine opportunities within the current economic climate, invest accordingly and devise programs to aid in that investment. However, for such ‘‘investments’’ to be sustainable, governments should devise them in such a way as to not create an unstable dependency on the government program so that as soon as funding for the grogram is gone, so is the

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program, for example, the Heritage Program in Moose Jaw (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1985a, 1985b). Instead, programs should be created in such a way that builds capacity so that by the time the program runs out, the community has developed a way to continue and has the education to do so. Civic Leadership. Associated with governance is leadership and evidence within this research would suggest that community sustainability has a clear link to civic leadership in CED. Each development program or project is only as good as the mandate of the elected leadership. Projects are often derailed mid-stream because they do not coincide with the policies of the new official. Governance frameworks, where local government and community groups work together, may not be a in a position of stability within CED because the individuals do not have equal power, are often led by volunteers and have unstable funding relationships. In such cases the funding or volunteers may be lost and therefore so is the program. Moose Jaw provides an example of this. In 1991 an council member wanted to cut funding to the BID group. This organization had developed a five-year downtown improvement plan which included flowers, light standards and a sidewalk replacement plan in which businesses where paying 58 percent of the cost, in conjunction with the city (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1990c). His proposal to cut funding was rejected, but when he became mayor the following year, he not only cut their funding but he also withheld city money for the sidewalk improvement agreement (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1991a, 1992a). This issue calls into question the ability of community groups to maintain the integrity of longterm plans when funding is dependent on or in partnership with local government. Elected officials have a short-term planning horizon and therefore control the fate of economic and community organizations. If the council changes then the vision for the community may also change. The people who deliver plans and services to the community (for example, economic development or tourism officers) may also have to ‘‘retrain’’ or renegotiate with the new officials. This reality has repercussions beyond simple mobilization of resources as evidenced in the following quote from one interviewee responding to the question regarding what her plans are for tourism development: Try and convince council, I have a year and a half left to go y because council is only in for three years, I have no idea what will happen with the next municipal election, whether or not this same council is going to stay in or it’s going to be a brand new council. If it is a brand new council then it is basically starting over, trying to teach them.


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The variation in local government support for mural-based tourism projects indicates that the inclusion of municipal leaders (that is a governance structure) in the mural board may garner both moral and financial support for the projects. In Duck Lake, Humboldt and Moose Jaw, the mural boards all included a Town/City Councillor and those interviewed in these communities indicated that the Council was considered supportive of the projects. In contrast, neither Churchbridge nor Wadena had a council member involved and it is in these locales that the perception of lesser support exists. Does governance have a role in CED? Governance structures work when personal conflicts between the leadership of both community organizations and local government are minimized and the good of the larger community is kept at the forefront. In some cases, such as Duck Lake and Moose Jaw, the working relationship between the Council and the community groups is viewed as positive. In others, such as Wadena and Humboldt, the relationship has varied over time. This perhaps provides the answer to the question – the effectiveness of a governance structure in facilitating CED is dependent on who is in power, and as will be discussed, it depends on the embeddedness of the chosen strategies and the variety of organizations (thickness) that exist to support the development choices. Communication and the Development Process. This research has highlighted the need for effective communication between community members and town/city council as a critical part of the development process in CED and as an ingredient for the procurement of broad-based support for projects. The Majestic Development Corporation in Biggar provides an example of effective communication between community-based project leaders and the public, where public meetings were held, to give a better understanding of the proposed multi-purpose family facility, a public relations committee has made a presentation of the facts to nine local organizations. If other groups are interested in seeing a presentation they may contact the chairperson of the board y When the feasibility study is completed, the campaign committee will be taking the presentation to town hall meetings in the surrounding communities. (Biggar Independent, 1985c)

This demonstrates not only effective communication, but also an important factor in effective and sustainable CED. Because it is a community-driven initiative, not sought because of government funding but because of the importance of the arts and recreation to community members, they utilized government programs to provide assistance with market and feasibility

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studies, business consulting, financial analysis and accounting services to access community support. In so doing they garnered strong public support for the project. This also demonstrates how a project’s positive outcome is further ensured when the project is embedded in the community, a theme that will be explored in a subsequent section. Despite attempts to obtain public input on community-based projects (ranging from recreational facility building to downtown/main street improvements), there remains conflict between what a town council proposes and what the public will support. This does not appear to have a scale-based relationship as the conflicts in Moose Jaw were mirrored in Wadena, Churchbridge and Humboldt. There did appear to be less conflict in Biggar and a greater consensus on moving forward within that community. For example, the downtown revitalization plans for Moose Jaw began in 1986 with the Mayor’s Task Force on Downtown Revitalization. The corner stone of this plan was the redevelopment of River Street, complete with casino gambling and an enclosed street mall reminiscent of the 1920s heyday of the street (Regina Leader Post, 1986; Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1988). Both the city council and the BID where in full support of the plan, but the provincial government of the time would not support the development of gambling within the province and community members were ill at ease with gambling as a means of attracting people to the city. Because of the discord between community and council views of gambling as a means for renewal for the downtown, during the 1988 election only two councillors were reelected (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1988). This example further highlights the need for effective communication between community members and Town/City Council to procure broadbased support for projects. In Moose Jaw, the Mayor’s Task Force on Downtown Revitalization was criticized for its emphasis on gambling. Its proponents defended the project by indicating that the gambling-style development was only a small part of the plan and that there were many other aspects that had not been effectively communicated to the public at large (Regina Leader Post, 1986). The BID was in favour of the plan and felt that ‘‘the decision is courageous because change always creates controversy and often the debate is too one-sided in favour of the status quo’’ (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1988). At times the potential for discord between a Council’s decision and the public reaction determines the course of action, as indicated in the following examples. When the Churchbridge Town Council was debating tax exemptions for various community groups, including the seniors group and


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curlers, the mayor suggested that council needed to take into consideration the fact that the seniors group is very vocal (Four Town Journal, 1998b). Similarly, the Mayor of Humboldt suggests that it is important to allow people time to support a project, especially when the group you are targeting is influential. They [Council] were building a curling rink in Muenster because the old one had reached past its days, and they wanted to build a new curling rink right away. So, they went around town and they said they wanted all the seniors to kick in some money and, of course, they turned them down. I told them you can’t do it that way. You have to go slow. Put it out there and let them chew on it for a year and say, ‘‘look what we can do if we do this’’. You know, they went through with it the next fall.

These examples demonstrate that local groups and individual citizens can and do have an influence on what decisions are made within their communities. They highlight the need for effective communication strategies between government and citizenry to procure broad-based support for projects. Partnerships. Partnerships are connected to the institutional thickness concept discussed in terms of regional participation, but it specifically addresses the types and numbers of committees or organizations that are developed at arms length from the local government, but which act on behalf of the local government to address a specific mandate. These include economic, tourism and social groups. Partnerships also speaks to the level of support community groups receive from the different levels of government. For example, the current mayor who chairs the newly formed BCCD, stated that he hoped eventually ‘‘It will become, y a governing body for our long term planning and y working with Town Council, y [who] has the final say as far as planning, and building and financing’’. What this suggests is that such organizations can make decisions and carry out projects within a long-term plan, independent of, but supported by, the Town Council. As a result, the Town Council is freed of some responsibilities, which allows them to focus on other areas. The Mayor of Humboldt has purposely chosen to develop an EDC independent of the Town Council to address the void in local level economic development planning. What is interesting in this example is that the mayor sees this independence as a positive. Just so that they can do their own thing and they don’t have to go to a committee meeting y It will be their choosing if they want to be enrolled under the Town. Like, if

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we do it out of the [Council], then you need a bylaw that just establishes things like that, and then the council is involved in maybe making some appointments. That might be all right, but on the other hand they can be just a bunch of independent people that want to talk to council and say ‘‘hey, guys, why don’t you look at this?’’

The committee that has been struck is made up of a variety of business people from various industries for which there is already a base in Humboldt and from which they can expand. This has been intentional because the mayor views the ‘‘variety of contacts’’ each has as extremely beneficial, bringing an invaluable source of knowledge and a wellspring of advertising and promotion for Humboldt, offering further illustration of the importance of networks in institutional thickness. Part of the governance–partnership connection relates to the ways in which different levels of government provide financial (or other) support for community-based projects through various funding programs or relationships. Such programs vary from federal government summer student work programs to provincial government funding for specific projects (for example, the Cultural Centre in Moose Jaw) to municipal support of projects such as funding for the Moose Jaw Murals. Local governments have a variety of partnerships with local organizations and are viewed as a vital support for economic development. These relationships can take the form of tax breaks or actual dollar support, to working with other community organization or tourism attractions, as in the following example from one interviewee. Well, we go along with the museum on trade shows, or with [the art gallery]. We partner with them a lot. By involvement do you mean monetary support? Well if we can. But we work more together as partners. They go to these things and we support them by not charging taxes on their buildings and stuff. It is working together and I think it works pretty good.

Another element of governance structures is the volunteer aspect. In every case study community the governance structures set up were based on volunteers who made up the committees and which either included municipal government representation or was endorsed or struck by the local government. Duck Lake is a case in point where a councillor indicated that much of what happens within the community is a result of the strong volunteer base. 6.2.3. Embeddedness Embeddedness embodies the understanding that the manner in which people act ‘‘economically’’ and therefore the extent to which they can under take development is wrapped up with the kinds of social relationships to which they belong and that this in turn is connected intimately to the way in which they


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understand the world y Consequently, instead of separating culture from economic action and treating one as the ‘‘cause’’ of the other, the two must be seen as fused together, within a framework of established social relationships. (Day, 1998, p. 95)

In their discussion of institutional thickness, Amin and Thrift (1995) speak of a defined locus of control to prevent rogue behaviour and a commitment of the players to a defined set of goals, both of which relate to embeddedness and leadership, but which are not fully explored within the theory. The presence of these levels of thickness along with a willingness to work together towards a common goal or vision is enhanced by the level of embeddedness of the idea within a community culture. In this way the concept of embeddedness goes beyond institutional thickness by emphasizing the importance of the local cultural context and the connection to successful and sustainable outcomes in economic development. It points to the importance of the types of economic activities chosen as needing to be intricately tied to the ‘‘culture’’ of the local economy. Strategies that do not fit within this culture potentially face more challenges and failure than those that are complementary to the existing economic order. The Chair of a community development committee stated that, ‘‘we all come to these meetings with the same ideas, feelings and thoughts I guess. I mean we are here for the town and the town’s future’’. What this suggests is that although the ‘‘how to’’ part is important, the first hurdle is having a cohesive vision that a large portion of the community members can unite behind. This emphasizes a critical aspect of embeddedness; if community members (broadly defined) are not supportive of and understand the purpose of an idea, the strategy will not be sustained over the long-term and it may not even reach the intended outcome. Within a rural context, this is critically important, as residents of such areas are often focused on and fully understand the economics associated with primary industries such as agriculture. Other industries are often less understood or appreciated for their potential. This is particularly the case with tourism, which has not been an embedded industry. Unlike agricultural investment, which is digestible in the psyche of the rural population in Saskatchewan, tourism is not something people readily understand or believe money should be invested in. When community leaders do decide to try tourism development, it is generally viewed as a soft industry, one with limited financial commitment (or associated risk). This is a theme that will be fully discussed within the context of embeddedness. Attitude and Leadership. An alderman from Moose Jaw suggested that murals and tourism ‘‘is a form of industry that we can control, that won’t

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pick up and move away when it isn’t competitive’’ (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1990b). This speaks to the strong relationship that the tourism industry has to place and the potential for local control and therefore how important leadership and community support is to the successful outcome of the tourism project. The embeddedness of the industry also becomes an essential element to the successful development of tourism within a place. Community members must understand and believe in the potential of tourism for their community. Connected to this is attitude, a belief and a pride in the community so that it becomes possible to place market the community in a way that will attract visitors. Karl Schutz, the mural consultant, speaks of leadership and attitude as a critical component of any development project, including tourism. Creating a positive attitude requires letting the people with the drive, energy and want, do the job. The positive people have to speak out firmly and leave behind the negative people – what we call the ‘‘yes-buts’’. (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1990d)

Community members must have a sense of collective belief in the opportunities available within the capacities of the community and be prepared to exploit them. As the Executive Director of the Moose Jaw Chamber of Commerce stated, ‘‘If we believe in our abilities, capabilities and strengths as a community, we can truly succeed. If, however, we choose to be naysayers and doomsdayers, then that is what will befall us by default’’ (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1996a). The attitude of the Town or City Council towards economic development influences how well embedded and sustainable a project can become. The Council must believe in the potential of the community in order for economic development to take place, otherwise no one will be looking for opportunities. Understanding Tourism as an Industry. Not only does embeddedness in CED require positive attitude, it requires that community members and leaders fully understand what the chosen industry is and how it works. Embeddedness in this case refers to what fits within the culture, the mindset of the residents of the community and the surrounding region. As indicated, unlike agriculture, tourism has not been an embedded industry within a prairie rural context. Discussions with EDOs in a number of the smaller communities indicated a shared sense of frustration regarding ‘‘progressive development ideas’’ in that Town Councils would not readily support alternative project ideas, at least not without a great deal of discussion and persuasion. This was not reserved for tourism endeavours only, but included any project ideas that


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were perceived as ‘‘new’’ (from projects for youth to developing retirement homes). Even once communities decide to develop tourism as a viable option, committees see tourism as a relatively small investment, a non-complex industry. For example, a chair of the Economic Development and Tourism Committee in Wadena sees the murals as part of a number of attractions and the community simply needs to improve local tourism services. Importantly, she sees tourism development as easier than ‘‘the search for viable alternatives in the value-added field [which are] more complex and y require input from everyone’’ (Wadena News, 1996g). Despite such advocacy for tourism development, there remain difficulties in acquiring business, local community and even local government support for the idea, largely due to a lack of understanding of how the industry functions. One interviewee suggested that business participation in tourismrelated activities is low because they simply do not understand how tourism works. A lot of business owners want to see a direct impact. They can’t. With the marketing and promotion that is done in the tourism industry with communities, you don’t know when you are going to see results from what you do y What I have found too with a lot of business owners, is that they compare retail marketing with tourism marketing and there is no comparison. You can put a flyer in the paper and you’ll know how beneficial that is if people come in y With tourism marketing that I did two years ago, I’m getting phone calls now. So that’s why I say it is an educational industry, they just don’t understand what the industry is all about.

It means educating people, business and local government so that they understand, which is obviously a long process that is exacerbated by changing municipal leadership. One interviewee shared that a former Tourism and Special Events Director has been working on educating the local population in the early 1990s and as the person in the position currently, businesses are still not supporting the industry. For example, she created a local area guide to highlight the attractions and businesses in the city and area, and only one business participated. A similar situation existed in Moose Jaw where community leaders have been working on tourism and associated developments since the late 1980s and it has really only been since the mid-1990s that refurbishing of Main Street and business front enhancement has taken place (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1990e). Schutz has commented that one of the biggest challenges facing committees in developing tourism is getting residents and community leaders to understand what tourism is and specifically what murals can do. ‘‘In many communities where we go, we face a mayor and council who don’t

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understand tourism. The difficulty is getting councils and other stakeholders you need to participate. Once they see the murals and the tourist potential, the project acts as a catalyst for tourism development’’ (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 2002). Lack of understanding is a major challenge for municipal councils in rural communities who often do not understand the investment that is required to support tourism development. This is largely a result of the idea not being embedded and when they are asked to provide funding for what does not look like a ‘‘normal investment’’ it becomes difficult, especially when the direct financial return on the investment is limited. One interviewee shared that a barrier she faces is getting the Council to invest in tourism. Her argument is that dollars spent on tourism are not subsidies, but an actual investment. She suggests that she has to convince them to, ‘‘buy in to something that you can’t see y And once they see it the first time it is easier to understand and it is easier to buy in to it’’. Lack of understanding of the contribution that ancillary service industries make to the tourism product within a community further limits the successful outcome of the endeavour. For example, visitors to both Humboldt and Biggar commented on the positive attributes of their tourism attractions as an effort to diversify small town Saskatchewan economies, but felt that local businesses have not contributed the additional services required in a tourism destination area. Specifically, a visitor indicated, ‘‘The point I’m trying to make is that if you are trying to attract tourists to your town, then the service industry should be co-ordinated to that end’’ (Humboldt Journal, 1991b). There are instances where the required elements of a successful tourism industry come together under a group of community members who understand what is necessary. The Wadena Hunters Promotion Committee provides a good example of a group that understand how this particular segment of the tourism/recreation industry works for their community. The committee has worked very hard to market Wadena as the prime hunting area for waterfowl, they do much to promote the related businesses within Wadena (accommodation, restaurants, suppliers and outfitters) and hold three, free, suppers for the hunters (Wadena News, 1996h). This investment has paid off with a steady increase in the number of hunters attending the suppers, and therefore, the number of hunters to the region (Wadena News, 2000). This example demonstrates how well tourism can work when it is embedded in the community and when appropriate investments of time, promotion, marketing, volunteers and dollars are made.


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Murals as Embedded. There appears to be a connection between mural content and how a mural project can become embedded in the community. Evidence from the case study communities suggests that a shared heritage is a tie that binds people to the murals, that makes the endeavour a community project as there are those who can identify with what is being painted. It acts to ‘‘embed’’ the project in the community, resulting in increased support (both financial and volunteer) for the undertaking. As Schutz suggests ‘‘history is good because young people are interested and old people are interested because it is their history’’ (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1990f). A Councillor suggests that by painting scenes of local history on the walls of the community, it creates ‘‘a district that tells the story of Moose Jaw’s heritage, the people here will have a better sense of their own identity, and that will lead to pride in who they are’’ (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1990b). Although speaking specifically about Moose Jaw, this quote provides what appears to be a truism of mural development for many communities within the study group. Whether natural or cultural, heritage-based murals provide a sense of pride in place that serves to embed the project within the community. In addition to the heritage aspect embedding the idea of mural-based tourism, there also appears to be a connection to the ‘‘cultural fit’’ between the development choice and the broader community. The Mayor of Humboldt spoke about the existing cultural side of the city as part of what supports tourism development broadly and murals in particular. People are familiar with art and so have an appreciation for the murals that translated into monetary support. The successful development of a mural-based project also requires a certain level of ‘‘architectural embeddedness’’. The murals need to be placed on buildings and within a setting that will enhance the mural and the theme that it is portraying. Such complementarities enhance the tourism ambiance. The Mural Board in Humboldt understood this requirement, resulting in the use of German-style frames to augment their murals. Duck Lake’s Mural Board also understood this with regards to Main Street redevelopment, but they missed an opportunity by not capitalizing on the existing heritage-based infrastructure (that is the movie set/old school/ museum discussed previously). Churchbridge, Wadena, and Biggar did not explore this aspect of tourism infrastructure development, though there was evidence of discussions in Wadena and Biggar (Wadena News, 1996i; interview with Biggar Museum Director). Despite the level of embeddedness that murals seem to garner within the psyche of the community, there are challenges in that local people have to

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understand that murals are only part of the tourism puzzle and cannot be used as the sole attraction for community-based tourism development. Further, they must not be considered as art, but rather as an investment in tourism infrastructure (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1990d). Dale Cline, founding member of the Murals of Moose Jaw Board and artist of three murals stated that he does not believe the murals will ever, ‘‘be heaven and earth to Moose Jaw as a tourist draw, nor will the spa. They’re just small pieces of the picture. I think we actually have all the pieces now’’ (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1996b). A way to embed a project such as mural-based tourism is by encouraging community member participation and interaction. Getting youth involved specifically in the project occurred in Churchbridge, inviting people to come and give comments on ‘‘the works in progress’’ in Wadena, painting people into the murals in Humboldt and Churchbridge are all examples of how the communities tried to engage people in the project. For example, the Chair of the Arts Club shared a touching story that speaks to the spirit of these small places and how mural boards can make deliberate choices that serve to embed the project within the community. In the following passage, the Chair is speaking about the War Memorial Mural that is painted in three panels and located on the highway beside the tourism booth and the coin. On the left there is a sailor and the wrens, y [she] did that and I painted the corvette in the background. The other two I painted and I had the girls [from the Arts Club] come out, because most of them aren’t really painters. And they would help with the lettering. One of our most precious memories is the lady who did the poppies because she died of cancer in 1989. She came out that last day to try and finish her poppies but I had to prop her up, you know so she could paint. And that was the last time she was out. So another lady from Redberry finished them that belonged to our club. And it wasn’t that I couldn’t paint the poppies, but I wanted everybody involved. So that it is everybody’s mural.

Who paints the murals and their connection to the community appears to influence how the project becomes embedded in the community. Schutz spoke of the interaction between artists and the community in Chemainus, the initial opposition to the murals and how that was overcome once people saw what was meant by a mural and once they could see themselves as involved or having in put into the murals. One of the people told me that artists can’t create unless they are on drugs and the opposition was strong. But the first mural – a history theme of logging with donkeys – won over most people and when a logger ‘‘straightened out’’ an artist painting a mural we had instant communication. People came forward, talked to artists and gave them hints and suggestions on the historic aspects of the murals, right down to the colour of people’s hair. (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1990f)


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The artist has to ‘‘fit’’ within the community when it is a professional artist and this personality connection ends up being part of how the artists are chosen, as indicated in the following quote from the former Executive Director of the Biggar Museum who was part of the process of hiring the artist to complete the mural. ‘‘So we juried it, put the call out in various artists’ publications and had a deadline and looked at slides. And then just talking to Gus. He was definitely the right choice when he came to Biggar he just clicked with the people there’’. In the communities where local artists volunteered their time to develop the murals (Churchbridge and Wadena) the level of support for the murals was evident in the interactions they had with community members who gave them ongoing advice and support by supplying food and beverages. In the communities that undertook their project based on professional artists, the level of interaction was significantly reduced and, although pride was cited as an outcome, there was less support discussed by mural board members. A way of measuring the embeddedness is the lack of vandalism, as not one community in the case study group has experienced any vandalism, with several of those interviewed pointing this out. The Mural Board Chair in Moose Jaw offered that, there has been no graffiti at all. Rumour was that a local biker gang decided they liked this idea when [the] first mural went up and put out the word that if anybody hurt or defaced the murals, they would answer to the gang. Although I don’t know if it is true, there has been [no vandalism].

Community Support and Inclusion as Indicators of Embeddedness. The decision to develop a mural project within the case study communities was met with both negative and positive community support. Residents of Churchbridge, Duck Lake and Wadena demonstrated full support for the murals, as evidenced in both newspaper articles and interviews. For example, community members in Duck Lake worked bingos on a volunteer basis to raise the $100,000 necessary to paint the murals. Wadena perhaps best exemplifies community support of all the communities because they had the greatest (documented and indicated) support and were able to finish 19 murals, more than any other non-municipally funded mural project in Saskatchewan. The mural committees in these communities worked to include a variety of community members and encouraged their input in the mural project through various methods that included public meetings, inviting participation in mural painting and through fundraising events. In contrast, there is evidence in interviews and newspaper articles that suggests residents in Moose Jaw and Humboldt did not initially support the

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idea of mural development. For example, when asked about community support for the mural project, a Mural Committee member stated that, ‘‘they [the community] wondered ‘what the heck are you guys up to?’. People were wondering why, but just kind of, ‘well, I hope you guys know what you’re doing’. But y they didn’t petition against it’’. Although this would seem an indication of support, he seemed to need to explain a great deal. Another interviewee stated, ‘‘there was opposition as people didn’t want walls that looked like other places which they felt were too cluttered. But the committee decided to just go ahead and develop one mural, to prove the nay sayers wrong’’. In Moose Jaw, there was also scepticism about the project and in some cases complaints that tax payers’ money was being spent on painting pictures while there were still areas needing sidewalks (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1990g). As one mural committee member indicated, I think that they were fairly receptive, but I think there was also a lot of scepticism, especially at first. Businesses have been more receptive than the average citizen. I’d say we have 70 percent receptive and 30 percent who feel, well it has happened and it is ok, maybe, but we still don’t really like it. And you now, you’ll probably find that some still are, often if people were against it at the beginning, they still will be.

It is likely that the businesses were more supportive because they could see and were experiencing the economic benefits of mural development and downtown revitalization discussions had been ongoing since the 1970s (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1990h). These examples, in combination with the variety of support for or criticisms of mural development within the case study communities, leads one to question that if mural committees (made up of elected officials along with other business and community members) chose to press forward with their ideas is it really CED based or has it become LED (Gill, 1999)? Although support was evident for all the mural projects after they were underway, there was some initial scepticism. All the mural committees, at some point, had to address the issue of sceptics and all of them chose to ignore this (usually) marginal group. And in the end, community support did result. There has to be consideration given to the hesitancy of people to embrace new ideas and that is why a combination of ‘‘ignoring the doubters’’ and encouraging community inclusion is necessary to attempt to embed the project in the community. 6.2.4. Leadership Leadership development and active encouragement of local residents have long been viewed as keys to community sustainability resulting in the


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development of many leadership training programs in rural places to affect change and development (Christenson, 1982; Youmans, 1990). Much research has focused on the personal characteristics that make up good leaders and Brown and Nylander (1998) suggest that effective and sustained rural community leadership also depends on the perpetual organization of the community and its leadership structure and that it is the ability of leaders to mobilize resources and generate collective action at the community level that is critical. The viability of a rural community can be predicted by how well-identified leaders are connected to each other, to other members of the community and to other communities (O’Brien, Hassinger, Brown, & Pinkerton, 1991), and as previously discussed, rural development requires resources both from within the community and from exogenous sources. Effective leaders have connections that will allow access to both sets of resources through the networks they have established. An effective leadership structure is critical so that when the head of the organization or project steps down, an effective succession plan has been developed to replace the leadership without having to reorganize and remobilize, thus wasting valuable and often-limited time and resources. Leadership issues appear to be ubiquitous in each case study community, and is a cross-cutting theme for the other three areas of institutional thickness, embeddedness and governance as has been indicated throughout the analysis. Further, leadership is the key ingredient to CED in relationship with these theme areas. Community leaders must be present in order for any of the thickness levels to be developed and utilized; they have an obvious association with governance structures since leaders are the conduit through which information is shared and relationships are built; and leaders can aid or hinder the process of choosing projects that will fit within the psyche of the local population and will therefore have greater potential of being sustainable. An additional element regarding leadership is the difference between de facto and designated leaders. In some cases the leaders who emerged in the research are actual ‘‘titled’’ leaders (that is, Mural Board Chair, EDO, CDO) while in others they are only an EDO or CDO reporting to a set of decision makers (that is, a Board or Town council) but they view themselves as the leader and certainly appear to take on that role. However, they do experience limitations to their leadership ability because of the higher powers from which ultimate (and usually financial) approval must come. This is where the ‘‘teaching’’ of officials comes in and where the link between governance and leadership comes into play because these relationships have a bearing on how and what is accomplished within a community. Because

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Local Government (Town or City Council)

Governance Structure (REDA, Hospital Board)

Economic or Community Development Officer

Community Organization (Mural Board, Tourism and Economic Development) Direct Reporting Relationship Indirect Reporting Relationship Fig. 15.

