2,190 research outputs found
Resident Support for Tourism Development: Application of a Simplified Resident Empowerment through Tourism Scale on Developing Destinations in Flanders
No full textsponsorship: This article is based on research done in the context of the SmartCulTour project that has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No. 870708. The authors of the article are solely responsible for the information, denominations, and opinions contained in it, which do not necessarily express the point of view of all the project partners and do not commit them. (European Union|870708)status: Publishe
Archives Reenergized: Using a Milestone Anniversary to Reinvigorate Interest in Your Collections
No full textThe Peirce College Library used the College's sesquicentennial anniversary to showcase its archive collection internally and externally,"July/August, 2015
Interactions between STAT3 and BART
No full textSignal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) mediate cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival in immune responses, hematopoiesis, neurogenesis, and other biological processes. STAT3, for example, is involved in the epithelialmesenchymal transition during gastrulation, organogenesis, wound healing, and cancer progression. STAT activity is regulated by a variety of mechanisms, including nuclear translocation. To clarify the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of STAT activity, we performed yeast two-hybrid screening. Here we identified BART (Binder of ADP-ribosylation factor-like Two) as a novel STAT-binding partner. Importantly, we showed that BART is essential for the transcriptional activity and nuclear retention of STAT3. Furthermore, an effector of BART, ADP-ribosylation factor-like 2 (ARL2) was also involved in nuclear retention of STAT3. These results indicate that BART plays an essential role in the nuclear retention of STAT3 through interaction with ARL2
The Effect of Culture Tourism Development on Ethnic Minorities and Its Influence on the Visitor Experience: Case Study Lijiang, China
No full textCultural heritage is an indispensable attraction for tourism. Heritage tourism can help to achieve poverty alleviation in some areas, but it can also lead to unsustainable situations and even longterm destruction of the cultural resource. The danger of the existence of a vicious development model is that the demand for tourism leads to commercialization, and tourist gentrification – specifically when related to heritage cities and villages. This can lead to a perceived lack of authenticity which will in turn reduce visitor satisfaction to some extent. As a result, continued unmanaged development may lead to alienation of local stakeholders and a diminished tourism experience. Discussions on heritage, its value, and local consequences requires a targeted approach. Balancing the economic benefits and maintaining the core value of cultural heritage is a particularly challenging task. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of tourism development on heritage cities with ethnic minorities, specifically focusing on the ancient city of Lijiang in China. The main research question was defined as: ”What are the effects of tourism development on local culture and the visitor experience within the old town of Lijiang, China.”
Because of the increase in urbanization and tourism, excessive commercialization and gentrification have affected the sustainable resource management of heritage sites. Legacy is not a renewable resource; it should be effectively preserved. However, because of its management complexity, there is no unified method. This study uses a qualitative method of inductive inference. The research phase begins with a secondary data collection based on the research questions. Through identifying the stages of tourism development in Lijiang, introducing the government management structure , as well as the government’s management strategies at different times, conclusions could be made in terms of restrictions on remaining residents, and a general loss of local homeownership in favour of non-local entrepreneurship. As a second research method, visitor reviews of a travel website (Tripadvisor) were collected over 3 periods (2009-2011, 2012-2014, 2015-2017), and analysed via thematic coding. This allowed for a recognition of overall trends in changes to the visitor experience from 2009 to 2017, specifically: positive reviews (such as the perception of the attractiveness of the ancient city) have declined year by year, and negative reviews (such as lack of authenticity and over-development) have increased year by year.