Relationships between Governance, Leadership and Volunteerism. Source: Author.

many of these organizations or positions are made up of volunteers, there is another linkage and Fig. 15 demonstrates these associations. All of these levels or groups can be made up of either volunteer or paid positions (which include those that receive remuneration for their participation such as council members). In this schematic, local government has responsibility for the final decision-making and it is up to the other groups to lobby them for resources for their projects. While all local government positions are elected, levels of mayor and councillor remuneration vary between rural and urban councils. Governance structures are defined as those associations that contain representation from both local government and civil society, which are working jointly on projects for the community or region. Often such organizational arrangements require final approval from the town/city council, especially in situations with financial commitment. Unlike community organizations, some positions within a governance structure may be paid. Another element of the schematic is a community organization. This is defined as any locally based committee that is made up of community members on a volunteer basis and which reports either directly to the local government through a governance structure or indirectly through an E/CDO. These types of groups can be mandated from both local


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governments and residents, for a variety of reasons. For example, some committees may be community-driven such as mural development, others may be struck by local governments such as a tourism and recreation committee and others may develop due to a perceived need for specific service provision such as the CCD organization. The remaining element of the schematic is an E/CDO. These positions may or may not be volunteered and are responsible to either a governance structure or a town/city council directly. The E/CDO often works with community organizations in lobbying for government support of projects. The point of this schematic is that leadership and volunteerism have a strong linkage with governance in rural communities and small places. Although there is a strong reliance on volunteers to lead and undertake projects, ultimate control of these undertakings lies with the local government (and in some cases, with the provincial government). Further, what this analysis demonstrates is that in small cities and various sizes of rural communities these levels of organization exist and there is very little difference in the struggles they face. The following sections outline the issues of leadership that emerged from this research. The linkage between leadership and volunteerism is so strong and the issues that emerged in this research overlap to such an extent that they are discussed together. Leadership Tenure and Succession Planning. Evidence suggests that as long as one person is willing to do the job, others will not step forward to take on the role of leader; an issue apparent in all communities, regardless of scale. For example, the snowmobile club in one community fell apart after the chair handed over the reins. We got a snowmobile club going last year. I only planned to hold their hand for a year and I told them that as of December I don’t hold their hands anymore. And I got a phone call last month saying I think the club is going to have to fold because no one wants to do all the work. I said that is fine. We did our jobs and helped you get going but we can’t hold your hand all the way through. We get your project up and going and find you a few dollars to do things y But all of a sudden when the ball got passed to them, they dropped it y [There were group members who helped] y but they always come back and you know this and this need doing and give us a hand kind of thing and you know there were three of them that I thought could have taken it on but they kind of crashed y it seems you need to have that nucleus of people in order to keep things going. And some people only want to show up for the fun, and as far as the rest of it, well, sometimes it is pretty weak.

Although the limited number of volunteers and the length of time they serve on committees is long, there is often not a mentoring of leadership or a succession plan in place. The Murals of Moose Jaw Board has a succession

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plan in place within their terms of incorporation, where the Chair and Board members are supposed to have a three-year term. But as one interviewee stated, ‘‘I haven’t been able to get them to stick to that’’. In contrast, there are those who recognize the importance of changing leadership and succession planning and are working to mentor new individuals into positions. For example, one of the mayors interviewed is looking for and mentoring new people to replace him and other council members in the next election. I’m the mayor now but I’m encouraging two young people already. [Through the Winter Games we just hosted] we developed some terrific leaders. And two of them, I’ve already told them that ‘‘you are council material and I expect you to run next time’’ y And I just told them [that] ‘‘I would be so confident in you running the city’’ y I think you have to nurture them [new leaders]. I think part of the business is moving aside at the right time.

Attitude. Several different attitude attributes are woven throughout the analysis, relating to how community leaders viewed change and their vision for the community. One of the identified detriments to a leader was an attitude that supported the status quo instead of the initiative to affect changes within the community, appearing as a sense of ‘‘we are doing fine, holding our own’’, evident in several case study communities. Not only was the view that the community was holding its own in terms of economic development, in some cases, Council members were hesitant to support new community programs. One interviewee indicated that he could not understand the community leadership, stating he had to fight for every program It was just constantly fighting. And all of sudden something would get through and boom, you’d have a new program. And you’d think, ‘‘I fought for four months for this and I finely got it’’. And everyone would be like, ‘‘this is the greatest thing ever, this is awesome, this is great we need more new programs y’’ ‘‘Well how about we try this one?’’ ‘‘No.’’ ‘‘Well, why not?’’ ‘‘Cause, it’s new’’. And it was like, ok, here we go again.

For this person, the leadership and their attitude were a limiting factor in a community that otherwise had untapped potential for growth and development. I used to sit in my office and I’d look at something like that [the murals] or I’d look at the amount of money that the pool fund raisers raise, and I’d sit there and I’d go, like how does this community not push forward? I just don’t understand it. But I came to the conclusion that people probably get tired y of constantly fighting with people to keep things moving, keep things going, keep people on the committee. People get tired and they say, you know what, know matter how much I love this, that’s enough. And boom, that’s when its stops.


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Such attitudes contradict those who view their community as not having tapped all the possible resources and who want to have a larger vision and plan for the growth and sustainability of the community. However, such leaders often face opposition within their Council or from community members who do not share this view, as evidenced in the following passage, But I’ll tell you, in the last civic election here, we lost a couple of councillors, both were defeated, that had that same attitude [of status quo]. Both of them were y satisfied with what we had. They were very much opposed to my vision and my joining of officials, of economies, opposed to any joint activities with the Rural Development Corporation, every time, it didn’t matter. There were lots of those that were very active and very vocal, some not even on the town council.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are leaders who have a vision and are optimistic about what can be achieved within the community, exemplified by those interviewed in Humboldt, who feel that an optimistic attitude is essential. Overlapping of Volunteer Leadership. If it is the same people who sit on all boards within a community (such as the Rural Development Corporation, the REDA, the CCD and Town Council), or even boards that have a relationship with one another (such as Downtown Revitalization, Tourism and Murals in Moose Jaw) then this affects the inclusivity of the options being undertaken and allows for an individual agenda to be advanced to the exclusion of others. If the agenda of an executive member is not the agenda of the broader community, it may have an impact on the sustainability of the projects that are undertaken. Further, if the same people sit as decision makers on a variety of boards, how representative are they of the community more broadly and how much of what goes forward for public input is actually an agreed upon agenda? For example, one interviewee describes the collection of individuals that are involved in a variety of committees in the community as a, ‘‘y funny little group because we all sort of end up on the same wavelength and the same committees – active in the Chamber, active in the Rural Development Corporation, active in the REDA and active in the town’’. Further he states that, ‘‘We all sit on those same boards. So we are all coordinating so much now’’. In some instances, it is difficult for committees to move forward on projects or plans due to the commitment of individuals to a variety of organizations. Further, when there are a limited number of volunteers, with limited capacities of support but who sit on a large number of committees the natural consequence is burnout and each of the case study communities shared this experience.

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6.3. Evaluating the Potential and Success of Tourism Developments The exclusive use of traditional measures for success in economic development such as Gross Domestic Product, employment and dollar value of trade are too limiting as CED indicators because they do not incorporate the intangible accomplishments related to community mobilization and capacity building (Flora et al., 1999; Markey & Vodden, 2000; Theobald, 1997). Although researchers such as these have developed a ‘‘success factor framework’’ as a system for monitoring success, none of them include how community members evaluate the results of the chosen actions nor do they explore the linkages between CED, sustainability and the four theoretical areas this research has examined. If the distinguishing characteristic of CED is community member participation in the economic development process, it necessarily follows that including community views or opinions on whether a particular venture has been successful is critical in evaluating its success. Development actions ripple throughout a community, thereby creating intangible outcomes that are critical to fostering the diversity associated with sustainable community development. If the development idea is embedded in the psyche of residents, they are more likely to support the project in their multiple roles within the community, contributing more broadly to the initiative and ensuring its sustainability. Further, these models do not provide an indication of the importance of the connections between these capacity areas (or thicknesses) and how these areas may hinder the successful outcome of the endeavour, or at least its long-term sustainability. How can these relationships and intangibles be evaluated? The following sections outline the themes that emerged from the analysis relating to definitions of success and what were viewed as supports and hindrances to the successful outcome of a CED strategy within rural places. The final section of Section 6 focuses on a framework for evaluating sustainability in tourism-based CED strategies in rural areas. 6.3.1. Defining Success Two tables have been created that indicate the attributes each of those interviewed in the case study communities identified as measures or definitions of success. Although discussion centred on the mural projects, participants also discussed broader economic and community development, in terms that defined success as outlined in Table 11. In many cases, traditional economic development measures were employed as ways of defining success, including population growth, numbers of

Definitional Elements of Success – Economic and Community Development.

Town/City

Attributes Population Growth

Biggar Churchbridge Duck Lake Humboldt Moose Jaw Wadena

|

|

Full #/Reten- Recrea- Volunteer Presence Services tion of tion and Support of Retail/ Sport Food Businesses Outlets | |

| |

| |

| | |

|

| | | | | |

New Housing Tourism Regional Leadership Industry Starts Attractions Partici and ExpanDevelo pation sion of pment or Existing Expansion


Table 11.

|

| |

| |

| |

| |

|

| |

Source: Author.

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businesses, industry attraction or expansion and housing starts. It is predominately within the larger centres that these attributes were utilized (Moose Jaw and Humboldt). Non-traditional methods such as volunteer support were also utilized in communities of all sizes within the study group, indicating that volunteerism is an important thickness within rural communities that can act as both an aid and a hindrance to success, as previously discussed. For the city communities of Moose Jaw and Humboldt, having ‘‘Big Box’’ stores or international retail or food outlets coming into the community is considered a way of measuring the success of the community because the perception is that these organizations ‘‘do their homework’’ and would not consider establishing themselves in a community where there is not a guarantee on their investment. For Churchbridge, the only community that discussed social-based programs, success is measured by the larger number of children able to participate on school teams and field trips and increased use of the pool. In terms of volunteer support, it is not only individuals attending and funding donation drives, but also the fact that the events the volunteers are putting on have waiting lists for participants. This element was evident from interviews in the smaller communities of Churchbridge, Duck Lake and Wadena. Success is also defined by the creative ways in which people are willing to look at service provision within their existing capacities, as evidenced in the following passage. Another community y has been looking to get a better restaurant for the community so they set up something on an ad hoc basis in their curling rink all year. And you know, it is something, better than nothing y I guess from my perspective [success] is about what steps the community undertakes and what does it do to try and make things occur y Job numbers are important, but it is also important that a community has pride in itself and keeps jobs. It is a whole number of conditions.

Although those interviewed in each of the communities spoke of similar attributes as providing an indication of the success of their mural projects, interviewees also indicated that not all measures of success were obtained in every instance. For example, interviewees from Duck Lake suggested that the development of ancillary tourism services to produce economic spin offs would demonstrate the success of their mural project, but none of these anticipated developments actually occurred. Table 12 summarizes how success was defined with regards to the mural projects. Definitions of success were not provided by those interviewed in Biggar, as the mural was neither part of a community beautification plan, nor tourism-based.

Definitional Elements of Success – Murals.

Town/City

Attributes Community Pride

Number of Tourists

| | |

| | | | |

Biggar Churchbridge Duck Lake Humboldt Moose Jaw Wadena

|

Website Economic Community Hits Spin Offs Support

|

|

|

| | |

| | | |

Business Support

| | | |

Positive FriendComments ship

Requests to Paint in other Communities

| | |

|

|

|

|

|


Table 12.

Source: Author.

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In their evaluation of mural development, traditional methods of measuring economic-based successes were utilized, including the number of tourists, retail spending within the community, bus tours and visits to their respective website. Despite the inclusion of these elements, the majority of those interviewed, particularly in the smaller communities, cited more intangible attributes of success. Community pride was perhaps the most often cited attribute of mural project success, both from those interviewed and from the documents analysis, and is a measure that cannot be minimized. Although those interviewed in Moose Jaw did not mention this element, documents from that city indicated that even at an urban scale, citizens were proud of what had been accomplished. A former Murals of Moose Jaw Board Chair suggested that, not only are the murals a tourist attraction, they have given Moose Jaw residents a reason to look forward to the future. The people of Moose Jaw are starting to believe in their worth, in their future. The murals are theirs. They have taken possession and are proud to show the murals to visitors. (Moose Jaw Times Herald, 1992b)

Pride in community was evident on many levels. A collective pride in a shared heritage was apparent in all communities, as was a sense of pride in how attractive the project made their community and resulted in ‘‘outsider’’ visitation. A sense of pride resulting from what they were able to accomplish through fundraising to get professional artists to paint for them was evident in Duck Lake, while a sense of pride in the local talent predominated views from Churchbridge and Wadena. This sense of community pride is an important definitional attribute, especially as it relates to tourism development. Research concerning the development of sporting facilities (Chapin, 2004) and retail development (West & Orr, 2003) as engines of economic growth, suggest there is a positive relationship with increasing community spirit and civic pride. These studies, among others, indicate that having pride in the product facilitates the sale of that product (Novacka, 1994; Reilly, 2003). Evidence from this research would suggest that pride has a similar impact within a rural tourism context. Residents within a community must believe they have something to attract tourists and pride in the community is a first step towards that end. Business and community support were two additional indicators of success. Support of local businesses refers to their willingness to have a mural painted on their building and to provide monetary or in-kind donations to the mural project. As is evident in Table 12, all communities experienced such support, but perhaps this was most evident in Wadena.


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Community support includes the donation of time of local artists in Churchbridge and Wadena to paint the murals, donations of time to supply goods for sales or to raise money to have the murals professionally painted such as Duck Lake residents working bingo and the provision of assistance to mural artists during painting through the provision of food and shelter and by assisting with the accuracy of images. These elements predominated in the three smaller communities where artists were local and volunteered their time (Churchbridge and Wadena) or where artists were billeted in the community (Duck Lake). In Humboldt community support was only indicated through monetary donations. Two other intangible measures of success are positive comments received by artists both from local people and those outside of the community, and the friendships and kindnesses of the people. The latter is most evident in Wadena and Churchbridge, communities where local painters completed the murals, rather than those communities that used external professionals. Interaction among community members and muralists appears to vary with community size and who is painting, which may be a function of population size because there is a greater likelihood of people in a small town knowing the individuals who are painting regardless of whether they are professional. Finally, the fact that other communities requested the artists from Churchbridge and Wadena to paint murals in their towns and recognition through regional, provincial and national awards has provided another level of success as measured by those in the case study. All communities have received some form of recognition and these awards serve to verify or enhance community pride and a belief in the community and in the province, that they represent a tourism destination. The recognition that individual places receive from their respective regional and provincial tourism awarding bodies illustrates to community members that tourism is a good idea, that the Town/City may have something to offer and in so doing it acts to embed the project into the community. For practitioners and policy makers these awards serve to further promote tourism within the province and region, and allow them to lobby funders and policy makers for additional resources to develop more tourism projects. 6.3.2. Identifying Supports and Obstacles to Facilitate Success in CED Part of measuring success or facilitating the successful outcome of a chosen endeavour involves understanding what those involved in community development activities view as supports or obstacles to the undertaking. The following sections provide a discussion of the elements identified by those interviewed as critical to supporting and hindering the successful outcome of

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Table 13.

Summary of Supports and Hindrances as Identified in Interviews.

Supports for Development Attitude Achievable goals Place attributes (location and facilities) Leadership Supportive and participatory council and government Community support

Hindrances to Development Attitude Town/city council, government Place (location and distance) Volunteerism overlap and lack of paid positions Financing Lack of supporting infrastructure for or understanding of tourism industry

Source: Author.

a project, and are summarized in Table 13. These attributes reflect those voiced by the community and are not listed in a prioritized order. Supports for Development. A key attribute identified by virtually all those interviewed was a positive attitude towards development opportunities within the community. An important element and one that illustrates the connections between embeddedness, success and sustainability is what one interviewee referred to as ‘‘the power of We’’. But, you know, I got a real lesson in progress in [the late 1970s] when we were raising funds to build our Uniplex [a multi-purpose recreation facility] y I was a young businessman here in town y We [decided to build] the Uniplex and we had to raise funds for it y So, we had to go to the city for a municipal bylaw to borrow money [meaning that it required a public vote]. We literally had to shake every vote out of the tree y [and] businesses were allowed to vote y That thing scraped through by about 51 or 52 percent. That was as close as we came to being ordinary and not going ahead. The seniors primarily were against it at that time. Within six months of [the Uniplex] being in the ground, the cars that were going around the building were [being driven by] old people. They would take their kids out there with them, and they were saying, ‘‘look what we’re building’’. That ‘‘we’’is a hell of a word. If you say ‘‘look what we can do’’, if you got ‘‘we’’, you don’t have to sell it. They’ll sell it for you. You can do a lot if you use ‘‘we’’ and not ‘‘I’’. The seniors after that kind of sold it. They were onboard for the pool after that y There’s always caution involved. But if you use the ‘‘we’’ word and have a lot of optimistic people, you can do a lot.

Further, having a positive internal and external image is a key factor. Both those interviewed in Moose Jaw and Humboldt feel that the tourism developments within their communities were the catalyst for other and continued economic development, because of the attention and pride it brought to the community.


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Those interviewed indicated that success is more likely if the goals of the community are within the capacity of the community and area to achieve. In essence, a community must choose a development option that is embedded in the attributes that exist within the community, as described in the following passage. If you took the sun and the water out of Florida, there’s nothing there. It’s just a flat piece of sand. So they work with their attributes y Like, we have the German theme based on [our] German culture. So it was kind of a little easier to build on for us because we had a base to go from y you know, we knew of the neighbours who were good at things, and we just tapped into that. I think you have to know who you are. You have to go with what you have, you know, assess your strengths and build on them.

There are two aspects of place that serve to support a chosen project, in this case, tourism development through murals. The influence of location and the attributes of place have a long history in geography-based economic theory (Massey, 1995; Storper & Walker, 1989). Although much geographic research has been conducted in this area, relevant to this research is the work of Dahms and McComb (1999), who suggest that location and place-based characteristics including location in the urban field, amenity attractions and the commodification of rurality contribute to increased population growth of rural spaces. Wall (1978, p. 5) indicates that, ‘‘recreation sites do not exist in isolation. They are found within a context of competing and complementary facilities’’. Given that most trips are multi-destination in nature (Hanson, 1980; O’Kelly, 1982) and that tourism sites exist within a competitive environment, the concept of intervening opportunities is particularly relevant to this research (Stouffer, 1940; Hartshorne & Alexander, 1988). In Saskatchewan, traveling distance between points can be significant and therefore being located on a major transportation route may be beneficial for developing tourism. Indeed, most of those interviewed felt their community was ideally situated to attract visitors, for example, on main highways, meaning that location was an important contributing attribute to a successful outcome. The second set of place-based attributes is the facilities that the town or city possesses. In this case, they were not always tourism-related, but factors people cite for continuing to live within the community. In Biggar, this was the new school and health facility along with inexpensive recreation opportunities for children and adults. The good water supply, inexpensive lots for purchase and low property taxes, along with the friendliness and safety of the community in which to raise a family, were cited by those interviewed in Humboldt, Duck Lake, Wadena and Churchbridge.

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As suggested in the literature (Brown & Nylander, 1998; Christenson, 1982; Youmans, 1990; O’Brien et al., 1991), leadership was identified as a crucial element that supports the successful outcome of a project. One interviewee suggests ‘‘There needs to a community leader for us to have a process y And without a local driver there is no local success’’. Every project needs someone to come up with and oversee the implementation of an idea and manage it through to completion. The personal characteristics of that leader, notably a positive attitude, serve to garner additional support for the project. Several of those interviewed identified supportive Town/City Council as a key to the success of any project undertaken within the community, and most of the communities feel that they would not have been able to achieve what they have without support from provincial and federal government. Wadena is the only community that did not receive, or importantly apply for, grants from the government for the mural program. Humboldt and Duck Lake received grant money to redevelop their Main Streets and the provincial government through the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Corporation gave money to reface Humboldt’s liquor store, which included interior murals, to match the half-timber construction. Churchbridge received some money to make post cards of the murals and Moose Jaw City Council has received a significant injection of money from both levels of government to assist with their various tourism attraction developments. As discussed in terms of the importance of volunteerism as a level of thickness for community development, those interviewed also identified the support of community members as crucial to the success of any project. Many of those interviewed stated that it was the volunteer capacity of their communities that made every undertaking possible. Hindrances to Development. Findings from this research suggest that individual or group attitude towards development has a major impact on the potential outcome of a chosen project. Negative attitudes from individuals or groups were identified by those interviewed as something that hinders development. For example, ‘‘not dreaming or thinking about what you can be’’ holds a community back, as does ‘‘lots of negative attitude’’. One of the biggest hindrances to success in rural Saskatchewan was identified as an attitude towards living in a small town or that ‘‘to make something of your life, you need to leave town’’. Although it is true that to obtain a post-secondary education individuals will have to leave, there is no incentive for these same individuals to come back, as evidenced in the


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following passage: We are losing 12.5 people per year, which is pretty much your graduating Grade 12 class. Now, they don’t see it, because these kids go to Grade 12 and they’re expected to go to university. What they don’t notice is that these kids never come back y You know, they sit there and say well we’re losing all our young people, well definitely. Why should the young people stick around when there’s no business opportunities for them, there’s no working opportunities for them, there’s no education opportunities for them.

Another detrimental attitudinal factor related specifically to rural-based tourism is the idea that a single community or attraction can create the type of economic development it is seeking on its own (Baird, personal communication, 1999). Instead, tourism organizers must recognize that it is necessary and beneficial to work together as a region. Results from this research corroborate such findings, as evidenced in the following passage: I think the biggest obstacle is a mindset y You know for years and years, every attraction and every small business has been trying to do it for themselves. And so they’ve developed their own little brochure and they’ve developed their own little marketing strategy, etc. So the mindset is still there, you know, what’s in it for me, and what we have to do is try to get beyond that. To try make them see the bigger picture y that if you can get them to come your little facility, they’ll stay for a couple of hours but then they’re gone. But if you get to come and stay in your area for three days, they are more than likely going to visit everything they can in those three days. They are going to need the grocery store, they are going to need the fuel, they are going to use your bakery, etc. They’ll go for coffee and your meals at a restaurant. So, not only do the attractions profit, but the services profit.

An inferiority complex is a strong element related to attitude within the case communities but it is even suggested in the province as a whole, as evidenced by the Saskatchewan, Our Future is Wide Open Campaign developed by the Saskatchewan Government to promote the benefits of Saskatchewan to both those outside and inside the province. Within the data set this attitude of inferiority permeated discussions takes several forms, some relating specifically to tourism, others relating to economic development and entrepreneurialism more broadly. Within a tourism context it relates specifically to the lack of belief that there is something worthwhile to promote. The result is often that the community at large needs to receive outside verification of the value of their attractions. Outside experts bring recognition of the capacities and strengths of the community to those in the community. External expertise legitimizes the project idea, often serving to embed a development strategy that does not fit within the historical norms. Furthermore, even though some local leaders may see the strategy as positive, it does not resonate with the local population who may view such suggestions as part of a personal agenda and not good for the community more broadly.

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Community members often see government at all three levels as a barrier to development and the success of particular projects. When the local government only ever gives ‘‘moral support’’ and does not support of projects through funding groups can become frustrated, as illustrated by one interviewee. it just gets kind of frustrating when you are trying to work, when you know there is good things happening and they [the town council] tell you, ‘‘oh this is good’’ and so you go to a meeting and make a presentation and ask [for] a few hundred dollars for this that or the other and they go, ‘‘nope, not in our budget’’. And after [our group] being five years old you would think they would factor us in somewhere.

Provincial and federal government are viewed as obstacles for specific projects, especially those relating to municipal infrastructure. For example, although the water reservoir in Duck Lake has been identified as too small to safely combat potential fires, infrastructure grants to aid the town in expanding the reservoir have not been provided to the community despite repeated applications. Although viewed as a positive attribute in supporting success, both communities located within an hour of Saskatoon (Humboldt and Biggar) view this locational proximity as a detriment to their development and limiting retail business development because people shop in the city. A reliance on volunteerism, the resulting overlap of responsibilities and the lack of resources to employ people were all identified as hindrances to success. Too few people sitting on too many committees means there is reduced capacity and this is further limited when the population base is heavily weighted in the 60þ age cohort, as suggested in both Wadena and Duck Lake. In addition, there are often too many groups that functionally overlap and are therefore competing for limited resources. This needs to be coordinated to one end goal or one larger vision, such as the town of Biggar is attempting through the development of their strategic plan. Finally because the volunteer base is stretched, there is a need for a dedicated person to work between meetings to accomplish all the work that is necessary to reach the determined goals. Further, their expertise or capacity is needed to access all the programs and grants that are available. Finances were an issue identified by everyone interviewed. From a Town/ City perspective, it is difficult to balance limited financial resources against municipal responsibilities and community organization requests. From a project leader basis, financing is a twofold issue of whether or not the project is a priority of the Town/City Council and if there is the capacity within the community to access alternate means of funding. Community


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groups need people who know where and how to apply for different governmental and non-governmental programs. With specific reference to what deters tourism development, several of those interviewed identified the lack of supporting infrastructure and facilities as an issue. This is a critical thickness that is required to support tourism development, as discussed previously. A related hindrance is a lack of understanding of how the tourism industry works, what is needed to develop and promote the industry and the level of service and attractions that are required. One interviewee referred to tourism as an ‘‘educational industry’’ because of the level of learning and teaching that is required to make the industry work and to convince businesses and Council that tourism is an investment. What this points to is the necessity of rural communities working together on a regional basis and pooling their attractions, marketing, services and expertise to develop a destination region and package. 6.3.3. Success Framework Evaluation in Tourism-Based CED There are several purposes for a framework to assess the success of a project, with those developed by Markey and Vodden (2000) and Flora et al. (1999) providing a reflexive opportunity for community members to evaluate their chosen endeavour on human, social, economic and environmental capacities. Throughout the development process such frameworks provide an opportunity to re-evaluate the method and progress towards the envisioned goal. What is required at the end, however, is a way to evaluate whether or not that goal has been reached and if the intended outcome has been achieved. As previously discussed, for rural-based CED strategies such as tourism, traditional methods of evaluating economic development strategies do not provide a complete picture of success. Instead, other less tangible measurements must be included and this analysis points to the inclusion of other theories within a CED framework to more fully evaluate and predict the successful and sustainable outcome of the chosen strategy. Such assertions present questions as to how (a) an intangible ‘‘feeling’’ or perception of success can be evaluated, and (b) the concept of sustainability can form part of this evaluation in rural tourism. With respect to the first question, part of the answer is to compare the outcomes to the stated objectives when the program was implemented, taking into account whether emphasis was placed on the community development or economic element of CED. Any framework for measuring success in CED must include community attitudes towards the chosen endeavour. Theories of embeddedness, institutional thickness and governance provide a basis to evaluate

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the sustainability of tourism within a rural context. The following two sections provide a framework for and theorization of, success and sustainability in CED. Evaluating Intangible Elements of Success. Within the CED literature, traditional methods of evaluation are utilized to define success in CED as achieved when chosen strategies bring more money and employment to the community, result in increased community control over planning and resources or creates resiliency to external change (Ashton, 1999; Boothroyd & Davis, 1993; Douglas, 1989; Dykeman, 1990; Gill, 1999; Nozick, 1991; Voth, 1989). These elements are identifiable and measurable within the community being studied and provide an aspect for evaluation. Current frameworks account for such measurement methods. Other less tangible aspects of success have an influence on the well-being of residents within a community and are used to define the success of a project. Because these characteristics are more difficult to measure, they are generally acknowledged less frequently or given less weight in assessing success within academic studies. These definitions relate more to community pride, beautification and fostering social linkages than the numbers of jobs created or retail sales generated, and they are the outcomes of mural development initiatives most often cited in rural communities (Koster & Randall, 2005). This suggests that, as researchers, planners and policy makers, our measures of success must be broad enough to reflect the diversity of objectives within communities. Utilizing mural-based CED as the strategy being evaluated, Koster and Randall (2005) have utilized a two-dimensional framework (Fig. 16) to depict how the objectives and the tangibility of CED define the success of a project. In the framework, the y-axis represents the objectives (tourism or community beautification) and the x-axis represents both intangible (e.g., community pride, knowledge, compliments) and tangible (e.g., number of visitors, number of jobs created, dollar value of tourist-related sales) measures of success. The further from the base of these axes, the greater the perceived or measured success. On the basis of the analysis, each of the case study communities is placed on this framework based on how the outcome of the project is viewed by those interviewed against the intended objective. Clearly, those interviewed in both Wadena and Churchbridge see their projects as successful because their frame of measurement was defined by intangibility and community beautification. The terms relating to success were subjective and included comments relating to the attractiveness of the community, the subsequent

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Rural Community Economic Development Tourism • Moose Jaw

• Humboldt Intangible

• Duck Lake

Tangible

Measures of Success

• Churchbridge • Wadena

Objectives of Project

Community Beautification

Fig. 16.

Intangible and Tangible Success Evaluation Framework. Source: Koster and Randall (2005).

pride residents felt towards their community and the talents they possess, the increased awareness about local history for all age groups, the fun associated with the process of mural creation, the creation of friendships and relationships, and finally, how it benefited local artists who were subsequently commissioned by other communities. In contrast, those interviewed in Moose Jaw described their mural initiatives as successful in a tangible, economic-based tourism sense, citing increased numbers of visitors and the use of murals as indirect catalysts for other tourism developments. Tourism development was credited for reinvigorating Main Street, attracting new or expanding existing industry and encouraging national retail chains to consider establishing in Moose Jaw. Although conceding that the murals have created a relatively small number of jobs, those interviewed suggested that the murals and subsequent tourism developments have become an indicator of broader economic successes within the community. Both the objectives of mural development and the tangibility of success were more mixed in Humboldt, and not everyone viewed the initiative as successful. Tourist-based economic development, in the form of increased numbers of visitors and retail activity, were both original objectives, as was

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community beautification augmenting the German cultural heritage of the region through the selection process and the art. Some interviewees considered the murals to have achieved mixed success, in that they had brought in six bus tours a year to the community, but that participation by local businesses had been limited and the number of tours and festivals has decreased. Others recognized that the murals and broader tourism developments associated with them were instrumental in developing an attitude of regional cooperation in addition to providing a signal to businesses that Humboldt is a good place to live and do business. One of the interviewees for Duck Lake’s Mural Committee suggested that the community has had a ‘‘fifty percent success rate’’ in that the murals have beautified the community, but had largely failed in achieving any long-term economic development, both goals of the original project. Because the anticipated objective for the mural project was tourism and the actual outcome was community beautification, Duck Lake has been placed at the axes of the figure. As far as tourism is concerned, tangible successes have been very limited, while the community beautification outcome is viewed as more successful, especially if evaluated in intangible terms. The utility of this evaluation framework lies in its inclusion of community member evaluations of success against their chosen objectives. The framework could therefore be used to evaluate strategies other than mural projects in a similar fashion, retaining the x-axis intangible and tangible success measurements and altering the objectives (y-axis) to reflect the community’s evaluation criteria. Conceivably the figure may become multidimensional to include a variety of objectives beyond those evaluated here. Theorizing Sustainability and Success in CED. Another element in evaluating success is the sustainability of the project under question. Sustainability in this context refers to the actual capacity base of the community to maintain the project and expand it over the long term to obtain the desired outcomes. Both the literature and the analysis contained in this research would suggest that within a CED framework, the sustainability of a chosen strategy is an objective in achieving the long-term growth or stability of the community. The existing frameworks previously discussed provide the types of capacities and decision-making pathways that community leaders or groups may want to consider in developing their CED strategy. These capacity areas can be considered as thicknesses that need to be present within the community. The pathways or decision-making strategies can be considered as ways of embedding the project within the community, while governance structures and the associated leadership serve to connect these two areas.


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Sustainability is an inherent theme in CED, based on the understanding that effective CED is driven from the bottom–up, the implication being therefore that the idea of the project is embedded in the community, where it is based on the internal capacities and where there are positive leaders and relationships built with governments so as to obtain the sustainability of the project over the long term. Sustainability is more likely when the development project fits within the community’s economic culture. This embeddedness is critical to its sustainability as the project is likely to receive broader support from the community when people endorse the project in their multiple roles within the community. The relationship between institutional thickness and sustainability is complex, especially in relation to tourism as the development strategy. In this instance, the institutional thickness required relates to the existing and potential attraction capacities within the community and the region in which the community is located. Supporting infrastructure and facilities are required, that are endorsed by local business, government and community members. Without the presence of such thicknesses, tourism strategies will not generate the kind of sustained economic development benefits that are possible, regardless of scale. Leadership is an attribute that contributes to the sustainability of development projects as there needs to be an effective succession plan to replace leaders, a volunteer pool that is not over extended and minimal overlap of leaders so that individual agendas are not advanced and burnout does not occur. This attribute has a direct relationship to governance, as effective leadership is required within both the government and community organization sides of the relationship. These partnerships can only be sustainable when they allow for a planning horizon that goes beyond a particular electoral period and allows for secure funding commitments and support over the long term. Table 14 summarizes the relationship between these attributes and sustainability within CED while assessing the success of each of the muralbased tourism projects in the case study communities. Sustainability and success in Biggar is assessed on the development of their strategic plan as the town does not have a mural or tourism development strategy. Its inclusion demonstrates the applicability of such a framework to other types of CED strategies or planning processes. The attributes relating to the four theoretical areas and those that support and hinder the successful outcome of a development project have been utilized in Table 14 to assess their influence on the success and sustainability of the mural project within each community as either positive (P), mixed (M) or negative (N).

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Table 14.

Success and Sustainability Evaluation Framework.

Indicators of Success and Sustainability

Attribute Present in Case Study Community Biggar

Churchbridge

Duck Lake

Humboldt

Moose Jaw

Wadena

Year project began

2000

1995

1990

1993

1989

1996

Embeddedness Attitude Understanding of tourism Murals as embedded

P N n/aa

M N P

P N P

P M M

P M M

M N P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P n/a

P N

P M

P N

P N

P M

N M

N N

N N

P P

P P

M N

N N

N N

P N

P P

P P

N M

P

P

P

P

P

P

Institutional Thickness Community support Volunteerism Short term (first 5–8 years) Long term (8 plus years) Regional Thickness Attractions Partnerships Local Thickness Infrastructure Facilities Governance and Leadership Top–Down versus Bottom–Up Community driven Development Process Inclusive of community Leadership Issues Leadership capacity Local government support Networks

P

P

P

M

M

P

P P N

M N N

M P N

M P P

P P M

M M N

Total P M N n/a Total positive/mixed presence

7 1 5 2 8

5 2 8 0 7

8 2 5 0 10

9 4 1 0 13

10 4 1 0 14

5 6 4 0 11

M, mixed presence; N, negative presence; P, positive presence. a These areas are not applicable to the case of Biggar as there was no mural project and the volunteer capacity based on the BCCD has not yet been tested beyond the short-term framework. Source: Author.


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The assumption is that a positive presence of the attribute is necessary for a project to be considered sustainable resulting in the increased likelihood of success over the long term. Given the level of overlap of some of the attributes and to avoid confusion, Community Support (broadly defined to include individual, business, committees and organizations) and Volunteerism have been included under Institutional Thickness and Local Government under Governance and Leadership. The Volunteerism attribute has been evaluated in two stages, short term (the first 5–8 years of the project) and long term (8 plus years) to address the issue of capacity over time. The outcome of the evaluation is based on how the community scored on the positive presence of indicators relating to success resulting in greater likelihood of sustainability of the tourism project. The communities have been ranked based on the total number of positive (P) and mixed (M) indicators on a range of 0–15, with PþM scores approaching 15 signalling a greater likelihood of sustainability and success for the project and PþM scores approaching 0 indicating less probability of sustainability and success. The results of this evaluation suggest that the likelihood of achieving success when tourism development is chosen as the method of diversifying the community economy is significantly increased when the positive presence of the indicators associated with embeddedness, institutional thickness and governance/leadership are present. From this analysis it is apparent that Moose Jaw and Humboldt have the greatest likelihood of sustaining their tourism product and experiencing continued success. Ranking results for Wadena, Duck Lake and Biggar suggest that the potential of success in tourism development exists but has not been fully developed, while Churchbridge has the lowest score, suggesting that the community has the least number of positive attributes relating to institutional thickness, embeddedness and governance/leadership required to aid a community-based project in achieving tourism as an outcome. The assumption of this evaluation is that tourism was the chosen objective for the development of murals, though this was not the case for Churchbridge, Biggar and Wadena based on the Intangible and Tangible Success Evaluation Framework discussed in Section ‘‘Evaluating Intangible Elements of Success’’. In that evaluation, both Wadena and Churchbridge were considered to have experienced success, as the objective was community beautification, evaluated primarily on intangible factors relating to community pride, social network development and attractiveness of the community. If only the positive presences are counted in the Success and Sustainability Framework (Table 14), both Churchbridge and Wadena have

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the lowest rank of 5. Their positive scores are from theme areas that relate to the embeddedness of the murals, community support, short-term volunteerism, being community-driven and inclusion. The other theme areas receiving mixed or negative presence evaluations relate primarily to the economic characteristics of tourism development, including attitude towards development, infrastructure and facilities and governance and leadership issues. What this reaffirms is that the objectives of mural development must be taken into account in evaluating success. The mural projects in both towns have achieved the desired results for the community and have provided some additional interest for visitors. However, this would suggest that should tourism become a specific objective for diversifying the community economy in either of these communities, the indicators on which the scores are low must be addressed for any possibility of sustained success. If the objectives for mural development in Duck Lake had been community beautification, the community could be considered to have had success based on the Intangible and Tangible Success Evaluation Framework. Because tourism-based economic outcomes were desired, those involved with the project considered it to have failed. As a result, a revamped Mural Board, with input from the Museum Board, have begun to examine what they need to do to achieve these tourism-based goals. In so doing, they may achieve those outcomes over time. Biggar’s ranking, although low, is reflective of the initial stages of development. At the time of the interviews, members of the community were still in the process of completing a vision for the town and compiling the information necessary to make informed decisions on how to best utilize the existing capacities (human, social, economic and environmental) within the community. The presence of a positive attitude towards development, community support, volunteerism, willingness to develop partnerships, the fact that the process has been community-driven and inclusive, along with a strong leadership capacity and supportive municipal government all point to the strong potential that exists within this community to achieve positive outcomes.

6.4. Conclusion The choice for the adoption and development of murals is not only a result of a downturn in economic fortunes, but it is influenced by government programming and grant allocation, which appears to sway local leaders in the development choices they make. Tourism industry investment is a rather


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small expenditure on the part of government through a few key programs, leaving interested community leaders and Councils to procure the remaining funds. At first glance tourism can appear to be a small investment for the community in question, often viewed as a few signs, flowers and a tourism booth. On the basis of this research it appears that characteristics of place, both the physical location and the cultural heritage, serve to influence the choice to develop murals and in fact seem to aid in establishing a sense of pride in place. However, as the community members become more involved in the industry and place marketing, it becomes apparent that the investment required is really much greater, with little immediate return on those dollars. In addition, economic development or tourism committees find themselves simultaneously vying for limited dollars from a Town or City Council struggling to manage ever greater demands on their financial capacity while at the same time trying to convince a community membership, with an attitude unfamiliar with the operations of the tourism industry, that investing in tourism is a viable and sustainable option. What this rather bleak picture indicates is that theories of institutional thickness, governance, embeddedness and conceptualizations of leadership do provide a body of literature that can aid in furthering our understanding of CED and tourism as a strategy. It demonstrates that tourism is a complex industry that communities cannot enter into lightly. There must be a degree of thickness at a regional and local level for tourism to be an option. Rarely does a single rural town have enough attractions to garner the level of visitation required to provide economic returns. Instead, the research suggests that communities, attractions and businesses must partner on a regional basis to market as a destination, and further research is required to verify this finding. In addition, there must be a certain threshold of facilities and infrastructure at a local level to provide for, and facilitate the creation of, appropriate ambiance of a tourism site. A governance structure must be in place to facilitate and nurture tourism development. This is often a difficult prospect as local governments struggle to maintain services to the community and feel unable to provide the necessary investments to tourism-related infrastructure. This requires innovative and positive working relationships between community groups and their local governments, where positive communication contributes to the development of a common vision for the community. In other words, there must be a set of leaders and connections between those community leaders to facilitate and coordinate tourism development.

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The tourism industry must become embedded in the psyche of the population. A level of understanding of the tourism industry and an acceptance of its required investments from the community membership is essential. Community members must have a positive attitude and community-self image in order to believe in the possibilities of tourism and to market it as such. The case study communities demonstrate that tourism can present a sustainable CED strategy, with assurance of positive outcomes strengthened when these factors are present. Finally, this research has observed what those involved in tourism and economic development have identified as indicators or definitions of success and has examined the factors that support or hinder the successful outcome of a chosen project. In so doing, this research has identified the need to evaluate success based on both tangible and intangible attributes in association with the objectives the community intended when undertaking the project. Further, when the indicators associated with the four theme areas of embeddedness, institutional thickness, governance and leadership are present, there is a greater likelihood that the project will experience success and be sustainable over the long term. Whether or not tourism as a development option will lead to community sustainability is dubious. Sustained growth of tourism as one way of diversifying the community economy is possible for some communities and it may attract new businesses and population as has been the case in both Humboldt and Moose Jaw. Tourism can provide a level of diversity for rural and small urban places, but it requires a long-term commitment of resources and time and is more complex than community leaders often understand. The final section provides a summary of the findings of this research, addresses some of the methodological issues associated with the data collection and analysis and concludes by pointing to some future areas of research resulting from this study.

7. CONCLUSION I think we’re living proof that the negative scenario that rural Saskatchewan is dying is false. The idea that we’re all in a holding pattern waiting for the last person to leave turning out the lights is absolutely untrue. (Humboldt Journal, 1997)

7.1. Summary of Findings The painting of murals within communities of any size or location is undertaken for many reasons, often not associated with tourism


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development. Beautification of the streetscape or community is usually the initial goal. In some instances mural projects are specifically chosen as a positive method to engage youth and avoid uncontrolled graffiti. There are, however, a small number of communities across Canada that have developed murals that have resulted in tourism developments. These communities are found in diverse locations and vary in size across Canada, with the exception of New Brunswick, Quebec and the territories of the north. As a result of visionary leadership, Chemainus, B.C. provides the epicentre for the diffusion of murals as a tourism strategy with a local entrepreneur, Karl Schutz, largely responsible for its spread. As this research has indicated, of the 30 mural communities responding to the survey, 24 indicated that the idea came either directly or indirectly from Chemainus. As discussed in Section 4, Schultz’s entrepreneurial vision resulted in his becoming a mural consultant for projects across Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, providing opportunity for other rural communities and small urban places to consider alternative development strategies. Caution must be taken in interpreting the importance of Schutz in the spread and adoption of murals as a tourism strategy, as his influence may be exaggerated due to the questions asked and the method employed in this research. Only adoptive communities, which constitute a small percentage of all the possible communities in Canada, were surveyed. As there was no indication of possible choices from non-adopting communities, the influence of Schutz cannot be measured. The results of this research indicate that early adopters of mural-based tourism express greater satisfaction and belief in their product than those that have more recently undertaken the project. Although peripheral communities were more likely to choose to develop murals as a tourism strategy, it tended to be those that are centrally located to larger population bases and other amenities that perceived their product as successful. Without question, small urban places have a greater opportunity for success as measured in tangible economic terms, for example, Moose Jaw, but size alone is not a guarantee. This research has identified a number of attributes whose presence within a community signals an increased likelihood of success that can be sustained over the long term. These attributes are associated with theories of institutional thickness, embeddedness and governance and conceptualizations of leadership. Further, it is apparent that these theories do aid in furthering understanding of CED as well as providing a base from which to build a theory of CED, when applied within a rural or small urban context.

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What this research has pointed to is the importance of institutional thickness at a regional and local level for tourism to be an option. Communities, attractions and businesses must partner on a regional basis to market as a destination and collectively they must have a certain threshold of facilities and infrastructure. The tourism industry must become embedded in local community, meaning that a level of understanding of the tourism industry is required along with an acceptance of its required investments. Community members must have a positive attitude and community self image to believe in the possibilities of tourism and to market it as such. In addition, there must be governance structures in place to facilitate and nurture tourism development, requiring innovative and positive working relationships between community groups and local governments, where positive communication contributes to the development of a common vision for the community. This requires a set of leaders and connections between those community leaders to facilitate and coordinate tourism development at a regional and local level. A final objective of this research was to contribute to the development of a framework for evaluating the success of CED strategies such as tourism. Although traditional methods of evaluating success are useful, they do not completely address the value of a chosen strategy nor do they reflect the views of those involved in, or impacted by, the chosen endeavour. Community-based strategies, those driven from within, must be evaluated based on a comparison of the intended objective of the project and the outcome. For many of those involved in mural-based developments, the success measures were based on intangible attributes relating to community pride, social network strengthening and relationship building. These attributes are integral to embedding the development project within the community and, it is argued, provide a basis from which larger more tangible economic-based developments can take place to augment or build upon the tourism industry in that community and surrounding region. Within rural places, the regional scale is a critical thickness for the sustainability of tourism development options. Individual communities rarely have enough or varied attractions or facilities to hold visitors for the length of time necessary to extract the economic benefit of their visitation. Further, small towns often do not have the resources to market themselves adequately. Instead these places need to collectively identify all the attractions, services and facilities within the region and work together to provide a destination package for travelers. Humboldt has recognized this from the inception of tourism development in their region and Duck Lake has now taken on this approach, the outcomes of which remain to be seen.


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What these successes point to is the importance of effective leadership in driving the initiative and an associated strong relationship within the governance structures at work within the community. In those communities where local governments worked with the community in supporting the tourism effort, the outcome has been positive (for example, Moose Jaw and Humboldt). In these situations the infrastructural investments have been made to provide the ambience base to support tourism attraction and facilities development. In these cases the working relationship between government and community groups was positive and supportive, although that has changed over time, depending upon who the leader was, thus verifying the importance of leadership. Because tourism within rural places is dependent upon a regional base, the interconnections between leaders and sources of financial and information support is critical to the successful outcome of the project. Does tourism provide an option for the sustainability of rural and small urban places? Of the communities surveyed, including those in the cross Canada study, there were very few that were looking at tourism developments as an economic saviour. Instead, murals and tourism development in general were viewed as potential methods to diversify the local economy by capitalizing on locally based assets. What this implies is that unlike some suggestions to the contrary (Barnes & Hayter, 1992), tourism is not simply another form of smokestack chasing within rural communities, but rather is viewed as a way of diversifying the local economy. However, this does not mean that the community members undertaking to develop tourism fully understand the industry, which may result in an unsuccessful or unsustainable outcome. This research would suggest that tourism may provide an option for diversification for those communities that are located within a region that is accessible to a large population and that has developed a number of attractions and services to augment the tourist experience. In the end, muralbased tourism provides an essential ingredient to facilitate further tourism development, a sense of pride in place and a belief that the community has the capacity to accomplish something that other people want to see. It provides the opportunity to open community members to alternate development ideas beyond building on the agriculture (or other primary) industry. This is the key ingredient that may lead to community sustainability.

7.2. Theoretical and Methodological Contributions Combining and analyzing the ideas of institutional thickness, embeddedness, governance and leadership as they relate to CED have made

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a contribution to the emerging theory of CED, a central objective of this research. Findings of this research suggest that these theoretical veins assist in understanding how economic actions are inextricably and uniquely tied to the socio-cultural relationships associated with a particular community. In fact, these conceptualizations have utility not only in distinguishing CED processes, but also in evaluating their potential for success and sustainability, as they relate to tourism in rural areas. In addition, there is justification in applying these findings to other economic strategies that are undertaken within a CED process, based on the variety of examples interviewees provided outside of those relating to tourism-based projects. The results of this research demonstrate the importance of place to the process of CED, thereby contributing more broadly to the discipline of Geography and its understanding of place. Geography plays a critical role in determining how community members construct their options from all of the possibilities that are available to them; their institutional arrangements, factors of embeddedness, governance and leadership structures all play a role in the determination of the options that are considered, how they undertake to develop and implement those options and how the outcomes may be evaluated. This research also represents an important contribution to the sub-disciplines of rural and tourism geographies in that little research has been conducted into the role of tourism in Canada’s rural places in addressing the challenges facing this population and their sustainability. Through this research, two frameworks have been developed to assist rural communities in assessing the viability of their chosen tourism (and possibly other) development strategies and as such, form a methodological contribution to the field of CED. The first is a success measurement framework that allows an understanding of success beyond the tangible economic indicators by including subjective, intangible elements that relate more to the social capital of the community. Such measurements are critical to include in understanding why community members make the development choices they do and how they evaluate the outcomes upon which they base future options. The second framework, based on the theoretical/conceptual areas, offers a way to assess the potential success and sustainability of proposed projects in rural communities. This framework indicates that there are several layers within a CED process that contribute to the outcomes of the strategy. These relate to how the project fits within the community membership’s understanding of and attitude towards the project (embeddedness). It relates to the volunteer capacity of the community collectively, the infrastructure to


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support the project locally and the willingness to work on a regional basis (institutional thickness). Finally, the governance and leadership structures and the relationships between them are considered within this framework. By working through these multiple layers, community members may come to understand the complexity associated with tourism industry development.

7.3. Future Research A particular study often leads to a variety of other potential avenues for investigation and this chapter concludes with the future research projects that have arisen as a result of this analysis. The examination of how muralbased tourism has spread throughout Canada was rather cursory. From this initial study it has become apparent that there is a need to more deeply examine the broader process of diffusion and adoption of mural-based tourism as one possible CED strategy. This investigation is more than about just murals; it addresses how and why communities appear to ‘‘jump on the bandwagon’’ of the most recent economic development fad, and what the resulting diffusion is over time and space. Such an investigation would contribute to the broader field of economic geography as it would allow for a deeper understanding of how certain strategies become attached to different development approaches. Much critical literature has been written regarding murals as a commodification of history and culture (Bell, 1997; Osborne, 2002; Widdis, 2000), cultural representation in public art (Hodder, 1999) and in theme parks (Halewood & Hannam, 2001; Law, 2001; McIntosh & Prentice, 1999). What has emerged from this research is that just as our ways of defining the process and success of CED must include intangible measurements that are place specific, our ways of interpreting the commodification of history or accuracy of cultural representation in murals must be considered within the context of each community. The analysis of supports for and hindrances to success in CED provided an opportunity to give a voice to those issues as viewed by community members. This is an important exercise in qualitative research (Fine, Weis, Weseen, & Wong, 2002) because it allowed these issues to emerge as understood by those involved. This exercise needs to be repeated by myself, as a researcher and emerging expert on the process of CED-based tourism and is important for two reasons. Because I am an outsider to each of the communities and had the opportunity to obtain a ‘‘big picture’’ view of the

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issues they all shared with me, I am positioned to determine what the supports and hindrances are more generally and to examine them in a prioritized order. In addition, such an analysis could provide an indication to communities considering their own potential for tourism-based CED, especially if utilized in conjunction with the attributes outlined for success and sustainability. The results of this exercise could then be developed into a handbook for interested communities. Several times throughout the analysis and evaluation of success it was stated that rural places require a threshold of attractions and services in order to make tourism viable within their community and region. This begs the question of how many attractions and services constitute a threshold. It was not within the scope of this research to determine this number, but a future research option would be to determine this threshold and the relevance for the development and sustainability of a tourism project in rural areas. A review of the literature would suggest that such a study is warranted because as Richards (2002, p. 1048) points out, ‘‘attractions are vital sub-elements in all whole tourism systems, and yet their study suffers from lack of theoretical depth and empirical foundation’’. Indeed, although attractions have been viewed as central to the tourism process, research to date has not addressed the issue of how many attractions or what kind of development is required to provide for sustained tourism, especially as it relates to rural areas. Most studies have addressed the production and consumption of attractions (Edensor, 1998; Gunn, 1988; Leiper, 1990; Lew, 1987; MacCannell, 1976), with more recent studies examining the function and meaning of attractions (Pearce, 1999), the process of sight sacralization (Jacobsen, 1997; Leiper, 1997) and the dialectic relationship between production and consumption (Dietvorst, 1993). Leiper’s (1990) articulation of ‘‘attraction systems’’ provides a theoretical basis for the examination of the relationship between tourists and attractions, but falls short of determining the number or ‘‘thickness’’ of attractions that are necessary for small, rural communities to experience long-term economic benefit. Research undertaken within this thesis may provide a starting point to examining these phenomena, thus contributing to the tourism and community development literature, while also providing guidance for those considering tourism as a possible strategy for CED in their community. Moreover, research addressing regional participation of communities utilizing tourism as economic development strategies is limited. Various related aspects have been addressed such as the support necessary for rural tourism (Fleischer & Felsenstein, 2000), tourist movement within regions


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(Fennell, 1996) and the issues relating to tourism development in peripheral regions (Hohl & Tisdell, 1995). Dredge’s (1999) work integrates various models, such as travel patterns (Lue, Crompton, & Fesenmaier, 1993), attraction systems (Leiper, 1990) and nodal structure (Gunn, 1993; Leiper, 1990) to depict destination regions and how they may be linked. Although her model may be used as a functional planning tool, it does not address how single destinations may function together to create a destination region and concentrates more on the patterns of visitation and how tourists structure their vacation. As a result, further examination of the relevance of regional participation in attraction development and marketing for rural places is required. Findings from this research suggest that the opportunity to attract tourists and retain their visitation within a particular area is increased when individual places work co-operatively. Indeed, research examining tourism districts (areas in which one particular style or focus of tourism dominates) ‘‘y supports the notion that y if well planned, these areas can co-exist and even create a synergy where the attraction of the region is more than the sum of its constituent areas’’ (Dredge, 1999, p. 786). This is especially important when the space between places is significant and when large potential visiting populations are distant. Such research could be of particular relevance to those involved in tourism development and located in similarly rural-based geographic areas throughout the world. Finally, an extension of this research into CED and tourism is an examination of the relationship between CED and ecotourism in rural areas. Such an investigation would seek to more fully explore how ecotourism attractions are developed and marketed and how local rural communities are involved in, or impacted by, such developments. A large and growing body of literature has examined the potential role of ecotourism to community development, primarily in developing countries (see, for example, Barkin & Bouchez, 2002, for Mexico; Stem, Lassoie, Lee, Deshler, & Schelhas, 2003, for Costa Rica; Victurine, 2000, for Uganda; Wearing & McDonald, 2002, for Papua New Guinea). In comparison, similar research regarding ecotourism within a developed world context is relatively absent (Fennell, 1999; Garrod, 2003). Given the growth of this tourism sector within both developed and developing countries and the propensity of the activity to be located within rural areas, it would seem that such examinations are necessary (WTO, 2002). Further as the concept of sustainability in ecotourism is contested (Honey, 1999; Weaver, 2001), research that examines the potential of such tourism for CED in rural areas must be undertaken.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Appreciation goes to those people across Canada, and especially those from Saskatchewan, who agreed to participate in this research. I am indebted to a number of professional colleagues (especially Jim Randall), and numerous friends and family members for the support they provided me throughout the research process. Most importantly, my appreciation goes to my husband, Kevin, and our children, Teaghan and Keogh. There are no words to describe what they have brought to my life, no words that could ever thank them enough for the support they have given me. This research was funded in part through the National CIBC Youthvision Graduate Scholarship in Community Economic Development and Youth Employment.