Therefore, the study found that the government’s management strategy mainly aimed at the uninterrupted growth of the tourism industry and tourism gentrification are two major factors that hinder the sustainable development of Lijiang heritage tourism. Therefore, this dissertation proposes to strengthen the understanding of the non-market value of the ancient city, changing the business philosophy, redefining the functional location of the ancient city and creating quality tourism products. Through this, tt may be possible to try to improve the status quo in Lijiang and realize the sustainable development of ancient city tourism. While the use of longitudinal analysis of visitor reviews offers an interesting monitoring tool, there were also some inherent limitations to the study design. The history of the Old Town's planning and management strategy could only be reviewed through secondary data. This may not be very comprehensive and detailed and cannot exactly match the timeframes for which tourism reviews were collected. At the same time, the factors of group thinking and social influence in the review cannot be ruled out. For future research it is suggested that a more in-depth interview approach can better understand the Naxi community's views on the current tourism development. As far as the second topic of this study is concerned, on the travel experience, more understanding can be provided by comparing the comments of domestic and foreign tourists and associating tourism experiences with tourism characteristics
Marlin "Bart" Barton
No full textMarch 8, 2012, Ablah Library, Wichita State UniversityMarlin "Bart" Barton, award-winning author, reads from his newest book, The Cross Garden.WSU Libraries, Department of Englis
Understanding the Effect of User-generated Content on Hotel Performance in Auckland
No full textWith the increasing use of Web 2.0 applications, user-generated content (UGC) has gained importance in the development of the tourism and hospitality industry. UGC, as part of many travel review sites, provides information regarding not just the tourism-related products in question, but also aspects of the individual post-consumption experience. Hence, the UGCs provided by purchasers have become a main source of information on product quality for both the tourism industry and its consumers. An increasing number of contemporary consumers consult UGC, including online reviews, before making purchasing decisions, therefore playing an important role in their decision making processes. The accommodation sector, particularly, has a central place within the travel industry and is an important contributor to the tourism economy. At the same time, the traditional hospitality sector operates in a competitive environment and is now becoming vulnerable due to a growth in the number of hotel room reservations being made via the internet and recent disruptive alternative accommodation types. Furthermore, the accommodation decision process is increasingly influenced by online comments of hotel guests’ experiences in a particular hotel facility. Therefore, as for the hotel performance, UGC is rapidly gaining traction as part of the hotel room purchase decision making process.
The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of UGC on the hospitality industry, specifically with regard to hotel room sales, while also attempting to understand the accommodation attributes influencing customer satisfaction. By adopting secondary data from Booking.com in the form of review scores and qualitative comments, this dissertation attempted to understand the importance of different service attributes towards hotel performance in Auckland, New Zealand. Specifically, the influential factors of hotel service were studied in order to understand the influential elements of customer satisfaction, their contribution to a general hotel satisfaction score and its effect on hotel performance.
By utilising post-positivism as the research paradigm, this study adopted a mixed-method approach. A quantitative methodology was combined with a thematic analysis to analyse the significance between hotel performance and UGC in the form of hotel ratings and qualitative comments. A sample of 89 star-rated hotels within Auckland’s central business district (CBD) was selected and both independent and dependent variables regarding influential elements of the hotel service were identified and collected in the first quantitative stage. For the second qualitative stage, thematic analysis was employed to study 100 online reviews of 10 purposely selected hotels. The additional amenities that were not considered within the quantitative scores were discovered in order to provide better quality service and improve hotel performance.
The relationship between different hotel attributes and hotel performance were analysed quantitatively and confirmed the significance of value for money and location. The ANOVA test examined the effect of star classification on overall scores and concluded that cleanliness, comfort, facilities, staff service and other measurable variables like free Wi-Fi and location were significantly lower for 2 to 3.5 star hotels when compared to 4 star and above, according to Bonferroni’s test. A multivariate regression analysis compared effects on review numbers – as a proxy for room bookings – as well as price levels. Value for money seemed the most significant indicator to positively influence review numbers (specifically so for luxury hotels), as well as negatively correlating with the price per night for a double room. Hotels charging a lower price per night for a double room were found to offer better value for money. Having better levels of cleanliness, comfort and facilities and a good location were more likely to increase the price level for a room. As the finding suggests, higher price level hotels might offer customers accommodation in a prime location and with high levels of cleanliness and facilities, while conversely lower value hotels focus primarily on the price proposition. Cleanliness, comfort and facilities only positively influenced review numbers for budget hotels, possibly indicating that this is a hygiene factor in the luxury segment that is seen as a minimum requirement, and not so much a competitive advantage. A similar observation could be made for Free Wi-Fi. The thematic analysis of the reviews confirmed the general importance of 7 independent hotel attributes. The category of location and room facilities received a relatively great number of positive feedback, whereas significant negative feedback related to the category of value for money, with a significant number of reviews mentioning the over-priced situation of hotel price within Auckland CBD
Understanding the Effect of User-generated Content on Hotel Performance in Auckland
No full textWith the increasing use of Web 2.0 applications, user-generated content (UGC) has gained importance in the development of the tourism and hospitality industry. UGC, as part of many travel review sites, provides information regarding not just the tourism-related products in question, but also aspects of the individual post-consumption experience. Hence, the UGCs provided by purchasers have become a main source of information on product quality for both the tourism industry and its consumers. An increasing number of contemporary consumers consult UGC, including online reviews, before making purchasing decisions, therefore playing an important role in their decision making processes. The accommodation sector, particularly, has a central place within the travel industry and is an important contributor to the tourism economy. At the same time, the traditional hospitality sector operates in a competitive environment and is now becoming vulnerable due to a growth in the number of hotel room reservations being made via the internet and recent disruptive alternative accommodation types. Furthermore, the accommodation decision process is increasingly influenced by online comments of hotel guests’ experiences in a particular hotel facility. Therefore, as for the hotel performance, UGC is rapidly gaining traction as part of the hotel room purchase decision making process.