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LEADERSHIP STYLE AND EMPLOYEE’S JOB SATISFACTION IN INTERNATIONAL TOURIST HOTELS Chien-Wen Tsai ABSTRACT International tourist hotels play important roles in the service industry and have to constantly improve their competitiveness. They need to provide their customers with consistently high service quality in order to satisfy them. The employees of the international tourist hotels are the most important links in the service delivery chain because they are in direct contact with their customers. Because employee morale affects customer satisfaction the managers of the international tourist hotels need to cultivate good relations with their internal staff. Prior research identifies many factors affecting the satisfaction of employees. While relevant literature extensively investigates job satisfaction and leadership behavior, studies of these variables in the tourism service, particularly in hotel management, are almost absent. This research concerns the correlation between the style of managerial leadership and employee’s job satisfaction in the international tourist hotel industry. After literature reviewing, empirical model and hypotheses are established. The study employs the questionnaires to conduct an investigation for employees in international tourist hotels so as to collect information. This research Advances in Culture, Tourism, and Hospitality Research, Volume 2, 293–332 Copyright r 2008 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1871-3173/doi:10.1016/S1871-3173(08)02005-3

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surveys 500 employees in international tourist hotels by questionnaire. A total of 300 questionnaires were returned (73 percent). Through correlation analysis, this research discovers that employees are more satisfied under consideration-style-leadership than construction-styleleadership. After controlling for differences in salary, employees appear to prefer consideration-style-leadership. No matter what the leadership style is, employees’ job satisfaction does not relate towards their coworkers. Besides, employees have different perceptions on work, salary, and overall satisfaction depending on their education level and seniority. The findings in this research expand the knowledge of human resource management and provide some practical suggestions to managers. The study provides a mechanism by which hoteliers can obtain feedback from employees about leadership styles. Such feedback can then serve as the basis for further development of leadership theory across disciplines. This study provides a guide to the preparation of supervisor in the hotel industry as effective leaders for the dynamic environment of the future. This study also provides a basis for informing developers of leadership training programs that can lead to improved hospitality academic leadership.

INTRODUCTION The role that the service industry plays in the economy becomes increasingly important. The tourism industry is an industry that fuses natural resources, cultural assets, transportation, hotels, dining, shopping, commerce, leisure, recreation, tourist media promotions, and other industries. The development of tourism industry reveals the level of internationalization and modernization of a nation. Developing nations rely upon their tourism industries for foreign exchanges so as to create job opportunities. As the backbone of the economy, the service industry is essential to the prosperity of related industries; and thus upgrades the national image. It is particularly true for the modernized nations around the world (Chang, 2000). Taiwan residents expect a high level of leisure life quality. In the last few years, Taiwan has seen a positive growth in the number of tourists on the inbound market, except for the short period that SARS prevailed throughout the world (Tourism Bureau, MOTC, 2002, 2003, 2004). To cope with the mounting competition between the international tourism industries around the world, the authorities are progressively assisting the tourism industry to

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upgrade its competitiveness by enhancing administration capabilities and service quality and, at the same time, encouraging the international tourist hotels to bring in capital and manpower. Thus, the tourism industry will be able to adjust itself to drastic changes of business climate and, meanwhile, create a tourism environment with tremendous potential, thereby reshaping Taiwan’s image in the international community (Tourism Bureau, MOTC, 2003). The international tourist hotels serve a number of needs, such as accommodations, food and beverage services, shopping, social activities, conference venues, health, and entertainment. In this regard the multifunctional international tourist hotels play the most critical role in the tourism industry. Hotel owners can enhance their competitiveness by many ways, such as upgrading service quality, improving reputations, and adding to the value of the existing stock of hotel properties. As indicated by a number of studies, customers will be satisfied if employees are satisfied (Heskett, Jones, Loveman, Sasser, & Schlesinger, 1994). Employees are an important factor in determining corporate service quality and business success or failure (Tansuhajm, Randall, & McCullough, 1988; Heskett, 1987; Tsai & Chung, 2006). The work content of international tourist hotels’ employees is to provide groups of people with service-based professional work, and so human resources are the most important resource in the industry. Arnett, Laverie, and Mclane (2002) mentioned that, with a high level of job satisfaction, employees will devote their full efforts to the accomplishment of their tasks. Apparently, employees’ job satisfaction determines their performance (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2000). Because they are the first-line representatives to serve customers, employees’ job satisfaction determines customers’ loyalties (Claessens, Eerde, Rutte, & Roe, 2004). High-quality internal service contributes to employees’ job satisfaction. When employees’ job satisfaction is high, customers will be taken care of with high-quality service (Chen, 2003). Employees’ joint efforts are needed to enhance customer’s satisfaction. Therefore, the hotels have to make their employees satisfied in the workplace before the employees can deliver satisfactory services to customers. A number of factors determine employee’s job satisfaction. Pre-factor variables divide into two categories – individual characteristics and environmental variables (Seashore & Taber, 1975). The internal environmental variables – such as organizational climate, organization’s scale, level of centralization, level of formality, level of organizational complexity, decision-making process, and leadership – are critical variables affecting employee’s satisfaction at workplace. For the industries maintaining close

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contact with customers, such as international tourist hotels, whether leadership affects employees’ satisfaction more than in other industries remains to be examined. If the answer is positive, then leadership may further improve customer satisfaction. Previous studies indicate that leadership did not affect employee’s job satisfaction consistently. Also, few researchers examine the connection between hotel administrators’ leadership and employees’ job satisfaction. While job satisfaction and leadership behavior have been extensively investigated in other fields, studies of these variables in the tourism service, particularly in hotel management, are almost absent. Therefore, this study intends to discover the relationship between both variables via the research on international tourist hotel with emphasis on its unique characteristics – high contact with customers. The study provides a mechanism by which hoteliers can obtain feedback from employees about leadership styles. Such feedback can then serve as the basis for further development of leadership theory across disciplines. This study provides a guide to the preparation of supervisor in the hotel industry as effective leaders for the dynamic environment of the future. This study also provides a basis for informing developers of leadership training programs that can lead to improved hospitality academic leadership. This study begins with reviewing the literature concerning the relationship between leadership and job satisfaction, and thus presents its hypotheses, followed by the field study on the employees working for international tourist hotels. In the final chapters, this study concentrates on the application to administration and presents the highlights of future research.

LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES Leaderships There are abundant literatures in the past in the research of leadership, but because of different research methodologies, there were different theories. Many studies on leadership indicate that there have been attempts to compile the developments of research methodologies on leadership (House, Wright, & Aditya, 1997; Peng, Peterson, & Shyi, 1994). However, there is currently no consensus on the evolutionary history of research on leadership. Various literatures interpret leadership a number of different ways. For example, Hemphill and Coons (1957) define leadership as an inter-personal interaction process under certain situations that guides a group to move together (Katz & Kahn, 1978) towards a specified goal


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(Tannenbaum, Weschler, & Massarik, 1961; Bowers & Seashore, 1969). Leadership is superior to the influence imposed by the mechanical obedience guided by an ordinary organization (Katz & Kahn, 1978). Leadership is a process (Rauch & Behling, 1984) and is a characteristic as well. In the leadership process, all members’ activities are guided and coordinated via non-compulsory influence (Jacobs & Jaques, 1990) in order to achieve the goals for the organization (Jago, 1982; Yang, 1995; Robbins, 1998). Leadership is an influence system existing in an organization and is demonstrated via the influence imposed by interactions (Chang, 2000). Leadership theories divide into three categories with respect to the research approaches – trait theory, behavioral theory, and situational theory. Trait theory, the earliest theory regarding leadership, concentrates on the issues related to ‘‘Who is the most effective leader?’’ with emphasis on finding out the characteristics possessed by outstanding leaders. What is meant by ‘‘characteristics’’ can be essentially separated into two categories: physiological and psychological. Physiological characteristics include height, weight, appearance, physical endurance, etc., while psychological characteristics include intelligence, diligence, confidence, discipline, etc. Stogdill (1948) had conducted a reasonably authoritative research on this theory, where twelve other relevant studies on leadership were compiled, and it was discovered that nine studies suggested that successful leaders should be taller than their subordinates, two studies believed in the opposite, and one study considered height an irrelevant question in leadership. Mahoney, Jerdee, and Nash (1960) discovered that successful leaders tend to be more intelligent, diligent, and confident than others. Ghiselli (1963) believes that a successful administrator possessed the following characteristics: (1) supervision capability, (2) intelligence, (3) desire for achievement, (4) self-confidence, (5) desire for self-fulfillment, and (6) decisiveness. He discovered, through research, that successful leaders exhibit higher levels of intelligence, diligence, and discipline than other people. Bennis and Nanus (1986) believe that leadership is genetic, and cannot be cultivated by conditioning. Cawthon (1996) believes that theories on great people have undeniable importance on leadership theories. Dubrin (2001) believes that leaders have nine characteristics: confidence, high levels of tolerance for frustration, care, humor, passion, reliability, outgoingness, decisiveness, and emotional stability. Trait theory, which flourished from the 1930s to the 1950s, believed that leadership was genetic, and not conditioned later in life; even though certain traits could be attained through ‘‘learning’’, differences in learning capacity was also perceived to be genetic. However, Trait Theory

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overlooks the needs of subordinates, fails to clarify the relative importance of various characteristics, and is unable to distinguish causes from effects. To overcome these shortcomings, Behavioral Theory was created (Tzeng, 1999). Between the 1950s and the 1960s, there was no consensus on what to make of research results on leadership characteristics, research on leadership theories started to focus on actual leadership behaviors. Behavioral theory concentrates on ‘‘What is the leadership style of a leader?’’ with emphasis on the leadership process so as to determine the most effective leadership. For example, White and Lippett (1953) present three leaderships – authoritative leadership, democratic leadership, and unbinding leadership – of which the democratic leadership is considered the best. Ohio State University (1957) divides leadership into two spheres – construction and consideration, which make up a coordinate system of leadership behavior. Usually, a high-construction and high-consideration model produces a positive effect. Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1958) presented the continuous zone of leadership. They believed that the administrator, subordinates, and environment are critical factors with regard to influence. Likert (1961) divides leaders into two categories – job-oriented and employee-oriented. Job-oriented leadership is often associated with low productivity and low job satisfaction, whereas employee-oriented leadership always results in high productivity and high job satisfaction. Blake and Mouton (1964) presented Administration Diagram Theory. In their theory, the combination of two spheres – consideration for production and consideration for employees – denotes leadership behaviors. Every sphere is divided into nine grades. (9, 9) represents the most effective administration wherein both production and employees are taken care of to the maximum extent. Reddin (1970) presents a three-sphere theory wherein leadership is made up of three spheres – mission-orientation, relationship orientation, and leadership efficiency. At that time, there were two behavioral models proposed by behaviorist theorists that had more visible impacts on subsequent research. These two models were from studies done by the Ohio State University and Michigan State University: 1. Ohio State University’s research This study had two important contributions: (1) it used a quantitative methodology to study leadership behavior, making research on leadership more scientific; (2) it pointed to two determining factors in leadership behavior: construction and consideration. Because this study was highly reliable and efficient, its format was adopted by


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many subsequent studies. However, some researchers still believe that the Ohio State University’s research did not account for situational factors and possible discrepancies in opinion between leaders and subordinates when assessing the dimensional relationship of construction and consideration. 2. Michigan State University’s research This study primarily explored and measured behavioral characteristics of leaders that are related to work efficiency. Research results yielded two behavioral orientations: employee orientation and production orientation. Employee-oriented leaders tend to pay more attention to inter-personal relationships, and understood subordinates’ needs and could accept individual differences among group members. Meanwhile, production-oriented leaders focus more on the technical or bureaucratic dimensions of work, and cared more about achieving objectives. The conclusions of the Michigan research strongly endorsed employee-oriented leadership, and believed that employeeoriented leadership behaviors are positively correlated to high group productivity and high work satisfaction; low group productivity and low work satisfaction may result if employees are subject to long periods of production-oriented leadership behaviors. The effectiveness of leadership depends on whether the leadership has been fitted into situations. However, neither theory took the administrator’s situation into consideration. To overcome the shortcomings, situational theory was created (Tzeng, 1999). After the 1960s, researchers started researching leadership in terms of complex situational factors. Situational theory believes that an effective leadership is made up of several complicated factors, including the leader’s characteristics, leadership style, subordinates’ features, and leadership situation (Tzeng, 1999). Some of the more authoritative examples of those studies are described below. Fiedler (1967) believed that all types of leadership were potentially effective, depending on the situation. As such, an effective administrator has to cope with the situation so as to make the optimal decisions flexibly. The following situational factors affect the leader’s efficiency: relationship between leader and subordinates, mission structure, and leader’s duties. Fiedler designed a least preferred coworker (LPC) scale to serve as a differentiation tool for leadership status: high LPC scores indicated relationship-oriented leadership, and low LPC scores indicated mission-oriented leadership. Leaders could assess the advantages and disadvantages of a given situation based

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on situational variables, including the relationship between leaders and subordinates, mission structure, etc., and decide to employ mission-oriented or relationship-oriented leadership. When leaders discovered that their mode of leadership was either favorable or unfavorable, they should adopt missionoriented (i.e. legalistic, systematized) leadership in order to achieve greater efficiency. If, however, their mode of leadership was somewhere between favorable and unfavorable, they should adopt relationship-oriented (i.e. democratic, caring) leadership to achieve greater efficiency. House and Mithchell (1974) present their path – goal theory. In this theory, leadership is made up of two spheres – job orientation and relationship orientation, and is divided into four categories – instructive leadership, supportive leadership, participative leadership, and achievement orientation. This theory also maintains that leadership behavior affects the following behaviors of subordinates: (1) job motive, (2) job satisfaction, and (3) whether to accept the leader or not. Because different modes of leadership have different effects on paths or goals, appropriate modes of leadership should be adopted according to the situation. The situational leadership theories developed by Hersey and Blanchard (1977) proposed the so-called ‘‘life cycle theory’’, which was later renamed as the ‘‘situational leadership theory’’. They believed that effective leadership methodologies have inseparable correlations with the motivation and skill levels of the subordinates, and that effective leaders are those who can catalyze development and maturation of group members through appropriate leadership methods. The greatest contribution from this theory lies in its useful elucidation of the subordinates’ personal characteristics, and pointed towards strategies and techniques in changing leadership methods. It was emphasized that leadership behavior should be flexible, and that different methods should be used for different subordinates, and also, situations can be improved through developing the competence, confidence, and willingness of the subordinates. Many research topics concerning leadership no longer adhered to complex theories. New leadership theories include attribution theory of leadership, charismatic leadership theory, transactional leadership theory, transformational leadership theory, and moral leadership theory, which are described below: 1. Attribution theory of leadership Different judgments on known behaviors are due explanations that we attribute to them. This theory believes that leadership is only people’s perception of causation towards other entities.


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2. Charismatic leadership theory Leaders fuse an organization’s objective, mission, and standards into their own personal charisma, so that employees come to believe that leaders represent the organization, and thus become more willing to devote effort. If they like the leader, they will exhibit more work satisfaction. Conger and Kanungo (1998) point out that charismatic leaders tend to be able to express their visions, are more willing to take personal responsibility for high risks and sacrifices, have higher environmental sensitivity, are able to detect and respond to others’ needs, and exhibit unconventional behavior. 3. Transactional leadership theory Bass (1985) points out that transactional leadership uses rewards or discipline to manage morale of the subordinates, and leaders under this mode will clearly express their expectations through controls by rewards and discipline. 4. Transformational leadership theory The earliest proposal for the concept of transformational leadership was by Burns (1978), who believes that leaders should encourage subordinates to place the well-being of the organization above their own interests, and that leaders could have deep and special impacts on subordinates. Leaders and subordinates can raise each other’s humanistic action and moral motivation level, and express moral values, such as freedom, fairness, equality, etc., to raise the willpower of group members. Leaders can appropriately apply their own authorities in coordination with situational factors, reveal organizational vision, stimulate desire for innovation and change from subordinates, and develop their ability to face change and put their thoughts into action, so that organizations can still develop successfully in a rapidly changing outer environment. For example, Bogler (2001) examines the effects of principals’ leadership style (transformational or transactional), principals’ decision-making strategy (autocratic versus participative), and teachers’ occupation perceptions on teacher satisfaction from the job. Lirng, Mills, and Waltz (2001) examines the influence of nursing deans’ and nursing directors’ transformational and transactional leadership styles on nursing faculty job satisfaction in baccalaureate and associate degree nursing programs in Taiwan. Chen (2004) examines specific employee behaviors associated with transformational and transactional leadership and how they both moderate mediate effects of organizational culture and commitment. Griffith (2004) finds that

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principal transformational leadership is not associated directly with either school staff turnover or school-aggregated student achievement progress. Rather, principal transformational leadership shows an undirected effect, through staff job satisfaction, on school staff turnover (negative) and on school-aggregated student achievement progress (positive). Walumbwa, Orwa, Wang, and Lawler (2005) report that transformational leadership has a strong and positive effect on organizational commitment and job satisfaction in both cultures. 5. Moral leadership theory Moral leadership is an extension of the concept of transformational leadership, and started attracting academic attention in the 1990s. Moral leadership is a leadership methodology founded upon ethical standards. It breaks away from traditional hierarchy-based and power-oriented leadership methods, and emphasizes establishing a leader’s moral authority and impact, using their own world view and valuation philosophy to guide group members, thus exerting osmotic influences to the group members, which will, in turn, cause members to complete assigned tasks out of their own sense of obligation (Yen, 2002). 6. Gustafson’s suggestions Gustafson (2001) suggests that in a free-form leadership, as under the leadership relationships, leaders do not indicate standards of achievement, which constitutes a leaderless leadership behavior. Also, after many years of developments on leadership research, two major schools research methodologies have emerged. One of the nomothetic approach, which stresses that leadership phenomena and content should be universal and not be subject to cultural, regional, or nationality impacts. Some even claim of the existence of global leadership, i.e. effective leadership applies to every corner of the world. The other school is the idiographic approach, which stresses that while leadership may be a global phenomenon, leadership content may differ because of culture, and the quality and efficiency of leadership may also be different (Cheng, Chou, & Farh, 2000; Cheng, Huang, & Chou, 2002; Cheng, 2004). Currently, organizational behavioral scholars have not reached a consensus on these theories, but to cultural researchers or actual practitioners, under the wave of globalization, cultural diversity theories and management have become increasingly important. Previous literature divides leadership in many different ways. This study concentrates on the leadership of international tourist hotels. Therefore, the

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leadership sphere model contained in the ‘‘Behavioral Theory’’ presented by Stogdill and Coon (1957) in Ohio State University is an ideal model for this study. This study, therefore, assesses leadership by the two measurement dimensions of – construction and consideration: (1) construction is also known as system factor or job orientation. The leader assigns duties and responsibilities, stresses organizational structure, treats subordinates strictly, reviews the job results, and focuses on the achievement of group goals, (2) consideration is also known as kindness or inter-personal orientation. The leader and subordinates trust and respect each other, and have thus established a sound relationship. However, subordinates are not permitted to fool around. The leader helps subordinates solve problems, respects and adopts subordinate’s opinions, allows subordinates to make decisions, treats subordinates fairly, and encourages two-way communication. The forgoing spheres constitute a leadership-coordinate system, divided into four quadrants, or four leadership styles as shown in Fig. 1. These are described as follows: 1. High construction and high consideration The leader focuses on the accomplishment of job goals and the satisfaction of employee’s needs. The leader encourages subordinates to present recommendations and to take part in the decision-making process. With mutual trust and respect, the leader provides various solutions to subordinates to help them solve their problems. Organization’s policy efficiency and development are extremely important to the leader.

Consideration

High High consideration Low construction

High consideration High construction

Low consideration Low construction

Low consideration High construction

Low Low Construction

Fig. 1.

High

Ohio State University’s Leadership Behavior Coordinates. Source: Adapted from Stogdill and Coon (1957).

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2. High construction and low consideration The leader stresses the accomplishment of organization’s goal and job goal, and is less concerned whether employees’ needs are satisfied. The leader often uses a one-way communication method and hardly establishes any inter-personal relationship with employees. Usually, the goals are accomplished under strict leadership and control. 3. Low construction and high consideration For leaders, employees’ needs are more important than the requirements for jobs and for organizations. The leader always encourages subordinates and provides sufficient resources to employees. Usually, the leader takes a supporting role. Subordinates are permitted to discuss and reach decisions by themselves. 4. Low construction and low consideration The leader is not concerned for job requirements and employee’s needs. Usually, the leader surrenders the decision mechanism and execution power to subordinates completely. In other words, the leader shies away from both organization’s goals and employee’s needs.

Job Satisfaction The concept of job satisfaction originates from the Hawthorne tests of Mayo, Roethisberger, and Whitehead (1927–1932). This research indicates that employees’ emotions will affect their work behavior, and employees’ sociological and psychological factors are the true determinants of job satisfaction and productivity (cross-referenced from Yin, 2002). And different career levels have different levels of satisfaction, i.e. higher level positions have higher degrees of satisfaction. Therefore, job satisfaction is found to be predictable. Hence, research related to job satisfaction becomes an important topic in organizational and human resource management research. Job satisfaction has been examined more than any other area by industry psychology and organizational psychology for a long time (Chen, 1995). Previous researches differ from one another with respect to the research subjects and research framework. All papers define job satisfaction differently. The definitions are divided into three categories as follows. 1. General description Job satisfaction refers to worker’s attitudes towards the work and the related environment (Hoppock, 1935; Tannenbaum et al., 1961).


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For the workers, job satisfaction is nothing but a concept, which has nothing at all to do with any other thoughts, causes, and procedure. For example, Vroom (1964) believed that job satisfaction generally refers to the feeling or emotional reaction associated with a role in an organization (Cribbin, 1972; Locke, 1976; Hsu, 1990; Arnett et al., 2002). 2. Reference structural definition The definition derives from the interpretation of job characteristics based upon the reference structure (Campbell, 1970; Cribbin, 1972) with emphasis on worker’s emotional response to the reference structure. For example, Smith, Kendall, and Hullin (1969) believed that job satisfaction referred to the results obtained from the interpretation of job characteristics by the individuals based upon the reference structure. Whether a certain situation affects job satisfaction depends on a number of factors, such as comparison between jobs, and comparison with the others with respect to personal abilities and experiences. 3. Expectation difference Job satisfaction refers to the difference between what a worker should obtain and what a worker can actually obtain (Locke, 1976; Davis, 1977; Wexley & Yukl, 1977; Arnett et al., 2002) – the bigger the difference, the lower the satisfaction, and vice versa. For example, Porter and Lawler (1968) believe that the level of job satisfaction is determined in accordance with the gap between what the work actually obtain and what the worker expects to obtain. Herzberg, Mausner, Peterson, and Capwell (1957) confirm, through their research, that employees’ psychological recognition is a characteristic of job satisfaction, and find 10 factors related to job satisfaction. Among them, five are views relating to the psychological processes during work, and are categorized as psychological factors, which include: achievement and recognition, the work itself, responsibility, and advancement. The other five factors fall into the category of job well-being, which is related to the nature of the work, and includes: company policy, administration, inter-personal relations, work condition, and payment. They also proposed the Motivational-Hygiene Theory in 1959, which became a theoretical foundation for much subsequent research. Among relevant literature, there is no consensus on how to view the dimensions of job satisfaction. Vroom believes that there are seven

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dimensions, including the organization itself, promotion, work content, managers, treatment, work environment, and coworkers. However, Smith et al. (1969) suggest five dimensions instead, that is, work content, salary, promotion, supervisors, and coworkers. Herzberg (1978) believes that factors that cause job satisfaction or job dissatisfaction are clearly independent from each other. Spector (1985) believes that job satisfaction is the compilation of emotional evaluations, and develops Spector’s Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS), which covers 10 defined areas: work content, management supervision, benefits, and relationship with coworkers, environmental feedback, work procedures, promotion, salaries, communication, and overall environment to aid in research. Nerka, McGrath, and MacMillan (1996) suggest that job satisfaction, social satisfaction, and selfsatisfaction are dimensions related to innovation and efficiency. Sierpe (1999) uses the JSS research as the foundation, and discovers that lack of communication, barriers to promotion will directly result in low job satisfaction. Lyons, Lapin, and Young (2003) believe that personal psychological factors such as growth, useful skills, etc., can achieve job satisfaction more effectively than incentive factors such as wages, and suggest 16 indicators related to job satisfaction. Parish (2003) finds, within the Pay and Workforce Research (PWR), four key factors that will affect job satisfaction. Clearly, the most appropriate dimensions to define job satisfaction have still not been defined to a consensus today because different sample characteristics or research content require using different dimensions. Although no universal definition exists on job satisfaction, it can be discovered, from the content of job satisfaction, that explaining job satisfaction is impossible without looking at the objective satisfaction levels that employees feel towards relevant factors provided by work. The definitions of job satisfaction vary considerably between each other. Generally, the definition is emphasized to be a singular concept referring to the overall satisfaction level that a worker personally feels in a balanced state, i.e. this is the transformative process of an employee’s satisfaction psychology towards work, and is generally difficult to manage. This definition also tends to ignore how employees feel about changes in many work-related factors. Differences in expectation is defined mostly as the difference between the rewards yielded by work and the rewards expected, which tends to ignore the level of satisfaction that work itself can provide to employees. The reference framework definition believes that employees derive their satisfaction by rationalizing and comparing work characteristics according to many factors, and these factors include work dimensions, personal factors, the work itself, etc., and have wider impacts on job


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satisfaction. Therefore, this research uses a reference framework-based definition to define job satisfaction. Seashore and Taber (1975) examine the job satisfaction-related factors with emphasis on job satisfaction. They used models to interpret the major variables that affected job satisfaction, and divided such variables into two categories – pre-variables and post-variables. The pre-variables are divided into two categories – 1. Individual characteristics (1) Demographic features – e.g. age, gender, education, and seniority (2) Stabilization personality features – e.g. sense of value and needs (3) Capabilities – e.g. intelligence and skills (4) Situational personality – e.g. motives and preference; consciousness, awareness, and expectations (5) Temporary personality features – e.g. anger and impatience. 2. Environmental variables (1) Political and economic environment – e.g. unemployment rate and level of nationalization (2) Organization’s internal environment – e.g. organizational climate, organization’s scale, level of centralization, formality, complexity, decision-making process, and leadership style (3) Occupational features – e.g. reputation, characteristics and social status of occupation (4) Job and job environment – e.g. job characteristics and job variability. The post-variables are divided into three categories 1. Individual’s response variables – e.g. retreat, assault, provocation, job efficiency, diseases, and consciousness distortion 2. Organization’s response variables – e.g. quality, productivity, resignation ratio, turnover ratio, absence, sabotage, destructive behaviors, and absence ratio 3. Social response variables – e.g. GNP, disease ratio, adaptability, political stability, and life quality As far as the pre-variables, post-variables, and job satisfaction are concerned, this model deals with the relationship between cause and effect, interaction between individuals and environment, and situational relationship. As to the pre-variables, job satisfaction is subject to the influence imposed by personal characteristics and environmental variables. However, job satisfaction affects personal response, organization’s response, and social response.

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TYPES OF LEADERSHIP AND EMPLOYEE’S JOB SATISFACTION According to the research reports by Stogdill and Coon (1957), the leaders of ‘‘high construction and high consideration’’ outperform the leaders of other three types with respect to employee’s job satisfaction and workplace performance, and the leaders of ‘‘high construction and low consideration’’ are worst. Kuo (2002) examines the behaviors of government’s personnel officers and concludes that the personnel officers under the ‘‘high consideration and high construction’’ leadership maintain a high level of job satisfaction. Han (1999) indicates the correlation between leadership and leadership efficiency and concludes that, with the different types of leadership, the leadership efficiency shows a significant level of correlation. According to Tsai (1999), the types of leadership do not affect business efficiency significantly. However, the corporation’s overall efficiency will be significantly improved, if subordinates are encouraged and trusted more than before. Hsu (2001) concludes that the leadership under ‘‘high construction and high consideration’’ results in a high level of employee’s job performance. Lin (2000) indicates that employee’s job satisfaction is under the influence imposed by the interaction among leadership, professional experience, and abilities. Yousef (2000) studies the behaviors of employees working for 30 Arabian organizations and concludes that the supervisor’s leadership affects employee’s job satisfaction and job efficiency significantly. Holdnak, Harsh, and Busharadt (1993) and Pool (1997) indicate that the consideration leadership imposes a significant level of influence on employee’s job satisfaction and, on the other hand, the construction leadership does not affect employee’s job satisfaction significantly. Chao (2002) examines the behaviors of hospital employees and concludes that the consideration and construction leadership affect employees’ overall job satisfaction to a significant extent. Hseuh (2003) studies the behaviors of employees working for not-for-profit organizations and proves the significant correlation between consideration leadership and job satisfaction. Bogler (2001) examines the behaviors of 930 Israeli teachers. According to the research results obtained from path analysis, the principal’s leadership affects teacher’s professional consciousness in both direct and indirect manners. Teachers’ professional consciousnesses affect their job satisfaction significantly. Testa (2002) studies the behaviors of 367 managers working for passenger liners and concludes that employees prefer the consideration leadership and trust the consideration supervisors. Huoh (2002) examines the seniors’ care centers affiliated to the Ministry of


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Interior. He finds that the leadership with higher level of consideration upgrades employee’s job satisfaction positively and significantly. Chang (2003) explores the organizational culture, leadership modes, and employee job satisfaction levels by targeting workers in electric cable companies whose shares are publicly traded through the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 2002, and discovers that there is interaction effect between corporate innovation and the three variables. ‘‘Transformational’’ leadership modes tend to be more acceptable to employees, and thus affect employees’ job satisfaction level and innovativeness. DeCarlo and Agarwal (1999) and Ugboro and Obeng (2000) deduce, through their research, that there is positive correlation in the effects of the modes of leadership on employees’ job satisfaction. They believe that when leaders exert insufficient impact on higher levels, considerate gestures will not result in high levels of job satisfaction for employees. Vroom (1960) suggested that the effects of the mode of leadership on job satisfaction primarily depend on the personal characteristics of the subordinates. Each person has different expectation, motivation, values, etc., causing considerate leadership to have different effects on job satisfaction. For example, Misumi and Seki (1971) discover that employees with higher levels of need for achievement have greater job satisfaction under considerate leadership and those with lower levels of need for achievement can only attain higher productivity and job satisfaction under construction leadership. Fleishman and Harris (1962) discover that professional quality will affect the relationship between leadership behavior and job satisfaction levels. In organizations with higher professional standards, construction leadership yields greater influences on job satisfaction for the subordinates, and considerate leadership yields comparatively weaker effects. This is because in organizations with higher professional standards (e.g. engineers, scientists), the nature of their work yields higher levels of job satisfaction (such as sense of achievement), and therefore leaders only have to set clear objectives and rewards. On the contrast, in organizations with lower professional standards, considerate leadership yields greater impact on job satisfaction for the subordinates. Strauss and Sayles (1980) believe that construction leadership and job satisfaction exhibit a bell curve relationship, i.e. with increasing levels of constructors factors, job satisfaction levels for the subordinates will increase, but when construction leadership exceeds a certain ceiling, it results in excessive monitoring, and subordinates will feel frustrated, and their job satisfaction levels will be lowered as a result. Petty and Lee (1975) examine 165 service representatives working for academic institutions so as to find out the relationship between the types of leadership

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and the job itself in relation to the supervisor’s satisfaction and the overall satisfaction. The research indicates a significant positive correlation between the consideration leadership and job satisfaction, but the construction factor does not affect job satisfaction. Hung (1997) examines the behaviors of the staffs working for private sports organizations so as to find out the relationship between the types of leadership (consideration leadership, construction leadership), the job itself, supervisor’s monitor, and coworkers. The research results indicate that the ‘‘consideration sphere’’ and ‘‘construction sphere’’ of leadership behavior affect employees’ job satisfaction positively in all aspects. Lin (2000) examines the behaviors of 410 TSE (Taiwan Stock Exchange) companies so as to find out the relationship between the types of leadership (trading-type leadership, transformative-type leadership, and unbinding-type leadership), salary satisfaction, position advancement satisfaction, supervisor’s satisfaction, and the satisfaction for the job itself. The research results indicate a significant level of correlation between the types of leadership and employee’s job satisfaction. Lin (2000) examines the behaviors of stock traders working for 74 stock dealers in central Taiwan so as to find out the relationship between the types of leaderships, internal satisfaction, external satisfaction, and the overall satisfaction. The research results point out a significant and positive correlation – the higher the value of leadership, the higher the level of employees’ job satisfaction. Previous researches indicate that the characteristics and leadership of senior managers affect the organization’s efficiency (Hambrick & Mason, 1984). To find out the influence imposed by supervisors on the organizations, it is, therefore, essential to study the personality and the characteristics of leadership. In this connection, efficiency is usually demonstrated via the employee’s assessment of the administrators and the employees’ job satisfaction. Arnett et al. (2002) evaluate the relationship of self-orientation, effective rewards systems, work environment evaluations, and management assessments with employee satisfaction level, and discover that role orientation, work environment, and management assessment can all effectively explain high and low levels of job satisfaction, with management assessment possessing a particularly acute explanatory power. Whether an administrator’s behavior is accepted as a model is very important, so is such administrator’s performance. Both factors affect the employees’ assessment of the administrator. If the assessment is positive, the employee’s job satisfaction will be upgraded dramatically (Arnett et al., 2002).


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Apparently, administrator’s leadership style correlates with employee’s job satisfaction. Leadership and job satisfaction are recognized as fundamental elements influencing the overall effectiveness of an organization (Kennerly, 1989). There have been leadership theories developed in describing and explaining leadership styles and their influence on job satisfaction. Based upon the foregoing discussions, this study presents hypotheses as follows: H1. Positive correlation for employee’s job satisfaction in relation to consideration leadership. H2. Negative correlation for employee’s job satisfaction in relation to construction leadership. International hotel employees act as their employer’s representatives to serve customers’ needs. Therefore, employees’ job satisfaction is the only assurance for the satisfaction of customers (Heskett et al., 1994; Schlesinger & Zornitsky, 1991). Furthermore, job satisfaction pushes hotel employees moving ahead to accomplish their tasks (Arnett et al., 2002). Apparently, job satisfaction determines employees’ behaviors (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2000; Schlesinger & Heskett, 1991). In this regard, the international hotels are required to upgrade their employees’ job satisfaction before their employees provide satisfactory services to customers. According to the system view of job satisfaction presented by Wernimont (1972), the external environmental factors (external factors, corporation’s policy, workplace settings, inter-personal relationship, leadership, salaries, career advancement, and other factors) determine individual’s internal environment factors (internal factors, feeling of appreciation, sense of achievement, preference of jobs, perception of career advancement, perception of fairness, and other factors), and thus affects the individual’s overall attitude and behaviors at workplace together with organization’s overall performance. However, the external environmental factors and individual’s internal environmental factors are under the influence imposed by individual’s overall attitude and behaviors at workplace along with the organization’s overall performance. The interaction gives birth to an open system. In this system, the external environmental variables ‘‘corporation’s policy and leadership’’ affect employee’s job satisfaction. Then, the relationships between the leadership dimension and the employee’s job satisfaction dimension are shown as follows by (Fig. 2).

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CHIEN-WEN TSAI Employee’s job satisfaction Salary Job Leadership Consideration

Position advancement

Construction

Supervisor Coworker

Fig. 2.

Conceptual Framework.

RESEARCH METHOD This study uses Taiwan’s international tourist hotels as samples for a survey. Questionnaires were mailed to 500 employees working for international tourist hotels. All questionnaires were answered, of which 200 were incompletely answered and the other 300 questionnaires were completely answered and finally got 60 percent effective response rate. The questionnaire is made up of three sections – employee’s job satisfaction, type of leadership, and personal information.

Measurement of Employees’ Job Satisfaction According to Smith, Kendall, and Hullin (1969), the operational definition of employee satisfaction level refers to personal feelings or emotional responses towards work, and is a result derived through an individual’s rationalization of work characteristics according to consultation with a reference dimension. This study uses the job description index (JDI) formulated by Smith, Kendall, and Hullin (1969). The reference spheres include salary, job, position advancement, supervisor, and coworker. This section contains 73 questions. The total score is used as the index to measure the overall satisfaction. The interviewees are required to choose among various descriptions regarding all spheres. The questions are separated into two categories: positive descriptions and negative descriptions. ‘‘Yes’’ responses in positive descriptions and ‘‘no’’ responses in negative


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descriptions will score 3 points. ‘‘No’’ responses in positive descriptions and ‘‘yes’’ responses will score 0 points. ‘‘Unsure’’ responses will score 1 point. There are 73 questions, and the highest possible score is 219. The following definitions apply: 1. Salary: Satisfaction level towards the wage level, e.g. differences with expectations, or whether it is equal to the expended labor and efforts. 2. Job: Satisfaction level towards the work itself, e.g. whether the work is challenging or meaningful. 3. Position advancement: Satisfaction levels towards the chances of promotion, e.g. whether there are chances for promotion, or whether the said chances are fair. 4. Supervisor: Satisfaction level towards direct supervisors, e.g. a supervisor’s personal competence or their impartiality in their conduct. 5. Coworkers: Satisfaction level towards coworkers, e.g. the work habits of coworkers. According to the report from Smith, Kendall, and Hullin (1969), each dimension lies between 0.80 and 0.88. The scale’s reliability of retesting is somewhere between 0.45 and 0.75. The correlation coefficient of each section of the scale in relation to each other range between 0.15 and 0.45, which indicates that each dimension is highly independent, and that subject can clearly identify different dimensions of job satisfaction. Questionnaire design contents are as follows: 1. Below are possible descriptions of your salary in the hotel (1) I think my salary can cover my expenses (2) I think my salary is in subsistence level (3) I think my salary is very low (4) I think my salary allows comfortable living (5) I think my salary is less than what I deserve (6) I think my salary is enough for me to have savings (7) I think my salary is unstable (8) I think my salary is satisfactory to me (9) I think my salary is higher than that of other hotels (10) I think my salary is lower than that of other hotels (11) I think my salary is unreasonable to me 2. Below are possible descriptions of your job (1) I think my job is simple (2) I think my job is fun (3) I think my job is annoying

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(4) I think my job is tiring (5) I think my job is boring (6) I think my job is satisfactory to me (7) I think my job is good (8) I think my job is creative (9) I think my job is respectable (10) I think my job is depressing (11) I think my job is easy (12) I think my job is important (13) I think my job is harmless to health (14) I think my job is skill-based (15) I think my job is endless (16) I think my job is time-consuming (17) I think my job is educational (18) I think my job is high-pressure 3. Below are possible descriptions of your chances of promotion (1) I think my chances of promotion is plenty (2) I think my chances of promotion is earnings-based (3) I think my chances of promotion is good (4) I think my chances of promotion is none (5) I think my chances of promotion is skill-based (6) I think my chances of promotion is unfair (7) I think my chances of promotion is slim (8) I think my chances of promotion is relationship-based (9) I think my chances of promotion is reasonable 4. Below are possible descriptions of your supervisor (1) I think my supervisor is picky (2) I think my supervisor is impolite (3) I think my supervisor is fair (4) I think my supervisor is uncaring (5) I think my supervisor is stubborn (6) I think my supervisor is organized (7) I think my supervisor is competent (8) I think my supervisor is not embarrassing (9) I think my supervisor is respectable (10) I think my supervisor is down-to-earth (11) I think my supervisor trusts me (12) I think my supervisor is very experienced with the job (13) I think my supervisor is helpful (14) I think my supervisor is lazy


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(15) I think my supervisor is sleazy (16) I think my supervisor is irritable (17) I think my supervisor is infuriating (18) I think my supervisor is austere (19) I think my supervisor is forthright 5. Below are possible descriptions for your coworkers (1) I think my coworkers are annoying (2) I think my coworkers are inefficient (3) I think my coworkers are motivated (4) I think my coworkers are awkward (5) I think my coworkers are dutiful (6) I think my coworkers are difficult to get along with (7) I think my coworkers are friendly (8) I think my coworkers are efficient (9) I think my coworkers are nagging (10) I think my coworkers are shrewd (11) I think my coworkers are lazy (12) I think my coworkers are gossipy (13) I think my coworkers are energetic (14) I think my coworkers are mostly aloof (15) I think my coworkers are earnest (16) I think my coworkers are sleazy

Measurement of Leadership This study is based on the Ohio State University’s research, which separates mode of leadership into two independent dimensions, i.e. constructionbased factors and consideration-based factors. 1. Construction-based factors The leader focuses on organizational framework, and demands subordinates to maintain certain levels of performance, and emphasize the completion of goals. 2. Consideration-based factors Based on the levels of respect, trust, and mutual understanding, the leaders endow upon their subordinates. This study uses Fleishman’s Supervisor Behavior Description (SBD) as revised by Zheng (1977). The questionnaire contains two leadership spheres – consideration and construction, with 15 questions for each. Items

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1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 assess the considerationbased factors of leaders; items 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30 assess the construction-based factors of leaders. Except for items 7, 9, 11, 15, and 19, which are negativity-oriented, the remaining items are all positive-oriented. ‘‘Always’’ responses in positive-oriented items score 5 points, ‘‘often’’ responses score 4 points, ‘‘sometimes’’ responses score 3 points’’, ‘‘infrequently’’ responses score 2 points, and ‘‘never’’ score 1 point. The scoring system is the opposite for negativity-oriented items. Maximum scores for consideration and construction factors are 75 points each and the minimum is 15 points each. According to past research (Lee, 1998), it was found that the reliability coefficient of SBD is 0.86, and the efficiency coefficient is 0.80. Questionnaire design content is as follows: There are 15 questions for consideration leadership dimension. 1. Regardless of success, my supervisor will compliment us as long as we work hard 2. My supervisor can be easily understood 3. My supervisor understands that, to us, doing good work is a reward in itself 4. My supervisor does not accept our opinions in work 5. My supervisor may change our responsibilities without consulting us 6. My supervisor frequently ignores our feelings when conducting his work 7. My supervisor tries to make the management have a good impression of us 8. My supervisor insists on changing the way of work 9. My supervisor stresses the importance of teamwork 10. My supervisor refuses to explain his decisions 11. My supervisor is willing to accommodate innovation 12. My supervisor comes across as warm when talking to him/her 13. My supervisor is friendly and approachable 14. My supervisor may accept our input during work 15. Before executing important work, he/she will compliment and encourage us There are 15 questions for construction leadership dimension. 16. My supervisor will try to implement his innovations 17. My supervisor is austere in his management 18. When we are underperforming, my supervisor will criticize us 19. My supervisor will specified our designated workload 20. For the sake of efficiency, my supervisor will demand more from underperformers


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21. My supervisor demands that everyone work according to standard working methods 22. My supervisor knows that his subordinates will do their best in work 23. My supervisor will solve problems with new directions 24. My supervisor believes that when we make decisions on our own, we have to inform him/her 25. My supervisor stress that our performance has to exceed that of other departments 26. My supervisor encourages us to work harder 27. My supervisor insists that rest time cannot be extended 28. My supervisor demands that underperformers learn from competent workers 29. My supervisor emphasize the importance of work quality 30. My supervisor encourages us to work overtime Personal Information Employee’s personal information includes gender, age, education, marital status, department, position, and seniority.

RESULTS Basic Information Analysis According to the survey results, most interviewees are female, representing 58.3 percent of total interviewees. The majority of interviewees are in the age group 21–30 working on a fulltime basis, representing 62.3 percent of total interviewees. Thirty-six percent of interviewees are junior college graduates, 32.7 percent of interviewees are senior high school graduates; 73.3 percent of interviewees are single; 64.7 percent of interviewees work in the food and beverage departments. Forty-nine percent of interviewees are entry-level staff; 29.3 percent of interviewees are junior supervisors (section chief and foremen). Forty-four interviewees, or 14.7 percent of total interviewees, are mid-level supervisors (vice manager and director); 13 interviewees, or 4.3 percent of total interviewees, are high-ranking supervisor (manager, senior manager, and assistant vice manager); and the remaining 2.7 percent served in other positions. The majority of interviewees have worked for 1–5 years, representing 58.3 percent of total interviewees. Table 1 provides results.

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Table 1. Sample Composition. Item

Sex

Content

Male Female Age Below 20 21–30 31–40 41–50 51–60 Over 61 Education Junior high school level (or lower) Senior high school (or trade school) Diploma programs University Master education (or above) Marital status Married Single Department Dining Public relations Rooms Room service Planning Services Finance Engineering Purchases Reservations General affairs Other Job position Base-level personnel Base-level manager Mid-level manager High-level manager Other Years of 1 year (or below) experience 1–5 years 5–10 years 10–15 years 15 years or above

Sample Number (Of Persons)

Sample’s Percentile Proportion (%)

125 175 22 187 51 28 12 0 26

41.7 58.3 7.3 62.3 17.0 9.3 4.0 0 8.7

98

32.7

108 63 5 80 220 194 19 32 5 4 14 9 4 2 7 3 7 147 88 44 13 8 75 175 12 25 13

36.0 21.0 1.7 26.7 73.3 64.7 6.3 10.7 1.7 1.3 4.7 3.0 1.3 0.7 2.3 1.0 2.3 49.0 29.3 14.7 4.3 2.7 25 58.3 4 8.4 4.3

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Reliability and Validity This study measures the internal consistency and examines the concentration of variables by Cronbach a and item to total correlation so as to determine the confidence level. After eliminating some questions, consideration a reaches 0.72, construction a ¼ 0.79 and leadership a ¼ 0.84, both consideration and construction are higher than 0.7 – the acceptable minimum reliability. This reliability of the job satisfaction is the job itself (a ¼ 0.73), relationship with supervisor (a ¼ 0.72), salary (a ¼ 0.78), relationship with coworker (a ¼ 0.84), and position advancement (a ¼ 0.76) (see Table 2). This study makes use of the principal components analysis and the varimax rotation method to congregate the master factors. Fleishman’s SBD revised by Chen (1977) is used as the criteria. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value is 0.82. After eliminating low correlated questions, there were two factor’s Eigen values over 1; namely, consideration leadership 4.87 and construction leadership 4.69. Percent of variance is 27.41 and 25.57 percent, respectively, with cumulated percent of variance 52.98 percent.

Consideration Leadership and Employee’s Job Satisfaction As far as the relationship between consideration leadership and employee’s job satisfaction is concerned, (R ¼ 0.399, po0.01) denotes the satisfaction for salary; (R ¼ 0.527, po0.01) denotes the satisfaction for job (R ¼ 0.368, po0.05)denotes the satisfaction for position advancement; and (R ¼ 0.733, Table 2. Dimensions

Reliability of Dimensions. Cronbach a

Leadership Consideration Construction

0.72 0.79

Job satisfaction Salary Job Position advancement Supervisor Coworker

0.78 0.73 0.76 0.72 0.84

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Table 3.

Relationship between Leadership Style and Job Satisfaction.

Dimensions

Leadership Style

Job satisfaction Salary Job Position advancement Supervisor Coworker

Consideration

Construction

0.399 0.527 0.368 0.733 0.230

0.208 0.454 0.314 0.637 0.220

Note: p o 0.01, with significant correlation under 0.01 level. p o 0.05, with significant correlation under 0.05 level.

po0.01) denotes the satisfaction for supervisor, which is the highest level of satisfaction, and (R ¼ 0.23) denotes the satisfaction for coworker, which did not reach the significant level. According to the evidence, the result partially supports hypothesis 1. The result is shown in Table 3.

Construction Leadership and Employees’ Job Satisfaction As far as the relationship between construction leadership and job satisfaction is concerned, (R ¼ 0.454, po0.01) denotes the satisfaction for the job itself, (R ¼ 0.314, po0.05) denotes the satisfaction for position advancement, and (R ¼ 0.637, po0.01) denotes the satisfaction for supervisor. These correlations are positive and do not support hypotheses 2. Most importantly, the satisfaction for supervisor (R ¼ 0.637, po0.01) has the highest correlation coefficient. Otherwise, (R ¼ 0.22) denotes the satisfaction for coworker, and (R ¼ 0.208) denotes the satisfaction for salary. Apparently, there is no significant correlation existing between both spheres.

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS Conclusions This study attempts to find out the relationship between the types of leadership and job satisfaction of the employees working for the international tourist hotels in Taiwan. Based upon the background states in previous chapters, the research studies the related literatures and develops


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hypotheses in a logical manner, and obtains the research results through statistical analysis and verification, summarized as follows: Satisfaction with the supervisor relates positively with both consideration leadership and construction leadership. The coefficients of consideration leadership are larger than those of construction leadership, which is consistent with the research results obtained by Stogdill and Coon (1957), Hung (1997), Bartolo and Furlonger (2000), Testa (2002), Shim, Lusch, and O’Brien (2002), Jaskyte (2003), and Lok and Crawford (2004), etc. Apparently, consideration leadership results in a higher level of employee satisfaction with the supervisor and the job than construction leadership does. Additionally, the supervisor using consideration leadership is more trusted by employees, and the employees are more satisfied with such a supervisor than with any other supervisor. A significant level of positive correlation occurs between consideration leadership and employee’s job satisfaction with respect to salary, but such correlation does not exist in the case of construction leadership. Apparently, the supervisor using consideration leadership is willing to take care of the subordinates and treat them fairly. As a result, employees are satisfied with their salaries and show a higher level of positive correlation as opposed to the construction leadership. As hypothesized, employee job satisfaction correlated with supervisor leadership behavior. For both consideration leadership and construction leadership, there is no correlation between employee’s job satisfaction and their satisfaction with their coworkers; much like the research results by Bartolo and Furlonger (2000), Walumbwa et al. (2005). According to Walumbwa et al. (2005), however, the types of leadership affect employee’s satisfaction with coworkers significantly in the cases of the banking industry and financial department. Cheng (1994) examines the behaviors of textile workers and concludes that the construction leadership results in the highest level of satisfaction with respect to the satisfaction for coworkers. This inconsistent result is probably caused by the different level of involvement and influence on the organization imposed by the supervisors of different industries. Employees are an important factor in determining corporate service quality and business success or failure (Tansuhajm et al., 1988; Heskett, 1987; Tsai & Chung, 2006). The work content of international tourist hotels’ employees is to provide groups of people with service-based professional work, and so human resources are the most important resource in the industry. In practice, an employee’s performance is very unstable, especially in the international tourist hotel industry, which is high customer contact. Due to a relationship between employee cooperativeness and

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service quality (Hoffman & Kelley, 1994; Parasuraman, Berry, & Zeithaml, 1990), the importance of whether employees demonstrate cooperative service behavior is understandable. In the high customer contact hotel industry, services in this industry are the result of interactions between employees in many different departments and customers (Tsaur & Lin, 2004). Different employees with different levels of perception of style of leadership need to complete check-in, dining, room service, and other services that are high in customer contact during the service delivery routines. By analyzing the international tourist hotel industry, which involves high degrees of customer contact and leadership perception that is more complex than other industries, we can further distinguish whether employees’ perception of style of leadership will affect the job satisfaction. Teamwork is as positive team member interaction, such that leadership behavior relates with high employee satisfaction with their supervisor and coworkers (Bartolo & Furlonger, 2000). As hypothesized, employee job satisfaction correlates with supervisor leadership behavior, but does not correlate with coworkers. This evidence shows the employees’ satisfaction with coworkers in hotel industry will not be affected by style of leadership. Then, employees in international tourist hotel should complete their work with their coworkers because its job characteristics. They will have the same reaction towards the style of leadership their supervisors perform. However, they will not have different reaction towards satisfaction of coworker no matter under any kind of style of leadership. It is apparently illustrated that as compared with other industries, cooperativeness and cohesion between employees will be more important than any other industries for employees to perform the best service because of the service characteristic of international tourist hotel.