The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of UGC on the hospitality industry, specifically with regard to hotel room sales, while also attempting to understand the accommodation attributes influencing customer satisfaction. By adopting secondary data from Booking.com in the form of review scores and qualitative comments, this dissertation attempted to understand the importance of different service attributes towards hotel performance in Auckland, New Zealand. Specifically, the influential factors of hotel service were studied in order to understand the influential elements of customer satisfaction, their contribution to a general hotel satisfaction score and its effect on hotel performance.
By utilising post-positivism as the research paradigm, this study adopted a mixed-method approach. A quantitative methodology was combined with a thematic analysis to analyse the significance between hotel performance and UGC in the form of hotel ratings and qualitative comments. A sample of 89 star-rated hotels within Auckland’s central business district (CBD) was selected and both independent and dependent variables regarding influential elements of the hotel service were identified and collected in the first quantitative stage. For the second qualitative stage, thematic analysis was employed to study 100 online reviews of 10 purposely selected hotels. The additional amenities that were not considered within the quantitative scores were discovered in order to provide better quality service and improve hotel performance.
The relationship between different hotel attributes and hotel performance were analysed quantitatively and confirmed the significance of value for money and location. The ANOVA test examined the effect of star classification on overall scores and concluded that cleanliness, comfort, facilities, staff service and other measurable variables like free Wi-Fi and location were significantly lower for 2 to 3.5 star hotels when compared to 4 star and above, according to Bonferroni’s test. A multivariate regression analysis compared effects on review numbers – as a proxy for room bookings – as well as price levels. Value for money seemed the most significant indicator to positively influence review numbers (specifically so for luxury hotels), as well as negatively correlating with the price per night for a double room. Hotels charging a lower price per night for a double room were found to offer better value for money. Having better levels of cleanliness, comfort and facilities and a good location were more likely to increase the price level for a room. As the finding suggests, higher price level hotels might offer customers accommodation in a prime location and with high levels of cleanliness and facilities, while conversely lower value hotels focus primarily on the price proposition. Cleanliness, comfort and facilities only positively influenced review numbers for budget hotels, possibly indicating that this is a hygiene factor in the luxury segment that is seen as a minimum requirement, and not so much a competitive advantage. A similar observation could be made for Free Wi-Fi. The thematic analysis of the reviews confirmed the general importance of 7 independent hotel attributes. The category of location and room facilities received a relatively great number of positive feedback, whereas significant negative feedback related to the category of value for money, with a significant number of reviews mentioning the over-priced situation of hotel price within Auckland CBD
Analysing the importance of online trust on intention to use Airbnb by consumer groups differentiated by risk propensity and prior experience
No full textAirbnb is a peer-to-peer platform that enables hosts to provide private accommodation to travellers. The development of Airbnb attracted this study to investigate the usage intention of potential consumers, especially individuals who reside in New Zealand. Moreover, given the particularities of the peer-to-peer economy, online trust has been seen as a high potential driver – or barrier – of Airbnb use. Previous studies on online trust have found that the construct consists of different dimensions, particularly the ability belief, benevolence belief, and integrity belief. Adopting a three-dimension online trust construct, it could further be hypothesised that prior Airbnb experience and personal risk propensity could have an effect on the entire online-trust-belief construct.