Suggestions Suggestions for the Practices The survey indicates that, employees are not highly satisfied under the construction leadership and show a lower level of satisfaction with their salaries, coworkers, and position advancement. This study suggests that the hotel administrators survey employee’s job satisfaction periodically so as to find out employee’s satisfaction with their workplace, and to review employee’s dissatisfaction and take concrete actions to improve employee’s overall satisfaction. After analyzing the relationship between the types of leadership and employees’ job satisfaction, this study concludes that the satisfaction with


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the supervisor has the highest level of correlation. This fact reveals the importance of the supervisor to the employees. An outstanding leader has a lot to do with the connection between the hotel owner and the employees. The leaders convey hotel owner’s policies to employees, coordinate various tasks, and administer employees to accomplish the missions assigned by hotel owners. Therefore, the training programs for leaders have to be carried out continually. This study has found that employees’ satisfaction for job would be tremendously upgraded under the high consideration and high construction leadership, same as the results obtained by previous studies (Lok & Crawford, 2004). The international tourist hotels are hereby advised to adopt such leadership so as to enhance employees’ satisfaction. With satisfied employees, customers will be satisfied and thus the customer’s loyalty will be enhanced (Hambrick & Mason, 1984; Zeithaml & Bitner, 2000; Yousef, 2000; Hsu, 2001; Arnett et al., 2002; Chen, 2003). Arnett et al. (2002) suggest that job satisfaction levels refer to a composite emotional assessment of employees about their work, and will affect whether employees are motivated to excel in their own duties, which will thereby affect the behaviors that employees will demonstrate (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2000). Employees are also important characters who will face customers on behalf of the company, and the degrees of employee satisfaction levels will be the key to raising customer loyalty. The hotel industry has to upgrade its competitiveness, especially service, in order to increase profits. For customer’s satisfaction, hotels should provide highquality and comfortable services. The employees establish the service quality more than anyone else and contact customers personally. Corporate leaders should actively approach their employees, find out employee needs in all relevant areas, and provide appropriate assistance to raise employees’ corporate loyalty and decrease employees’ complaints about the corporation, and thus raising job satisfaction levels. Therefore, the international tourist hotels have to upgrade their employees’ satisfaction before they pursue customers’ satisfaction. With the satisfied employees, customers will be satisfied. As such, the international tourist hotels have to pay special attention to their employee’s job satisfaction.

Suggestions for the Future Research This study measures all data based upon the Pearson correlation analysis and, therefore, the results obtained by this study are considered preliminary results, which remain to be expanded in the days ahead. Future researchers

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are hereby advised to use other measurement tools instead. This study differs from other researches (Cheng (1994); Walumbwa et al., 2005) with respect to the types of leadership in relation to employee’s satisfaction for coworkers. Therefore, the research suggests future researches to study other industries so as to find out if industrial category has its moderate effect on the relationship between the types of leadership and employee’s job satisfaction to reveal the truth. This study’s questionnaire targets fulltime employees in international tourist hotels, and it is suggested that adding in part-time employees as potential targets may be desired. Because part-time employees do not remain for long periods of time in the industry, their feelings may be different from full-time employees, thus aiding discoveries of other moderating variables. According to Bilimoria et al. (2006), gender differences emerged in the strengths of the perceived paths leading to satisfaction. Earlier studies show that national cultures can affect managerial styles (Westwood & Posner, 1997) and employee behavior (Chen & Francesco, 2000; Miroshnik, 2002). Future research can try to find out meaningful moderating variables such as democratic statistics variables and verify its moderating effect on the relationship between style of leadership and job satisfaction. This study clarifies the relationship between the types of leadership and employee’s job satisfaction. Furthermore, the subsequent effects related to employees’ job satisfaction, such as customers’ satisfaction and service quality, remain to be examined in consideration of the truth ‘‘With satisfied employees, customers will be satisfied’’ (Hambrick & Mason, 1984; Zeithaml & Bitner, 2000; Yousef, 2000; Hsu, 2001; Arnett et al., 2002; Chen, 2003). Therefore, future researchers are hereby advised to clarify these variables relationship through pair study and to understand whether the leadership affects customer’s satisfaction and determines the service quality perceived by customers through employee’s job satisfaction as an intervening variable. Also, future research can try to take system approach to extend and clarify relationships between style of leadership, job satisfaction, pre-variables and post-variables. For example, individual characteristics (population statistics features – e.g. age, gender, education, and seniority; stabilization personality features – e.g. sense of value and needs; capabilities – e.g. intelligence and skills; situational personality – e.g. motives and preference; consciousness, awareness, and expectations; temporary personality features – e.g. anger and impatience) and environmental variables (political and economic environment – e.g. unemployment rate and level of nationalization; organization’s internal environment – e.g. organizational climate, organization’s scale, level of organization’s


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centralization, level of organization’s formality, level of organization’s complexity, organization’s decision-making process, and leadership styles; occupational features – e.g. reputation, characteristics of occupation, and social status of occupation; job and job environment – e.g. job characteristics, and job variability). The post-variables are individual’s response variables – e.g. retreat, assault, provocation, job efficiency, diseases, and consciousness distortion; organization’s response variables – e.g. quality, productivity, resignation ratio, turnover ratio, absence, sabotage, destructive behaviors, and absence ratio; and social response variables – e.g. GNP, disease ratio, adaptability, political stability, and life quality (Seashore & Taber, 1975). It is meaningful to make it clear in this dynamic and changeable world that these interaction effects pre-variables and post-variables make in the relationship of style of leadership and job satisfaction. As having more visible impacts on subsequent research, Ohio State University’s research is the first to use a quantitative methodology to study leadership behavior, making research on leadership more scientific. It also points to two determining factors in leadership behavior: construction and consideration. Because this study is highly reliable and efficient, its format is adopted by many subsequent studies. From the point of organizational characteristic, international tourist hotel’s organization size is larger than any other tourism industry. It possesses the same characteristic as general bureaucrat organization has. It is less flexibility, high formalization which gives the reason that this research uses the definition of style of leadership from the research held in Ohio State University. However, some researchers still believe that the Ohio State University’s research does not account for situational factors and possible discrepancies in opinion between leaders and subordinates when assessing the dimensional relationship of construction and consideration. If from the view of employee job characteristics, it may make some other contribution on the academic. Different industries have different job characteristics (Lee, 2002). Because of the high customer contact industrial characteristics of international tourist hotels are more different from other industries, the service targets of employees performing high emotional labor are ‘‘people’’. Appropriate responses for different consumer demands often need to be made immediately, and, as such, there is an element of skill variety in the job characteristics. The management activities of the hotel industry combines collective labor, and in order for this collective labor to precede smoothly, adequate cooperation between employees will be required to complete the service routine for the same customer. Therefore, there is no task identity in job characteristics, but there

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is cooperativeness in employee job characteristics (Tsai & Lee, 2006). Further research can account for the situational factors and possible discrepancies in opinion between leaders and subordinates when assessing the dimensional relationship of construction and consideration. Also, a qualitative approach could be used to understand employee’s perceptions and expectations about leadership styles in depth and explore the influence process of leadership styles on job satisfaction and service quality.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author acknowledges funding support from the Ming-Hsin University of Science and Technology in Taiwan (Project No. MUST 93-HM-001). The author thanks Peter Morton, who teaches in English Department of Chinese Culture University, for his proofreading and suggestions for improving this article.

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ACTION AND OUTCOME METRICS FOR EVALUATING DESTINATION MARKETING PROGRAMS Arch G. Woodside and Marcia Y. Sakai ABSTRACT The present chapter includes a case study that describes and analyzes three performance audit reports over a three decade period for one U.S. state government’s destination management organization’s (DMO) actions and outcomes. This report extends prior studies (Woodside & Sakai, 2001, 2003) that support two conclusions: (1) the available independent performance audits of DMOs’ actions and outcomes indicate that frequently DMOs perform poorly and fail to meaningfully assess the impacts of their own actions and (2) the audits themselves are shallow and often fail to provide information on DMOs’ actions and outcomes relating to these organizations largest marketing expenditures. The chapter calls for embracing a strategy shift in designing program evaluations by both government departments responsible for managing destinations’ tourism marketing programs and all government auditing agencies in conducting future management performance audits. The chapter offers a ‘‘tourism performance audit template’’ as a tool for both strategic planning by destination management organizations and for evaluating DMOs’ planning and implementing strategies. The chapter includes an appendix – a training exercise in using the audit template and invites the reader to download a tourism performance audit report of a Advances in Culture, Tourism, and Hospitality Research, Volume 2, 333–377 Copyright r 2008 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved ISSN: 1871-3173/doi:10.1016/S1871-3173(08)02006-5

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destination marketing organization and to apply the template after reading the report.

1. INTRODUCTION Each individual and organization uses indicators to make sense (see Klein, Moon, & Hoffman, 2006; Neil, McKee, & Rose, 2007; Weick, 1995) of what has happened and to make sense of outcomes to their actions. Explicit thinking using objective measures of what happened and explanations of antecedents to the phenomena occurs naturally – without consciously trying to do so. Unfortunately, findings from the literature on natural sense and decision making and human interpretation of outcomes do not support the previous statement – the preceding sentence, closing the first paragraph, is false. ‘‘Natural sensemaking’’ refers to an individual’s or organization’s implemented collective bundle of mental and observable routines that shape what information is assimilated, how it is interpreted, and which actions are considered (Kahneman & Tversky, 2000; Neil et al., 2007; Thomas, Clark, & Gioia, 1993; Weick, Sutcliffe, & Obstfeld, 2005; Wilson, 2004). The literature suggests that humans frequently are highly biased, overly confident that their views are accurate, naturally have weak sensemaking skills, overly simplify their observations, typically ignore and discount complexities, and are not particularly accurate in taking measurements (e.g., see Gilovich, 1991; Gigerenzer, 2000; Malle, 1999; Plous, 1993; Sackman, 1991; Wegner, 2002). However, the evidence relating to weak sensemaking skills is not all negative. When humans do become aware of inadequate sense and decision making characteristics apply to them, in some circumstances they are adept in creating and applying tools to increase sense and decision making skills and to accurately evaluate outcomes (see Klein et al., 2006; Weick, 1995). For example, aircraft pilots complete complex activity checklists (i.e., template tools for sensemaking and decision making and for completing actions relating to such sensemaking) to cover all the complexity inherent in flying an aircraft. In other words pilots do not rely alone on thoughts retrieved for doing the complex relevant tasks necessary for safe aircraft liftoffs. However, the use of templates and other sensemaking tools does not come automatically for complex decision making. Humans are prone to ignore

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such aids unless required to use them. Actions that follow such ignoring often include bad to disastrous outcomes. In studying why decisions fail Nutt (1993, 2002) finds the management failure is four times more likely when decision makers embrace the first idea they come across without taking the time to investigate what is motivating action and possible remedies. The second blunder – misuse of resources – occurs when managers spend their time and money during decision making on the wrong things, he said. For example, decision makers may spend millions of dollars to defend a hastily selected idea with an evaluation and little or nothing on other aspects of decision making, such as gathering intelligence about the concerns prompting action, finding who may block action, setting expectations, and uncovering actions that can meet their expectations. Woodside and Sakai’s (2003) review of seven DMO performance audits finds no substantive commentary in the intelligence gathering behavior done by DMOs and a marked proneness in these audits to focus on minor issues and to ignore assessing of the impact of major expenditures. Without structural mandates (e.g., organizational or legal requirements), the creation and use of explicit sensemaking tools often does not occur for even complex and/or important decisions. When the combination occurs of routine complex/important decisions and highly observable major disasters, humans tend to mandate the use of sensemaking tools prior to implementing major actions. Air travel decisions have this situational combination; sensemaking and decision making by DMO executives do not. Unfortunately, while the substantial value in using sensemaking and judgment tools is well-known in the organizational studies and decision making literatures, meta-evaluation reviews of performance audits of DMOs do not include evidence that DMO executives or auditors have knowledge about these tools or their value (Pike, 2007; Woodside & Sakai, 2001, 2003). This chapter illustrates audit reports on sensemaking and decision making methods relating to widely adopted evaluations of destination tourism management actions and outcomes consistently indicate poor performance. ‘‘Inadequate’’ applies but does not capture the poor quality of most published reports about destination tourism management and marketing performance (for a review of all available audit reports see Woodside & Sakai, 2003). The chapter goes beyond criticism alone to offer strategic and tactical management tools to serve as platforms for achieving effective tourism management performance audits and to improve planning (for a study on the value of planning see Armstrong, 1982) and implementing skills of destination tourism management and marketing executives.

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Following this introduction, section two provides a brief background on tourism management performance auditing by state governments. Section three describes an example of a recent tourism management performance audit in some detail – along with the key shortcomings of the audit and a major outcome that followed from the audit. Section four presents the state audit division’s evaluations of two prior tourism management performance audits described in section three. In total this chapter evaluates three tourism management performance audits done by one audit government division for the State of Hawaii. Section five provides a brief review for approaches for understanding and crafting both effective tourism management strategies and performance audits of the planning, implementing, and measuring outcomes of such strategies. The appendix to the chapter invites the reader to complete an experiential executive training exercise in using a template sensemaking tool for assessing DMO performance audit reports.

2. A BRIEF BACKGROUND ON TOURISM MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE AUDITING In 1969 New York established the first state auditing and evaluation unit. A total of 61 such government departments exist in the United States – at least one in each of the 50 state legislatures in the United States (Brooks, 1997). State legislatures mandate that these auditing offices conduct financial audits and performance audits of government departments and their specific programs. The state auditing offices are required to provide answers to questions, including the following issues: Is the audited department spending funds legally and properly in accordance to its legislative mandate, is the department’s accounting and internal control systems adequate, are the department’s financial statements accurate? Is the department managing its operations efficiently? Is the department achieving substantial impact in effectively accomplishing its goals? Thus, the auditing work done for state legislative branches include two major categories of audits: (a) financial audits and (b) performance audits. Some state audit manuals distinguish among program, operations, and management audits (e.g., The Auditor, 1994). For example, ‘‘a program audit focuses on how effectively a set of activities achieves objectives.


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A program audit can stand-alone or be combined with an operations audit. An operations audit focuses on the efficiency and economy with which an agency conducts its operations. In Hawaii the term management audit is used often to refer to an audit that combines aspects of program and operations audit. A management audit examines the effectiveness of a program or the efficiency of an agency in implementing the program or both’’ (The Auditor, 1994, p. 1–2). The present chapter uses ‘‘management audit’’ and ‘‘performance audit’’ interchangeably.

3. EVALUATING THE 2003 HAWAII ‘‘MANAGEMENT AND FINANCIAL AUDIT OF THE HAWAI‘I TOURISM AUTHORITY’S MAJOR CONTRACTS’’ This section reports the main findings with a critique of the 2003 tourism management performance audit report done by The Auditor, State of Hawaii (Report No. 03-10, June 2003, 61 pages). The 2003 report is the most recent management performance audit for Hawaii’s DMO actions and outcomes; note that such audits by governments are usually done once every five–ten years – or even less frequently. Key background information for understanding the Hawaii 2003 audit includes the following points. (1) The ‘‘Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA)’’ is the leading government tourism agency for the State of Hawaii. The HTA reports directly to the governor and legislature and is attached to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) for administrative purposes. (2) The ‘‘Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB)’’ is a non-profit corporation that receives contracts from the State of Hawaii for planning and implementing tourism marketing as well as the marketing for meetings, conventions, and incentives related visits to Hawaii. The HVCB was established in 1903 and in 2002 had offices in Honolulu, each of the major Hawaiian neighbor islands, Salinas (California), San Diego, Chicago, Arlington, Tokyo, Osaka, Beijing, and Shanghai. (3) ‘‘State contract funds account for about 95 percent of HVCB’s cash [real money] funding’’ (Management and Financial Audit of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority’s Major Contracts, 2003). The State of Hawaii directs the Auditor to conduct a financial and management audit of the HTA’s ‘‘major contractors.’’ A major contractor is an organization awarded a contract in excess of $15 million. The State of Hawaii awarded multi-year contract with HVCB beginning January 1, 2000

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and ending December 31, 2002 valued at $129 million for marketing leisure visits to the State and $22.7 million for marketing meetings, conventions, and incentives – totaling $151.7 million.

3.1. Key Findings in the 2003 Hawaii Management and Financial Audit Report on the HTA and HVCB The following three paragraphs are the 2003 report’s core findings. (The complete 2003 report is available at http://www.state.hi.us/auditor/Reports/ 2003/03-10.pdf.) The following comments are found in the report’s Summary section. We found that inadequate oversight by the authority provided HVCB with a blank check to spend state funds for self-serving purposes. For example, we found that HVCB increased the compensation of its statefunded employees by 42 percent over the past three years – from $3.7 million in CY2000 to $5.3 million in CY2002 – although the amount of state funding for those same years remained relatively unchanged. The bureau also used state contract funds to pay for exorbitant bonuses and unnecessary severance packages for its employees who were already highly compensated. For example, eight employees were paid between $90,000 and $170,000 with state funds in CY2002. Although it was not obligated to do so, HVCB paid and accrued approximately $202,000 in severance pay using state contract funds. One employee’s severance pay was approximately $141,000, nearly the equivalent of that employee’s annual salary. The bureau also expended $191,000 in state contract funds for other inappropriate or questionable expenditures. Such expenditures included paying for an employee’s parking and speeding tickets and reimbursing an employee for the employee’s family travel expenses. These expenditures violate HVCB’s own travel and entertainment policy. We also found an unusual arrangement whereby the state-funded salary of HVCB’s vice president in Japan is supplemented by an airline. HVCB asserts that this arrangement does not give that airline an unfair advantage in negotiating favorable cooperative marketing partnerships. However, any arrangement that presents even the appearance of a conflict of interest should be avoided so that marketing activities supported by state contract funds are not tainted. Furthermore, we question the propriety of HVCB using its


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consultant law firm, paid with state funds, to perform legal services that sought to undermine the authority and the State. The bureau also exercised poor management and oversight over its statefunded contractors. For example, rather than formally evaluating its subcontractors, HVCB relied on personal relationships and oral communication to evaluate its state-funded subcontractors. We also found that HVCB awarded a $242,000 state-funded subcontract to a vice president’s firm on the same day she resigned as HVCB vice president for developing international markets. In addition, the bureau did not execute contracts in a timely manner, procured services that were beyond the scope of its state contracts, and maintained contract files that were incomplete and disorganized. We also found questionable arrangements between the former governor’s office and HVCB that raise questions about whether the former governor’s office used HVCB to circumvent the State Procurement Code. The 2003 report’s upfront summary also includes the following statement. ‘‘We also found that the authority’s [HTA] lax monitoring and enforcement of its contracts with HVCB left little assurance that $151.7 million in state funds are effectively spent. Specifically, we found that poorly constructed contracts and inadequate contact monitoring and enforcement by the authority did not adequately protect the State’s interests. For example, the plethora of reports submitted by HVCB contained vague information that failed to tie results to goals and objectives.’’

3.2. Wrong Framing on Minor Issues While the summary of the Hawaii 2003 management audit report focuses on important issues and points toward questionable expenditures by HVCB and poor oversight by HTA, the summary and report says little about the effectiveness of the largest share of the contract expenditures. The total expenditures of $5.2 million plus severance payouts totally about $1 million, plus $191,000 in questionable expenditures and a $242,000 cronyism-tainted subcontract award, represent less than 5 percent of the total contract award of $151.7 million. The 2003 audit report fails to provide many details of the contract’s specific allocation of the $145 million expenditures and the impact of these expenditures. Statements contained inside the 2003 audit report provide a more telling but still incomplete and an inadequate assessment of the impact of most

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funds awarded to the HVCB. The following statements all appear on page 32 of the main report. The [HTA] authority also agreed to contracts that did not have clearly defined goals and objectives. As a result, the authority was unable to adequately assess whether the $151.7 million in state contract funds were effectively spent. The authority’s two contracts with HVCB to provide leisure and meetings, conventions and incentives marketing services did not provide either measurable and quantifiable objectives or performance levels to hold HVCB accountable to. Instead, HVCB was basically required to draft annual tourism marketing plans outlining how it would conduct marketing related activities to attract leisure and business travelers to Hawai‘i. Specifically, the leisure contract required that HVCB develop and implement a marketing plan to increase promotional presence and brand entity to more globally competitive levels; develop and execute cooperative programs with travel partners to optimize use of authority resources; and support TV and film initiatives that provide cost effective, high profile exposure. However, the authority did not provide measurable and quantifiable goals or benchmarks for HVCB to achieve for these three broad contract objectives. The meetings, conventions and incentives contract’s objectives were equally broad. It required that HVCB create a marketing plan to increase revenues by attracting delegates and attendees; enhance Hawai‘i’s image as a leading business meeting, convention and incentive destination internationally; and create high profile exposure and marketing opportunities. However, the authority did not identify a specific percentage or dollar amount of the increase in revenues that HVCB’s marketing activities should result in. The contract was also silent as to how HVCB would prove that it successfully enhanced Hawai‘i’s image as a business destination. For example, a possible performance benchmark for HVCB to achieve might have been a target percentage increase in the number of business travelers surveyed who had a better image of Hawai‘i after attending a meeting or conference in Hawai‘i. We also found the authority’s monitoring philosophy over HVCB to be alarming. According to the authority, HVCB met its entire contractual obligations once it submitted and executed the marketing plans. Accountability for results rested with the authority – not HVCB. In


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addition, the authority used these plans, and not the actual contracts, to monitor HVCB’s services. Moreover, the plans lacked the specificity needed to enable the authority to know exactly what services or benefits the State was receiving for the $151.7 million it provided to HVCB to market Hawai‘i. In the end, the authority had no means to assess whether the $151.7 million had been effectively spent, nor could the authority determine whether the expenditures had resulted in enhanced leisure and business travel to Hawai‘i. The above paragraphs imply the need to address the central issues in management performance audits. Specifically, what metrics should the HTA, HVCB, and the State Auditor adopt for measuring impact performance for the activities and expenditures for the two programs? The report’s introduction, method, and findings sections include no background research of the literature on program evaluation research (for a review of the literature on program evaluation see Woodside & Sakai, 2003). The two core research questions relating to creating appropriate metrics for measuring management/marketing program impact include (1) estimating the extent to which the observed results might have occurred without the program execution (Campbell, 1969) and (2) measuring planning and implementing activities done by both the department managing the tourism marketing program and performing the management performance audit – Kotler, Gregor, and Rodgers (1977) stress that audit measurements of outcomes are insufficient; planning and implementing actions done and not done but should have been done need examination. The need to measure activities in planning and implementing builds on the proposition those only assessing outcomes are insufficient since execution in crafting plans and implementing activities affects outcomes. Luck also plays a role in performance outcomes in the short run – for any given year (cf. Bonoma, 1985; Kotler et al., 1977). Valid measures to answer the outcome question require the use of true or quasi-experimentation (see Campbell, 1969; Cook, 1997; Woodside, 1990). True experiments require treatment and placebo (control) groups with random assignments of cases (e.g., informants) to groups. Quasi-experiments often include comparisons among non-equivalent groups over several time periods – before, during, and after introducing substantially different marketing creating work and/or expenditures. The literature on experimentation for measuring impact of management/marketing actions is well developed (Banks, 1965 is the classic report in the literature) and explanations for applications for measuring the impact of tourism

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management programs are available in the literature (e.g., Woodside, 1990; Woodside, MacDonald, & Trappey, 1997; Woodside & Sakai, 2001, 2003). The 2003 audit calls for creating and applying benchmarks is on target but the report lacks the necessary detail and fails to reference any relevant work in the program evaluation literature (e.g., the classic reports by Bellavita, Wholey, & Abramson, 1986; Brooks, 1997; Campbell, 1969; Cronbach et al., 1980; Patton, 1997; Pollitt & Summa, 1997; Sevin, 1965; Scriven, 1967, 1974, 1980, 1987, 1995; Shadish, Cook, & Leviton, 1991; Stake, 1980; Stake et al., 1997; Weiss, 1972, 1987; Wholey, 1977). What becomes clear is that the Auditor, the HTA, and the HCVB executives all need training and skillbuilding in creating and implementing a series of independent metrics (e.g., sensemaking templates, intelligence gathering procedures, quasi-experimental design methods) for usefully measuring program impact. Fig. 1 displays a summary hypothetical (thought experiment) example of quasi-experiment metrics (time on the X-axis and dependent metrics on the Y-axis, see Campbell, 1969) for a State’s marketing/advertising campaign implemented in some markets receiving exposure to the campaign and other markets not exposed to the campaign. Also this metric shows changes to competitors’ market shares in both the exposed and non-exposed markets. Fig. 1 shows a large increase in one or more key-dependent variables during the time when advertising expenditures are heavy (or when a new campaign message and literature are applied) in selected markets (note the shift in trend 1) but not in markets where advertising weight (or new message and literature) has been changed (trend 2 in Fig. 1). Also, note the additional evidence of impact – the competitor’s decline in performance across the same markets where Hawaii has increased its marketing activity by a factor of 3 (trend 3) with no decline for the competitor in the other markets (trend 4 – Fig. 1 shows an increase for this condition). Consider measuring leisure tourists’ arrivals from Japan and Hong Kong to Hawaii and Australia for years 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 with the State of Hawaii spending 30 percent of its total advertising and marketing expenditures to attract arrivals from Japan in years 2002 and zero on attracting Japanese visitors in 2000 and 2001. Also, assume the State of Hawaii spends nothing on attracting visitors from Hong Kong during 2000–2003 and the marketing expenditures by Australia on attracting Hong Kong and Japanese visitors remain constant during 2000–2003. Evidence of Hawaii’s promotional efforts having impact on tourism requires a pattern of annual changes that is systematic and favors growth (or fewer declines) for arrivals from Japan versus Hong Kong for Hawaii and a negative impact on share for Australia for the Japanese market more so than compared to the Hong Kong market.

(4) Results for competitor in markets receiving Hawaii 1X ad budget weight

(1) Results for Hawaii in 5 markets receiving 3X budget weight by Hawaii to attract visitors

(3) Results for competitor in markets receiving Hawaii’s 3 X ad budget weight


12 Possible Dependent Measures: 10 •Number of Arrivals •Market Share 08 •Tax Dollars from Tourists (Other impact 06 metrics) 04


02

00 2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011 Year

Note. Assume one-time heavy advertising weight (expenditure occur in 2009 in 5 specific markets (or a unique new message is used in these 5 markets at the same ad weight. The patterns in Figure 1 indicate that the heavy ad budget weight (3X) is effective in (1) increasing number of arrivals (or market share or tax dollars) in comparison to (2) regular ad budge (1X) expenditures by Hawaii and in comparison to the (3) drop in number of arrivals for the competitor in the 5 markets receiving high (3X) ad expenditures by Hawaii versus the (4) near constant levels of arrivals to the competitor’s destination in the markets receiving normal (1X) ad weight to attract Hawaii visitors. Source: Original exhibit for this chapter; see Campbell (1969) for exhbits of additional quasi-experiments.

Fig. 1.

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Longitudinal Quasi-Experiment to Measure Hawaii’s Advertising Impact on Annual Number of Arrivals (or Market Share or Tax Dollars) by (from) Tourists.

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The point is that only observing a dramatic increase in arrivals from Japan is insufficient to conclude that the marketing expenditures were the prime reason for the increase (cf. Campbell, 1969). The following visitor patterns occurring in the same year would question the effectiveness of Hawaii tourism efforts: A 30 percent increase in annual arrivals from an origin where Hawaii recently has spent a substantial proportion of its advertising budget while arrivals from other origins where Hawaii had not spent advertising funds to Hawaii also increase about 30 percent. A competitor of Hawaii’s tourism marketing program witnesses a 40 percent increase in arrivals from origins where Hawaii spent a substantial proportion of its advertising budget and a similar increase in arrivals from origins where Hawaii did not spend advertising funds. A 30 percent plus increase in annual arrivals from an origin where Hawaii has recently spent a substantial proportion of its advertising budget also occurred in two prior years within the past ten years – in both these prior years Hawaii had spent little funds promoting the State to this particular origin. Evaluating the impact of an intervention program – such as a marketing/ advertising campaign to attract visitors – requires professional training in evaluation research methods. This training includes knowing the theory and methods for valid assessment found in the relevant literature (e.g., Banks, 1965; Campbell, 1969; Cook, 1997; Shadish, Cook, & Leviton, 1991). Campbell (1969, p. 411) briefly reviews nine threats to the internal validity of research design that may prevent the conclusion that treatment effects (e.g., DMO marketing actions) influence dependent metrics (e.g., tourists’ requests for visitors’ guides described in advertisements and ‘‘conversion rates’’ of visits to a destination following the mailing of such guides). 1. History: events, other than the experimental treatment, occurring between pretest and posttest and thus providing alternate explanations of effects. 2. Maturation: processes within the respondents or observed social units producing changes as a function of the passage of time per se, such as growth, fatigue, secular trends. 3. Instability: unreliability of measures, fluctuations in sampling persons or components, autonomous instability of repeated or ‘‘equivalent’’ measures. (This is the only threat to which statistical tests of significance are relevant.) 4. Testing: the effect of taking a test upon the scores of a second testing; the effect of publication of a social indicator upon subsequent readings of that indicator. 5. Instrumentation: in which changes in the calibration of a measuring instrument or changes in the


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observers or scores used may produce changes in the obtained measurements. 6. Regression artifacts: pseudo-shifts occurring when persons or treatment units have been selected upon the basis of their extreme scores. 7. Selection: biases resulting from differential recruitment of comparison groups, producing different mean levels on the measure of effects. 8. Experimental mortality: the differential loss of respondents from comparison groups. 9. Selection-maturation interaction: selection biases resulting in differential rates of ‘‘maturation’’ or autonomous change. Fig. 1 shows a design that incorporates measurements in multiple time periods in multiple markets that assist in reducing these threats to internal validity. For example, history as a threat is reduced since other events would likely occur in all four sets of markets and not just the (1) markets receiving the large increase (3X advertising) in Fig. 1. A full discussion of internal and external threats to validity is beyond the scope of the present chapter; the point here is that knowledge about such threats and training in reducing them is a necessity in planning DMO marketing strategies and in performance auditing of DMO marketing actions and outcomes (see Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2001 for an advanced discussion of threats to validity). The review of the 2003, and prior, Hawaii performance audit reports does not provide information regarding the extent to which formal assessment training has taken place by The Auditor, executives in the HTB, or executives in the HCVB – the reports do not include references to the literature on field testing of program impact. Another central issue is that the 2003 report peripherally addresses the extent that specific actions were taken by the HVCB and HTA during the two review years. Kotler (1997) and others (e.g., Bonoma, 1985; Carton & Hofer, 2006; Clifford & Cavanagh, 1985) emphasize that examining and reporting specific actions taken (e.g., process data) is necessary in evaluation research. A particular year’s good or bad performance may be due to an industry trend, good or bad luck, rather than excellent or poor planning and implementing actions. The 2003 management performance audit report does not address or meagerly addresses the following issues that relate to implementing strategies of the HTA or the HVCB: What method did HVCB use in making funding allocations for various national origin markets? Why did HVCB use particular advertising media and not others (e.g., television versus magazines versus internet sites versus newspapers)? How did HVCB go about deciding on the advertising position message and information packet offer to inquirers?

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Was testing of advertising creative work done? If yes, how was such testing done? Were inquiry-conversion-to-visitor studies done? If yes, what were the findings? Did a specific person or team participate in designing and implementing studies on the effectiveness of tourism management actions and outcomes in the HTA and the HVCB? What actions were taken in both selecting and evaluating subcontractors (e.g., advertising agencies) by the HVCB? Did the HTA participate in these actions? Did the literature sent to inquirers influence length of visitors’ stays in Hawaii or expenditure levels compared to visitors reporting not asking or receiving such literature? Was a written marketing plan crafted by the HVCB for implementing the two contracts received? If yes, what actions implemented matched the plan and what actions did not match the plan? Are management performance audits of tourism management performance done by other state government auditors available? If yes, what are the findings of these audits and what best practices are implied by these audits? The third central issue that the 2003 report does not address is the scanning and sensemaking activities done by the HTA and the HVCB. All marketing strategy textbooks include recommendations and methods for gathering intelligence of (1) customer and competitor behaviors; (2) segmenting customers by demographics, psychographics, and productservices use; and (3) customer acceptance of alternative advertising messages and responses to alternative media strategies; the marketing and organizational studies literatures view collecting gaining such intelligence as a fundamental requirement in planning effective strategy (e.g., see Neil et al., 2007; Weick et al., 2005). The report includes no section on the understanding and sensemaking views of Hawaii as a destination brand held by the HTA or the HVCB. What are the HTA and the HVCB’s assessments of how different customer segments view their visits to Hawaii? What data and data analyses were collected and performed to assess different markets and market response likelihoods to the State of Hawaii’s marketing expenditures? What are the HTA and HVCB’s descriptions of tourists’ stream of thoughts and actions that result in visits to Hawaii? Do the HTA and HVCB have data and knowledge that explain why key potential (targeted) travelers do not visit Hawaii? Has the HTA or HVCB created detailed written descriptions of specific Japanese, west coast (U.S.),


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east coast (U.S.), and German visitors to Hawaii? Are the answers to these scanning issues accurate – what evidence exists to support the accuracy of the answers? The Hawaii 2003 Audit Report provides no indication that these issues were considered by HTA, HVCB, or the Auditor. Fig. 2 summarizes the key issues relating to both managing tourism marketing programs and auditing of these programs. Note that in Fig. 2 adds a meta-evaluation level review on top the evaluations by the program executives and the auditor that appear in Fig. 2. A meta-evaluation refers to an independent evaluation of the performance auditor’s actions and report as well as the DMO actions and outcomes. The meta-evaluation templates for conducting such meta-evaluations are part of the contribution that the present chapter makes to the program evaluation of tourism management performance. While HTA and HVCB executives may have access to tourist data, the assumption that they have deep knowledge about the data and are skilled in using information about leisure and meeting/convention/incentive customers to build the brand, Hawaii, needs explicit examination. This level of analysis should be collected and reported by the State of Hawaii Auditor. Does the auditor find explicit sensemaking consensus and extensive knowledge about customer segments among HTA and HVCB executives concerning the key origin markets-to-target and the actions necessary to take for an effective marketing strategy? Such an issue and the other concrete scanning issues should be reported in some depth in the audit report. Fig. 2 includes the potential usefulness of examining tourism management performance audits done by other states. The tourism management performance audits by the Auditor of the State of Hawaii never discuss the practices and findings of other similar state’s tourism management performance audits. Woodside and Sakai (2001) conclude that such examinations would increase the effectiveness in planning and implementing of such audits. The argument might be made than an extensive audit on the scanning, planning, and implementing activities of the HTA and HVCB may appear to be prohibitively expensive for Hawaii’s Auditor. Currently, extensive audits only are conducted about once every ten years or less – not only for Hawaii but for other states as well (Woodside & Sakai, 2003). For example, the management performance audits of HTA and HVCB are being done once every decade by the State Auditor. However, justification for extensive management performance audits is reasonable and necessary for at least two reasons. First, the present program audits are likely done too infrequently – a once-per-decade audit program offers great potential for ignoring audit recommendations from one decade to the next and several DMO executives

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Meta-Evaluation of both the Management Audit Actions and Report and DMO actions and Outcomes

Scanning other States and Industries by Audit Team to Learn Best Practices

1. Administering (vision-values, mission, leadership, training, coaching, coordinating)

2. Scanning

Fig. 2.

3. Planning

4. Implementing

5. Activity/impact assessing

Performance Audits of Marketing Department and Meta-Evaluation.


Management Performance Audit


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are likely to no longer be employed across decades. Given that approximately $152 million is contracted for every two-year period or $758 million over ten years, a budget of $5 million for extensive management performance audits done every second year (the $5 million would cover the total costs of five extensive management performance audits done within a ten year period) represents less than 1 percent of the decade’s total tourism management contract expenditures. Second, the outcomes of the Hawaii tourism management performance audits conducted once every decade offer the same conclusions: poor performance by the HTA, its predecessor, and the HVCB. (Later sections in the chapter present specific findings and conclusions of the 1987 and the 1993 management performance audits.) The State of Hawaii legislative branch, the Governor, and taxpayers might consider breaking through this three decade cycle of poor performance reports followed by continuing poor DMO performance and strategy practices. Evidence is lacking that the State of Hawaii has adopted sound scanning, planning, implementing, and controlling/auditing of tourism marketing strategies following the 1987–1993–2003 shallow audit reports. Three decades of very similar reports of poor performance warrant applying a new approach. This new direction should include extensive training and skill-building in both effective management practice and management performance auditing and evaluation research methods to be completed by HTA and HCVB executives as well as the State Auditor. Fig. 3 builds from the Woodside and Sakai’s (2003) performance activity template. This approach that goes beyond the ‘‘balanced scorecard’’ perspective (see Kaplan, 1984; Kaplan & Norton, 1996, 2001) and evaluates the impact as well as executive planning and implementing activities by such organizations as the HTA and HVCB. Note that Fig. 3 raises the issue as to whether or not the audit report states that the auditor collected such activity data.

4. META-EVALUATION OF TWO PRIOR AUDIT REPORTS 4.1. Assessing the 1993 Hawaii Tourism Management Audit Report The 1993 performance audit of the State of Hawaii’s tourism-marketing program was performed under the direction of Marion M. Higa, the State Auditor. This 32-page report includes two papers and responses by executives

350 ARCH G. WOODSIDE AND MARCIA Y. SAKAI

Fig. 3.

Key Issues Template in a Meta-Evaluation of Performance Audits of State Tourism Development Departments.


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of the Hawaii Visitors Bureau (HVB) and the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEPT). Although less comprehensive, the 1993 report’s findings and recommendations are remarkably similar to the findings and recommendations in the 1987 report. However, the 1993 report notes that potential improvements in managing the tourism-marketing program were made after the 1987 audit report: In 1990, the Legislature created the Office of Tourism in DBEDT to coordinate and plan tourism development. State funds for tourism marketing activities are channeled through this office. The office contracts with HVB and other tourism promotion programs. Currently, the Office of Tourism has separate contracts with the HVB and with each of the HVB papers on the islands of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui. The office is responsible for monitoring HVB and performing annual reviews to ensure the effective use of state funds. (Hawaii, 1993, p. 2)

Chapter 1 Introduction (3 pages) reports, ‘‘As Hawaii’s designated tourism marketing organization, HVB in FY 1992–93 received over 90 percent of its $20 million budget from the State. In 1993, the Legislature appropriated nearly $60 million for fiscal biennium 1993–1995 to fund tourism promotion projects’’ (Hawaii, 1993, p. 1). Note the state’s funding share of HVB has increased from 80 percent in 1986–87 to over 90 percent in 1992–93. Bonham and Mak (1996) describe the ‘‘free rider’’ behavior by tourism industry members that is associated with substantial HVB expenditures and management efforts to solicit membership dues each year. Also: Lobbying, or rent seeking, is also costly. HVB has three full-time political lobbyists, excluding its corporate officers who also actively lobby at the legislature. Moreover, HVB’s increasingly aggressive lobbying at the legislature for money has tarnished its public image and reputation. Indeed, one critique of HVB recently observed that ‘the HVB remains focused mostly not on building tourism but on building a budget. (Rees, 1995, p. 5; Bonham & Mak, 1996, p. 6)

‘‘To determine whether HVB has used public funds effectively, the 1993 Legislature, in House Concurrent Resolution No. 284, requested the State Auditor to conduct a management and financial audit of HVB’’ (Hawaii, 1993, p. 1). The 1993 audit report does provide some degree of independent confirmation of the 1987 report’s findings because a different person serving as state auditor presents the findings in the 1993 audit report. However, considering that the 1993 report finds the same high level of negligence as in the 1987 report, the continued use of the HVB throughout the 1990s by the State of Hawaii is surprising. This situation may be explained in part by the strong tendency of most legislators not to read audit reports and by the strong, effective, lobbying efforts of the HVB.

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The following statement is the complete ‘‘Summary of Findings’’ in Chapter 2 in the 1993 audit report: The Hawaii Visitors Bureau (HVB) and the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) have fallen short in fulfilling their respective responsibilities for the State’s tourism program. 1. The HVB board of directors has been weak and exercised little oversight over HVB. 2. Unclear functions and underutilization of its own market research information weaken HVB’s marketing efforts. HVB has yet to resolve the status and roles of its regional offices on the mainland and its papers on the neighbor islands. 3. HVB reports do not comply with requirements in its contract with DBEDT and do not show whether public funds are properly and effectively utilized. 4. In the absence of strong HVB board and management leadership, DBEDT has begun to direct HVB to undertake certain programs. This conflicts with DBEDT’s responsibilities for monitoring the HVB contract. (Hawaii, 1993, p. 5)

A close reading of the 1993 audit report (and the prior 1987 and post 2003 reports) indicates that Hawaii has an unnecessary and costly layer of tourism-market program management. Most efforts spent coordinating and monitoring activities between the DBEDT and the HVB could be spent more profitably on effectively and efficiently managing government tourismmarketing programs. Even if HVB’s performance improves, the State’s Office of Tourism would benefit greatly by mastering these vital competencies rather than contracting them out. The recommendations in Paper 2 include reducing the number of directors on the HVB board, providing written guidelines for committee members, and developing a (written) strategic plan. The recommendations include the DBEDT ‘‘submitting annual reports to the Legislature that contain the information requested by the Legislature on tourism promotion programs and their effectiveness’’ (Hawaii, 1993, p. 17). 4.2. The HVB and DBEDT Responses and the Auditor’s Response to the Responses The HVB president commented that many of the audit report’s recommendations reflect inordinate concern for developing ‘‘formal’’ practices. The auditors’ responds, ‘‘We note that a certain minimum level of written procedures and instructions is required for any organization to operate effectively.’’ The director of the DBEDT did not respond directly to recommendations. ‘‘Permit me to offer the following general comments, rather than a point-by-point rebuttal,’’ stated Mufi Hanneman, DBEDT’s Director, by


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letter on December 27, 1993 (Hawaii, 1993, p. 28). The audit report criticizes the DBEDT for having the HVB undertake tourism initiatives developed by the DBEDT. The director’s response defends the department’s authority to undertake tourism initiatives regardless of whether they are planned or not. The auditor’s responds, ‘‘We believe, however, that the department should undertake these initiatives in its own name and not under that of HVB’’ (Hawaii, 1993, p. 21). 4.3. Meta-Evaluation of the 1993 Hawaii Management and Financial Audit Report on the HVB and Its Relationship with the State The 1993 report supports the main findings strongly using detailed findings. However, the range of topics that the report covers is disappointing. Whereas the 1987 Hawaiian audit report is comprehensive, the 1993 audit report is limited. Unlike the 1987 audit report, the 1993 report does not include the attempt to identify best practices in government tourismmarketing programs. The 1993 report omits detailed information on the scanning and planning activities of the HVB and the DBEDT. The 1993 audit report does not include a financial audit report, even though ‘‘financial audit’’ appears in the report’s title. The 1993 audit report fails to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of the HVB’s tourism-marketing programs. Other than reporting that the ‘‘HVB reports do not comply with requirements in its contract with DBEDT and do not show whether public funds are properly and effectively utilized’’ (Hawaii, 1993, p. 5), the 1993 audit report fails to report HVB’s own attempts, if any, to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of its tourism-marketing programs. In brief, the 1993 audit report is substantially lower in quality compared to the 1987 audit report. Fig. 4 is a partial summary of the 1993 audit report’s meta-evaluation (for the complete summary see Woodside & Sakai, 2003). The following categories and descriptions are a further summary to the 1993 Hawaii management audit report of the HVB:

coverage of history and budget: clarity of writing: theory applied: coverage of issues: style: likely size of impact: overall performance quality of report:

incomplete good a post positivistic audit limited confrontational little to none medium

354 ARCH G. WOODSIDE AND MARCIA Y. SAKAI

Fig. 4.

Completed Key Issues Template in a Meta-Evaluation of the 1993 Hawaii Performance Audit of the Division of Travel and Tourism.


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4.4. Assessing the 1987 Hawaii Tourism Management Audit Report Hawaii’s 1987 performance audit report comprehensively covers scanning, planning, implementing, measuring results, and administering by the Hawaii Department of Planning and Economic Development (DPED) and HVB. Following Scriven’s (1980) theory of evaluation, the 1987 Hawaii audit is a prototype of a very good audit indicating very bad performance overall by both the DPED and the HVB. Funding to run the HVB comes mostly from the State of Hawaii, ‘‘Today, legislative appropriations account for nearly 80 percent of HVB’s operating budget’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 33). Legislative statues mandate that tourism marketing funds be appropriated to the state agency charged with tourism development, DPED, ‘‘that agency would then enter into a contract with HVB for the promotion and development of tourism’’ (p. 33). During the 1970s and 1980s the Hawaiian Legislature passed several statues mandating the DPED to direct the State’s tourism-marketing program and requiring that the HVB follow DPED’s directives. Substantial evidence is found throughout the 1987 audit report that both the DPED and HVB have ignored these statues. The report concludes that too much time and effort are spent attempting to communicate and coordinate actions between DPED and HVB administrators and staff; the resulting quality of managing Hawaii’s tourism-marketing program is very low. The bureau [the HVB] enjoys the operating freedom of a private organization with virtually guaranteed, substantial state funding but with no need to produce profits, unhampered by the reviews and controls of a regular state agency, and accountable to no one for organizational effectiveness. As pointed out in Paper 4, the Department of Planning and Economic Development (DPED) has not been aggressive in enforcing its contract with HVB. Theoretically, the State could contract with any other organization or organizations for all or part of its tourism marketing services. At one time, the Legislature directed DPED to contract directly for tourism advertising. But over time, HVB has convinced state decision makers that it is the best entity to market tourism for the State. Except for the review of its annual budget request at the Legislature, HVB is not held to account. (Hawaii, 1987, p. 97)

4.5. The Contents of the 1987 Hawaii Performance Audit Report This audit report has 221 pages. The audit is organized into ten papers followed by comments (a letter plus 4 pages) by Roger A. Ulveling, Director of the DPED, and by comments (17 pages in a letter) by Walter A. Dods, Jr. (HVB Chairman of the Board) and Stanley W. Hong (HVB President).

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Chapter 1 of the 1987 audit states three objectives for the audit: examine and evaluate the role of the DPED in managing the State’s tourism program; assess the effectiveness of the programs and operations of the HVB; and make recommendations. Strong evidence is found in the audit report to support the auditor’s view that, ‘‘The audit took a broad approach to the industry and its place in Hawaii’s economy. We reviewed the trends in worldwide tourism because Hawaii competes in a global economy.’’ This claim is supported with a thorough literature review and references in later papers in the report. Chapter 2 of the report includes benchmarks and best practices data in government tourism-marketing programs. For example, Chapter 2 describes the New Zealand’s database-marketing program. ‘‘The New Zealand tourist office keeps a computerized list of the 50,000–100,000 inquiries it receives each year as a result of its mail-in advertising coupons. The list is then used for direct mail promotion and is also provided to travel operators and agents’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 10, quoted from Nick Verrasto in ASTA Travel News, June 15, 1986, p. 25). While not noted in the audit report, Hawaii does not have a similar database tourism-marketing program – evidence that a lack of systems-thinking is widespread in government tourism marketing programs in all the U.S. states. Chapter 2 includes a report on trends in travel products and markets. For example, ‘‘To stimulate demand, many areas are creating new travel products and purposes. These cater to special interests or hobbies, e.g., special hiking tours or adventure trips’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 14). Chapter 2 includes a total of 34 footnotes to data and literature on tourism markets. A description of the Canadian-government’s study of US travelers supports the proposition that ‘‘Market researchers recognize that travelers are not a homogeneous group’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 9). While seemingly obvious, this proposition must be supported empirically. This notion leads to several related, less obvious propositions, such as: For a given destination, varied visitor segments seek different destination experiences. Some prospective visitor segments are not worth spending government tourism-marketing funds to attract because these segments either do not want to visit, or they will not spend enough money to justify attracting. Chapter 2 does not describe nor identify Hawaii’s specific competitors. Consequently, the unique features of Hawaii products-markets are not compared to a competitor’s unique products-markets. Still, recognizing the need for such coverage goes well beyond recommendations found in any


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state’s performance audit of tourism-marketing programs by Woodside and Sakai (2003). Chapter 3 reports a history of tourism behavior in Hawaii, including benefits and costs. ‘‘In 1986, there was a 14.8 percent increase in the number of visitors over 1985 with total expenditures estimated at $5.8 billion. Given the multiplier effect of tourist expenditures, the visitor industry ultimately contributes to over half of the gross state product and supports more than one in three jobs in Hawaii’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 19). The chapter describes some costs. On the negative side, the auditors surmise that substantial profits from tourism leave the state and benefit only the multinational corporations that control a growing portion of Hawaii’s tourist industry. ‘‘One economist estimates that almost half of the $4 billion that was spent in Hawaii in 1984 left the State almost immediately’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 21). Two points are clear from a 1986 survey of Hawaiian residents: (1) they agreed that the positive economic benefits of the [tourism] industry outweighed the negative social impacts; and (2) an overwhelming majority felt that the economic benefits were not more important than protecting the environment. Chapter 3 reports detailed profiles of Hawaii’s westbound visitors (e.g., from California and other states) and eastbound visitors (e.g., mainly from Japan). For example, Japanese tourist parties spend an estimated $250 per day in Hawaii versus U.S. tourist parties’ $98 per day (Hawaii, 1987, p. 23). Chapter 3 describes government funding of tourism-marketing and related programs. The point is made that for the HVB’s first 40 years of existence (since 1903); the organization received $1 in government support for every $2 received in [membership] subscriptions from the business community. After World War II, this ratio changed. ‘‘Today, legislative appropriations account for nearly 80 percent of HVB’s operating budget’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 33). During the 1970s the Hawaii developed a state-wide plan for tourism. ‘‘The Hawaii State Plan, codified as Paper 226, Hawaii Revised Statues, was enacted in 1978. It establishes the overall theme, goals, objectives, and policies for the State and a state planning process’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 34). States rarely have a plan for tourism let alone a tourism plan enacted into law. ‘‘The State Tourism Functional Plan was approved by the Legislature in 1984 y State government is responsible for administering the objectives and policies in the functional plan’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 35). A ‘‘tourism branch’’ in the DPED currently is responsible for coordinating activities in implementing the state’s tourism plan. The tourism division’s head reports to one of the two deputy directors at DPED.