The purpose of this research was thus to observe how multidimensional online trust influences consumer intention to use Airbnb under individual risk propensities and prior Airbnb experiences. By adopting a model tested in the business-to-customer environment for many times, this dissertation attempted to fill a gap in the existing literature on P2P peer-to-peer market.
A quantitative methodology was adopted, delivering an online questionnaire through the snowball sampling method with the direct environment of the research and the supervisors as a starting point. A total of 184 responses were collected from people over 16 years old who reside in New Zealand. Since 32 respondents specified they had not previously heard of Airbnb, 152 responses were ultimately used to test the constructed model. SPSS 22.0 and AMOS were used for data analysis and hypotheses tests, using frequency tables, descriptive statistics, ANOVA-tests, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and linear regression.
The research findings firstly revealed the potential for Airbnb to further develop the New Zealand travel market. Close to half of the 152 respondents in this study had already used Airbnb and an additional number of people showed interest in using Airbnb for future travels. The conceptual model, which was originally established in a business-to-customer environment, was validated in the Airbnb context as well, with results revealing that ability, benevolence and integrity beliefs of online trust all significantly impact the intention to use Airbnb, with benevolence being the strongest predictor. These relationships between online trust beliefs and intention to use Airbnb were influenced by prior experience and individual risk propensity, as was hypothesised. Risk avoiders’ intention to use Airbnb was affected by benevolence and integrity belief, and this was true for both prior Airbnb users as respondents without Airbnb experience. However, the situation was different for risk takers. Risk takers without prior experience were only influenced by the ability belief, indicating that risk-taking individuals value Airbnb accommodation’s functionalities instead of intangible trust aspects when intending to use Airbnb. For risk takers with prior Airbnb experience, no trust-aspects affected their usage intentions
Pelham; Or The Adventures Of A Gentleman / By Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton. Bart. With The Portrait Of The Author
No full textPELHAM; OR THE ADVENTURES OF A GENTLEMAN / BY SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTON. BART. WITH THE PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR
Pelham; Or The Adventures Of A Gentleman / By Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton. Bart. With The Portrait Of The Author (3)
Title page (3)
Titelblatt Schriftenreihe (6)
Frontispiz (Portrait) (9)
Titelblatt (10)
Preface To The Edition Of 1835 (12)
Mortimer; Or, Memoirs Of A Gentleman (18)
Preface To The Second Edition Of Pelham (42)
Chapter I. - XX. (44)
Chapter XXI. - XXX. (116)
Chapter XXXI. - XLV. (165)
Chapter XLI. - LIV. (210)
Chapter LV. - LXV. (270)
Chapter LXVI. - LXX. (340)
Chapter LXXI. - LXXIX. (383)
Chapter LXXX. - LXXXVI. (456)
Fotodokumentation (514
Bart Moeyaert as writer, author, performer, and public figure : 'That's Also What Literature Can Be'
No full textThough only in his mid-fifties, Bart Moeyaert began his writing career over forty years ago, when at age thirteen. In the course of almost four decades as a published
author, Moeyaert’s views and writing practices have inevitably evolved. These developments can be attributed to personal experiences from living
through adolescence, young adulthood, and middle age, which include his increased independence from his family, influential encounters, and the development of his
career as an author and teacher. As a writer, he had the chance to experiment with new genres, topics, and writing styles, gradually growing into Belgium’s most acclaimed
children’s author and gaining international fame. In this article, I highlight four crucial experiences that transformed Bart Moeyaert’s views on children’s literature
and had an impact on his subsequent books: the influence of Aidan Chambers and his distinction between author and writer; the experience of writing primers with
specific, target-audience restraints; the pleasure of performing for a dual audience; and his mandate as Antwerp’s city poet, which provoked a reflection on the writer as a
public figure. What these experiences have in common is that they produced a tension between Moeyaert’s personal and artistic desires on the one hand and considerations for
his readership and broader social needs on the other. As such, this article seeks to contribute to a better understanding of Moeyaert’s developing poetics and diverse oeuvre, and to consider how an author’s growing age and concomitant experiences can influence their views and work
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