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The branch has three full-time positions: a tourism-program officer, a tourism specialist, and a secretary. The branch sees itself as having two main responsibilities. The first is the administration of the State’s contract with HVB including preparing and assisting in negotiating the annual contract. It sees its responsibility in this area as primarily fiduciary. Branch personnel report that they attend many of the HVB committee meetings to keep on top of HVB activities. (Hawaii, 1987, p. 35)

This legislation’s implications become clear after reading the rest of the report: Hawaii’s state government has organizationally buried the governance and leadership of tourism planning and the state’s tourism-marketing responsibilities. Also, allocating two government professional positions for tourism managing responsibilities is a further indicator that the state has abdicated direct participation in statewide tourism-marketing programs. Consequently, in the following chapter, the auditor recommends that ‘‘An office of tourism be established in the Department of Planning and Economic Development that is headed by a deputy director y The office should also strengthen the State’s role in budgeting, including the restoration of the tourism program as a separate and identifiable program in the executive budget’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 69). Given the substantial number of statues passed by the Hawaiian government, requiring the state to manage tourism programs, including the state’s tourism-marketing programs, and given the serious shortcomings in the marketing efforts of the HVB reported by several sources, the Director of the DPED might be expected to support the auditor’s recommendations for an Office of Tourism and a Deputy Director of Tourism. However, Mr. Ulveling and the DPED disagreed: ‘‘It [the response by Mr. Ulveling and the DPED] does not agree with our recommendation that an office of tourism be established. It also does not see the need to maintain the State Functional Plan for Tourism’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 197). Close reading of DPED’s response to the management audit supports the conclusion that the state has abdicated tourism leadership and management responsibilities. For example, the DPED response includes the following statement in response to the recommendation that an Office of Tourism and Deputy Director position be created in the DPED: The report comments unfavorably on the current DPED economic development organization. The implication is that creation of a branch within a line division rather than the former staff office is detrimental to the tourism mission of the department. While it may appear that the change in reporting level decreases visibility and departmental support, in fact the opposite is true. With the addition of a division head and staff, the tourism branch now has more people available to assist and support it than ever. The division head and professional staff backs up the branch manager in preparing


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various documents, attending meetings, and administering contracts. (Hawaii, 1987, p. 203)

This response is inconsistent with the view that DPED is responsible for leading and managing the state’s tourism-marketing programs. Also, the response does not suggest that tourism behavior and industries are central to the economic well being of the state. Having the state’s senior, full-time, head of tourism operations be branch manager who reports to a division head, who reports to a deputy director, who reports to the director of DPED, more than suggests that the DPED has decided to be minimally involved in tourism. Note that the branch manager’s role is described to be one of ‘‘preparing various documents, attending meetings, and administering contracts.’’ The DPED’s response indicates little responsibility for senior management activities regarding tourism marketing. Also, note that in 1987 the head of this three-person branch (including a secretary) administers the contract with the 89-member staff of the HVB. Poor performance of the DPED in all areas or responsibility is the main finding in Chapter 4. We find the following: (1) Despite repeated studies and agreements over the years about the State’s goals, objectives, and policies for tourism, there has been little consideration or concerted efforts towards attaining these objectives. (2) Although the Department of Planning and Economic Development (DPED) is the State’s lead agency for tourism, the State has yet to implement a tourism program because the department has played a reactive and passive role. There is an absence of leadership and focus to its efforts. (3) The department has yet to clarify its responsibilities for the tourism program vis-a`-vis those of the Hawaii Visitors Bureau (HVB). The lack of clarity has lead to problems in administering and monitoring the State’s contract with the bureau. (4) Because of the department’s lack of initiative and its failure to identify and clarify its responsibilities for the State tourism program, some important government responsibilities for tourism are overlooked’’. (Hawaii, 1987, pp. 37–38)

Chapter 4 indicates agreement ‘‘that the State has a broader role to play than HVB. The State is responsible for the entire tourism program. This [responsibility] would include coordinating infrastructure needs, monitoring the industry and its impact on the community [and the environment], and ensuring the [high] quality of the visitor industry generally’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 39). Chapter 4 briefly describes several tourism studies conducted by the State of Hawaii that receive mention being ignored by DMO and HVB executives. One study in particular is eye catching. A 1970 study commissioned by DPED with Mathematica of Princeton, New Jersey, assesses the costs and benefits of Hawaii’s tourist industry. Mathematica is a firm noted for

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expertise in policy mapping and systems dynamics modeling. The firm’s work for Hawaii is one indicator supporting the proposition in Chapter 4 that ‘‘The State has conducted numerous studies of considerable value. For the most part, however, the studies have been ignored. They have not been used productively to build on the work that has gone on before’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 39). Chapter 4 reviews several reports by the DPED and details of the ‘‘State Tourism Functional Plan’’ passed by the Legislature supports the view that the public sector is the lead organization to administer State objectives and policies of the State Tourism Functional Plan. However: Despite this long history of repeated demands for a larger government role and the existence today of an agency that says it is responsible for being a lead organization for tourism, the same complaints are still being heard y . The State appears to have gone full circle. The same complaints that were being made in 1957 are still being heard today. The need for coordination remains. Infrastructure continues to be a problem. The impact of the visitor industry on the State is of continuing concern. And government is still being prodded to assume its responsibilities for tourism. (Hawaii, 1987, pp. 47–49)

Chapter 4 reviews specific lack of managing activities by the DPED. For example, ‘‘DPED has not budgeted funds for tourism promotion or for a tourism program. Instead, DPED merely forwards HVB’s budget requests without analyses [to the Legislature]. The department testifies before the Legislature on HVB’s budget request, but there is no analysis of whether the amounts requested for promotion are insufficient, adequate, or too much’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 51). The following view (i.e., theory of advertising program evaluation) expressed by the 1986 Director of the DPED, Kent M. Keith, to the Legislature reflects the primary cause for the lack of high-quality studies on advertising effectiveness of tourism-marketing programs. Note that responding to Mr. Keith’s propositions; the audit report identifies the solution, even though the audit report does not describe the availability of scientific tests to measure the impact of advertising and other marketing actions. In 1985, the director [of the DPED, Kent M. Keith] commented in his testimony that while it was impossible to estimate the share of the additional $300 million increase in visitor expenditures for 1987 for which HVB was responsible, even a relatively small share would have handsomely repaid the State’s investment. The director believed that the investment was repaid many times over. This kind of testimony provides little assistance to legislative decision makers. Such statements reflect DPED’s general lack of concern [about] or information on the impact of funds appropriated to HVB and the effectiveness with which they are expended. The department has neither developed a system for oversight of HVB nor identified any more


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useful effectiveness measures. Consequently, DPED has no means to assess existing promotional efforts or to evaluate potential new markets. (Hawaii, 1987, pp. 51–52)

The rest of Chapter 4 provides findings that questions the competency of the DPED. The following titles indicate the specific negative findings of the topics covered. ‘‘Failure to take actions relating to physical [tourism infrastructure] development’’ (p. 53). ‘‘Failure to take actions relating to employment and career development’’ (p. 54). ‘‘Failure to coordinate and monitor’’ (p. 55). ‘‘Failure to maintain plan’’ (p. 57). ‘‘Current organization inadequate’’ (p. 58). HVB’s failure to deliver the contractually stated written requirements to DPED and the lack of non-compliance enforcement by the DPED are described in detail on page 67 in the audit report. Consequently, Chapter 4’s last page offers overwhelming evidence supporting the auditor’s recommendations. Here are the first two recommendations: ‘‘We recommend the following: (1) An office of tourism be established in the Department of Planning and Economic Development that is headed by a deputy director; and, (2) The office of tourism make the State Functional Plan for Tourism the starting point for its tourism program’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 69). However, these recommendations are unrealistically optimistic that a strategy shift toward competency in managing Hawaii’s tourism program is achievable within the existing multi-organizational structure. Chapter 5 starts by describing how unique the relationship is between the State of Hawaii and the HVB. ‘‘The Hawaii Visitors Bureau (HVB) is both similar to – and different from – government agencies responsible for tourism promotion throughout the world. It is only one of two private, nonprofit organizations promoting tourism in the United States; all other states have government-operated tourism agencies’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 71). However, Colorado voters abolished their state’s tourism board in 1993 (Bonham & Mak, 1996); such an action is one indicator that bold action can be achieved in making changes in a state’s tourism program. The first page of the Chapter 5 summarizes the main findings: We find the board’s effectiveness is undermined in the following respects: The Board of Directors does not play a fully meaningful role in the governance of the bureau. The bureau has not given the board the support and attention it needs to function effectivelyy

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The board has been unable to carry out adequately its responsibilities for policy planning, budget review, and evaluation. The selection processes for board directorships and leadership positions do not encourage or permit equal participation from bureau members. (Hawaii, 1987, p. 71) The chapter presents detailed evidence to support these findings. Although not reviewed here, the evidence is compelling and profound. The main finding in Chapter 6 is stated on the first page of the chapter: ‘‘We find that: (1) there is a lack of direction and attention to several basic responsibilities in organizational management in the bureau.’’ Here are a few specifics to support this finding: We find the HVB administration does not focus sufficient attention on the organization and management of the bureau. It is not being managed as a coherent whole. The basic ingredients of sound management are lacking. The bureau has no long-range plan to give it direction, it has no formal organization chart that delineates the functions of its many units to support attainment of its goals, and its budgeting practices are hurried and slipshod. These basic deficiencies have significant ramifications for the programs it operates. (Hawaii, 1987, pp. 97–98)

Chapter 6 provides detailed evidence to support these observations. The evidence includes unrealistic estimates of the private income from HVB memberships – the actual amounts are always substantially less than the budgeted amounts for 1987–1987. ‘‘The bureau compounds the problem by disregarding the actual collections for the year in budgeting for the next year – and doing this year after year’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 110). The auditor’s main recommendation concerning HVB’s management improvements is to develop an organization plan based on a strategic plan that sets the overall direction of the program (Hawaii, 1987, p. 115). This recommendation unlikely will become a reality given the auditor’s overall finding that the HVB is ‘‘negligent in its management responsibilities.’’ The primary response to the main HVB-related findings of the audit report support this view of reality: While some of the findings and recommendation of the preliminary [audit] report have merit, many of the recommendations would be more appropriately addressed to a government bureaucracy rather than a private, non-profit organization. The report demonstrates an inordinate concern for developing ‘‘formal’’ policies and other ‘‘red tape,’’ and thus ignores the dynamic environment within which the HVB operates and the need for immediate, opportune response to market and media stimuli. (Signed response by Walter A. Dods, Jr., Chairman of the Board, and Stanely W. Hong, President [of HVB], p. 206)


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Chapter 7 provides substantial evidence supporting the findings offered in the first page of the report. ‘‘We find the following: (1) there is only limited marketing coordination among the bureau’s various departments, committees, and paper offices. (2) The bureau lacks formal standards or procedures for selecting an advertising agency – its most important marketing tool and its largest cost item. (3) The bureau’s marketing program has not developed or implemented any formal monitoring and evaluation procedures or mechanisms to determine the effectiveness of its marketing activities’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 118). As far as measuring the impact of HVB’s advertising and marketing efforts, the audit report clearly states that the HVB does not follow its own Strategic Marketing Plan guidelines for creating monitoring systems. However, despite the acknowledged importance of a monitoring/evaluation system, the HVB marketing program does not contain an integral evaluation system. Instead HVB relies on such vague ideas as the health of the industry and such haphazard methods as what people tell them. (Hawaii, 1987, p. 138)

Even the bureau’s advertising program, the HVB’s largest and the most important marketing component is not subject to any kind of formal and ongoing monitoring or evaluation (Hawaii, 1987, p. 139). The audit report goes on to suggest several methods for evaluating advertising effectiveness – including the use of experimental designs (the Campbell & Stanley, 1963 true experiment approach, e.g., the studies reviewed by Caples, 1974 used experimental designs), as well as recall and recognition tests (these are invalid but popular methods for measuring advertising effectiveness; they are discussed in more detail below). Given the low level of performance documented in Paper 7, the audit report recommendations to coordinate marketing activities and to develop formal and written standards and procedures offered at the end of the paper, while commendable, are unlikely to be accepted or adopted by the HVB. What the auditor asks for is neither ‘‘red tape’’ nor excessive, but rather, sound activities to achieve an effective tourismmarketing strategy. Chapter 8 includes a benchmarking discussion of tourism research programs in the world. The main finding reported in Chapter 8: ‘‘While the Hawaii Visitors Bureau’s market research program provides the State, the bureau, and the visitor industry with valuable data, it has a number of problems which contributes to its inefficiency in certain areas, reduce its effectiveness, and limit its ability to conduct more sophisticated market research needed to improve Hawaii’s competitive edge in the world tourism

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market’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 145). The audit report points out that the HVB research program is too heavily involved in statistical compilation instead of more relevant and sophisticated market research (Hawaii, 1987, p. 154). The serious problems in the HVB market research continued in 1997. At that time the HVB commissioned study on advertising accountability study (Longwoods International, 1997). This study is based on aided-recall measurement tools to measure advertising effectiveness. The results of the 1997 study indicate spectacular high performance: $75.5 million in taxes generated by visitor spending resulting from a $7.87 million advertising investment. But two points are clear from reading the scientific literature on measuring aided-recall tests: (1) they are invalid predictors of purchase and (2) valid predictors of purchase are available (e.g., unaided top-ofmind-awareness measures and true experiments). The research design used in the HVB commissioned 1997 study is non-scientific and incorporates measurement procedures known to be invalid for estimating purchase (see Axelrod, 1968; Caples, 1974; Haley & Case, 1979; Woodside, 1990). Consequently, the findings in the HVB commissioned 1997 study are likely gross overstatements of Hawaii’s advertising impact on visits to the state. The first finding reported in Chapter 9 is that ‘‘the visitor satisfaction and community relations program is less effective than it could be because the program lacks definition and is not integrated into the bureau’s overall marketing efforts.’’ The auditor recommends that the HVB develop a precise framework for visitor satisfaction and community relations program operations. The main finding reported in Chapter 10 is that ‘‘The bureau has not carried out its personnel functions in a responsible and effective manner, because it does not have an ongoing personnel program’’ (Hawaii, 1987, p. 185). Chapter 10 presents several details to support this finding.

4.5.1. Responses by the DPED and HVB The DPED disagreed with the principal recommendations in the 1987 audit report. The main response by the HVB board chairman and the president has been described: the HVB is a private non-profit organization that should not be bound by bureaucratic procedures and red tape. Other relevant points are that 80 percent of HVB funds came from the state; more importantly, the audit report supplies ample evidence to support the findings, and the report’s recommendations match well with the components

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described earlier for effective and efficient government, tourism-marketing programs. 4.6. Meta-evaluation of the 1987 Hawaii Management Audit Report This report includes a useful (even though incomplete) review of relevant management and research literature pertaining to government tourismmarketing programs. The 1987 Hawaii management audit offers ample and specific evidence to support the report’s findings. Systematic recommendations are provided covering scanning, planning, implementing, measuring results, and administrating Hawaii’s tourism program. These recommendations are sound and their adoption would likely increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the state’s tourism program. Unfortunately, the recommendations are unlikely to be adopted, given the strong negative responses to them by the DPED and HVB. Fig. 5 is a partial summary of Woodside and Sakai’s (2003) meta-evaluation of the Hawaii 1987-management audit report. The following statement summarizes Woodside and Sakai’s (2003, p. 636) conclusions following their review of the 1987 and 1993 Hawaii tourism management performance audits: The course of action most likely to move the State of Hawaii’s tourism-marketing program away from its pervasive ineffectiveness and inefficiency is more a dramatic step: creating a separate Department of Tourism and ending the state’s relationship with the HVB. Given the unusually high importance of tourism for Hawaii compared to other states, and given the evidence in the 1987 audit report and more recent evidence, warrants a new state department of tourism. Some states have made dramatic changes in administering their tourism programs (e.g., Colorado in 1993, see Bonham & Mak, 1996); consequently, enacting and implementing such a paradigm shift by Hawaii is feasible.

Based on the discussion presented above, a summary evaluation of the 1987 Hawaii audit report includes the following categories and descriptions:

coverage of history and budget: clarity of writing: theory applied: coverage of issues: style: likely size of impact: overall performance quality of report:

excellent excellent a Scriven-type, post positivistic audit comprehensive highly confrontational little to none high

366 Complete Key Issues Template in a Meta-Evaluation of the 1987 Hawaii Performance Audit of the Division of Travel and Tourism.


Fig. 5.


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4.7. Developments following the 2003 Report On July 28, 2003, a month following the official release of the 2003 tourism management audit report, the New York Times published an article entitled, ‘‘After a Century of Luring Tourists, Hawaii Visitors Bureau Is Stripped of Its Worldwide Reach.’’ Here are a few excerpts from the story: The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, in one form or another, has been the islands’ primary marketing representative to the world for the last century. But late last week, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, a cabinetlevel board that oversees the state’s tourism spending, divided the worldwide marketing contract among five entities, stripping the private, nonprofit visitors’ bureau of its international component. The shift in who will present Hawaii’s public face to world travelers is only the latest cloud to shadow the tourism industry, which accounts for roughly a quarter of the state’s economy. A state auditor’s report in June questioned the bureau’s accounting practices and use of state money, including some personal expenses that its chief executive, Tony Vericella, charged to the bureau. Mr. Vericella, who resigned July 21, is repaying $1,000 in what officials said were inappropriately charged expenses. Rex Johnson, the chief executive of the tourism authority, said the audit did not affect the awarding of the contracts, which he said was largely completed before the report came out. The contracts were awarded in bidding that for the first time allowed bidders to compete for parts of the marketing program rather than the entire package, a change that authority executives said was intended to give companies other than the visitors’ bureau a real chance to compete. The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau won the largest part of the program, an annual contract worth about $15 million to lure tourists from North America. About four million North Americans visited Hawaii in 2002, the largest group. But responsibility for Japan, Hawaii’s second-largest market with about one and a half million visitors last year, went to Tokyo-based advertising agency Dentsu Inc., with an anticipated $6 million budget. Marketing in Europe, Oceania and the rest of Asia was awarded to other groups. The visitor’s bureau also kept a $1.4 million contract to lure meetings and incentive travelers. The four-year contracts were expected to total $25 million annually, with exact budgets to be negotiated. Joseph Patoskie, an associate professor at Hawaii Pacific University’s school of travel industry management, said the changes in the marketing

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strategy could provide new inroads to markets in an increasingly competitive world. ‘‘It’s not saying that H.V.C.B. was doing a bad job, but there’s a level of competition out there today that may require us to think in a different fashion,’’ Mr. Patoskie said. David Carey, chief executive of Hawaii-based hotel company Outrigger Enterprises and a former tourism authority member, said: ‘‘It remains to be seen whether a multitude of contractors is going to be as effective as a single coordinated contractor. The H.V.C.B. has taken a horribly bad rap for being incredibly effective over the last several years. If you look at Hawaii compared to other destinations, Hawaii is doing phenomenally well. All of these fundamental changes are out of proportion to the things that could have been made better.’’ David Carey’s conclusion about the HVCB being ‘‘incredibly effective over the last several years’’ appears to be inaccurate given the consistent negative findings in the 1987, 1993, and 2003 audit and may reflect the poor oversight management performance of the HTA in years prior to the 2003 report – Mr. Carey served as a member in 1998 and member and vice chair of the HTA in 1999. Mr. Carey’s hint that ‘‘a multitude of contractors’’ may not be ‘‘as effective as a single coordinator contractor’’ further implies that as a single contractor that the HVCB was effective even though all three audit reports conclude otherwise. Note that the NYT story includes quotes from two other persons (Rex Johnson and Joseph Patoskie) implying that neither the 2003 audit nor HVCB contract performance had little to nothing to do with the stripping of the HVCB of its worldwide reach. While such statements may be politically useful as socially face-saving ointments, along with the comments by David Carey the statements serve to lessen the perceived accuracy and value of the 2003 audit report.

5. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INCREASING USEFUL SENSE AND DECISION MAKING BY DMO EXECUTIVES AND MANAGEMENT AUDITORS The 2003, 1993, and 1987 audit reports on Hawaii’s tourism management performance include no knowledge of the relevant evaluation research literature. While these audits are more useful than conducting no audits, they fail to provide detailed information on the daily, weekly, or monthly activities of executives of the HTA and the HVCB and the effectiveness of


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these activities. For management performance audits to be informative and to serve as catalysts for improving future performance, they need to include thick descriptions (Geertz, 1973; Ryle, 1968) of actual behavior as well as rigorous measurement of impact metrics. Thick descriptions refer to an interpretation that clarify and makes sense of the interaction of specific behaviors in a given context. All three audits fail to deliver such thick descriptions. The State of Hawaii is not alone in performing management performance audits that fail to have much impact on increasing effectiveness in managing tourism marketing programs or in measuring future performance (see Woodside & Sakai, 2003 for reviews by other state auditors). Management performance audits need to apply the theories and methods from the evaluation research literature – to move beyond simply referring to following principles from sound financial accounting auditing practice – to achieve effective audits of the organizations managing the States’ tourism marketing programs. Primarily focusing on bad practices, cronyism, and corruption of funds that total less than 10 percent of total program expenditures results in too little attention on the prize – effective and efficient management of tourism marketing programs that achieve highly desirable results that would not otherwise have occurred. Here is one small comfort: the severe problems with bad to no management performance evaluation auditing appear to be widespread and not limited to government tourism management performance audits. The April 2007 the American Marketing Association’s Marketing Matters Newsletter includes the following report, ‘‘How would your company’s CEO grade your marketing efforts? VisionEdge Marketing’s 6th annual Marketing Performance Survey poll posed this question and others to 136 executives and marketing professionals. The results revealed a lack of confidence among respondents regarding CEOs’ perceptions of marketing measurement and a gap between measurement priorities and action.’’ In addition, the results indicated that despite stressing the importance of marketing measurement, many companies failed to track critical data. For instance, 63% of respondents cited increasing market share in existing markets as a top priority. However, only 37% regularly reported on market share performance indicators. Furthermore, although 58% of respondents named measuring marketing performance as a top priority, 64% admitted having no marketing performance training or budget in place. (Marketing Matters Newsletter, 2007)

Achieving dramatic increases in the quality of management performance audits – ending bad management audits and bad tourism management

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performance likely requires some form of the following actions: (1) Recognize that the situation calls for embracing a theoretical paradigm shift in management performance audits to include both process audits and outcome audits. Such a paradigm shift needs to build from the literature of evaluation research and not just the field of accounting. (2) Creating and implementing training programs for executives covering sensemaking (see Weick, 1995), planning, implementing, and evaluation tourism management programs that rely on effective benchmark programs and the literatures on strategic management (e.g., see Kay, 1995; Mintzberg, 1978; Price, Arnould, & Tierney, 1995) and marketing management (e.g., see Kotler, 1997) – for example, to overcome the continuing bad management practices and lack of skills in managing a tourism marketing program effectively that the Hawaii Auditor reports for the HVCB. (3) Creating and implementing training programs for management performance auditors on how to effectively audit both process data and outcome metrics – for example, to overcome the shallow management audit reports done by the Hawaii Auditor. (4) Budget management performance audits of tourism management and marketing programs adequately – about three percent of the annual promotional and advertising budget for a given state tourism management program. (5) Demand thick descriptions covering process data and outcome metrics all four major areas of management responsibility: sensemaking, planning, implementing, and evaluating. Such thick descriptions should describe rationales for selecting specific markets for each origin targeted to attract customers, the rationales for targeting each market with each origin national or state market, the allocation of marketing expenditures per market and the rationale for each allocation, the milestones of actions and responsibilities assigned and implemented to/by each key executive, and evidence that such implementation was done. These mental models (see Huff, 1990; Stubbart & Ramaprasad, 1988) created will serve as the rationale for planning before and during the time period that the audit covers, the metrics created to measure process data and outcome impacts, the rationale for using specific media to communicate to each target market (see Woodside & Ronkainen, 1982; Woodside & Soni, 1990), the evaluation process that went into selecting an advertising agency and the evaluation process of the performance of this agency, the rationale for using each specific media vehicle to reach the target markets, the metrics created to measure the performance of each vehicle and each medium used

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in the advertising campaign, the metrics in place to compare outcomes for targeted markets versus non-targeted markets, the quasi-experimental evidence of providing literature and responding to customer requests for information versus not providing such information (see Woodside, 1996), the testing of alternative literature designs and content given to customers in response to requests, the longitudinal impact metrics over the past ten years of the tourism program, plus others. This chapter’s intent is to serve as a call to action and training for management performance auditors, tourism management program executives, state legislators, independent near government organizations and watchdog groups, and taxpayers. Possibly the only effective means of moving toward an effective state tourism program for Hawaii includes the termination of the state’s relationship with the HVB in three-to-five stages. Such a decision and action would be met with stiff resistance given HVB’s staff size and focus on maintaining the status quo. Thus, Hawaii may want to consider funding the HVB with annual reductions of 20 percent per year from the current level of state support for four years – or reach some other solution resulting in a gradual dissolution of its relationship with the HVB. Even though Hawaii now could contract with a private, non-profit organization other than the HVB, the State likely would develop an effective tourism-marketing program by housing such a program in a separate Department of Tourism Programs. The Hawaii Legislature may need to stop passing additional statues in attempting to legislate competent behavior of the DPED and the HVB.

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APPENDIX. TRAINING EXERCISES IN TOURISM MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE AUDITING Executive Training Questions 1. Using Fig. A1 and the review of the 2003 State of Hawaii Auditor’s Report Number 03-10 in this chapter to assess both the coverage and accuracy of the report and the effectiveness and efficiency of the management performance by the HVCB and HTA in directing the


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tourism marketing. Complete each template issue in Fig. A1 with a brief entry based on your reading of the review of the 2003 report. Fig. A1 includes the completion of the first two entries as examples of the work to be done. 2. Go the following website to read the complete report (Report 03-10): http://www.state.hi.us/auditor/Reports/2003/03-10.pdf. Use five additional findings in the complete report in reviewing your entries in Fig. A1. Write a brief commentary on the five additional findings and how these findings improve your meta-evaluation of the 2003 State of Hawaii Auditor’s Report. 3. Provide three concrete recommendations with two rationales for each based on your meta-evaluation of Report Number 03-10. Direct your recommendations to the governor and the legislature of the State of Hawaii. 4. Interpret the findings in Fig. A2. How do the findings in Fig. A2 differ from the findings in Fig. 3? What conclusions are best to draw from the findings in Fig. A2?

376 Executive Training Exercise Template for a Meta-Evaluation of Performance Audits of the State of Hawaii 2003 Report.


Fig. A1.

06

(2) Results for Hawaii in 5 markets receiving 1X budget weight by Hawaii to attract visitors (3) Results for competitor in markets receiving Hawaii’s 3 X ad budget weight



(4) Results for competitor in markets receiving Hawaii 1X ad budget weight

•Number of Arrivals 12 •Market Share •Tax Dollars from Tourists 10 (Other impact metrics) 08

04 02 00 2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Year

Note. Assume one-time heavy advertising weight (expenditure occur in 2009 in 5 specific markets (or a unique new message is used in these 5 markets at the same ad weight. The patterns in Figure 1 indicate that the heavy ad budget weight (3X) is effective in (1) increasing number of arrivals (or market share or tax dollars) in comparison to (2) regular ad budge (1X) expenditures by Hawaii and in comparison to the (3) drop in number of arrivals for the competitor in the 5 markets receiving high (3X) ad expenditures by Hawaii versus the (4) near constant levels of arrivals to the competitor’s destination in the markets receiving normal (1X) ad weight to attract Hawaii visitors. Source: Original exhibit for this chapter; see Campbell (1969) for exhbits of additional quasi-experiments.

Fig. A2.

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Longitudinal Quasi-Experiment to Measure Hawaii’s Advertising Impact on Annual Number of Arrivals (or Market Share or Tax Dollars) by (from) Tourists.

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