- Email: [email protected]
Asia Pacific Tourism Association sixth annual conference in Phuket, Thailand, 2000
Tourism Management 23 (2002) 101–103
Conference Reports
Asia Pacific Tourism Association sixth annual conference in Phuket, Thailand, 2000 ‘‘Tourism’’ a strategic industry in Asia and Pacific: defining problems and creating solutions The 6th annual APTA conference was organized by the Faculty of Hotel & Tourism Management, Prince of Songkla University (PSU), Phuket Campus and supported by APTA, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Phuket Tourist Association, Thai Hotels Association Southern Chapter, and several other universities. While the Conference center was at PSU campus, most Conference delegates stayed in hotels near the Patong Beach, which was about 30 min driving distance away from the PSU campus. Fortunately, free daily shuttle bus services between PSU campus and the Patong Beach hotels were provided. The sound Conference program and the attractive scenery in Phuket attracted hundreds of regular and new APTA conference participants from many countries in the world (mainly from Asia Pacific) to attend this Conference. The Conference participants consisted of hospitality and tourism educators, researchers, government officials, industrial practitioners, and interestingly a large group of students in school uniform, making the students very identifiable. Following a pre-conference tour and a reception on 28 June 2000, the Conference was officially opened on 29 June 2000. Chairman of the organizing committee, President of the PSU, and Chairman of the APTA Board delivered welcome speeches. After that, The Governor of TAT presented a keynote speech on opportunities and threats for Thai tourism development. Audience could learn the development of the Thai tourism industry in the past 40 years, and appreciated the industry’s promising growth in the new century. The underlying factors for Thai success, such as political and economic stability as well as visa-free or visa-on-arrival access, should set a good example for other travel destinations’ development. The Conference had a total of 6 concurrent sessions. These sessions were fairly comprehensive, which covered most hospitality and tourism areas. Many case studies in Asia Pacific were presented in the Conference. Overall, presentations were of high quality, and questions from audience were generally well dealt with. The conference proceedings, with about 110 papers and more than 800
pages, contained the papers written by the Conference presenters and their co-authors. Over 210 authors (this included multiple entries for authors whose names appeared in multiple papers) from 17 countries had contributed to the papers that were published in the conference proceedings. Although these authors were from countries worldwide, most of them were researchers in Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan. The published papers contained technical papers like Information Technology and tourism demand modeling, as well as qualitative papers like service quality and human resources management. Besides, papers in hospitality and tourism oriented areas like eco-tourism and sustainable tourism, together with destination planning and development were published. Papers in other areas such as education and training, MICE, and marketing were also published. The areas that attracted most number of publications were in marketing (24 papers), destination planning and development (17 papers), and education and training (17 papers). Approximately, 53 per cent of the published papers used qualitative approaches whereas the other papers adopted quantitative approaches. Examples of qualitative approaches included literature review and observations, interviews, and secondary data analyses. Examples of quantitative approaches were regression, forecasting, factor analyses, and distribution analyses. Also included in the Conference were 2 general sessions. With a topic of ‘‘Institutions and HR Development in Asia and Pacific: World Organizations Discussion’’, the first general session was delivered by senior industrial representatives from Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Pacific Asia Tourism Association (PATA), and World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The second general session had a topic of ‘‘Tourism Education in Asia and PacificFRegional Co-operation in Education’’, and university administrators/directors of hospitality and tourism departments and schools in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Hong Kong presented their views in this session. It was encouraging to note that hospitality and tourism education, in general and at university level in particular, has been receiving great attention from governments, professional bodies, and universities. Generally speaking, Conference arrangements and logistics were reasonable with events that can be found in comparable conferences. An improvement in the
102
Conference reports / Tourism Management 23 (2002) 101–103
future would be the incorporation of practical workshops and tutorials. This is to provide the necessary knowledge for interested conference participants, especially for students. Another future improvement would be the inclusion of industrial sessions for introducing the latest professional development of industrial applications. The seventh APTA annual conference was held between 4 and 7 July, 2001 in Manila, the Philippines. A consortium of hospitality and tourism educators in the Philippines organized this Conference, and the Filipino representatives confirmed that the Conference was a very fruitful one. For further information about the Conference and its proceedings, please contact Associate Professor Manat
Chaisawat, Conference Chairman, Faculty of Hotel & Tourism Management, Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus, 80 Vichit Songkram Road, Kathu, Phuket 83120, Thailand. E-mail: [email protected].
Rob Law, Simon Wong Department of Hotel & Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong E-mail addresses: [email protected] (R. Law), [email protected] (S. Wong)
PII: S 0 2 6 1 - 5 1 7 7 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 6 8 - 1
Tourism on islands and specific destinations: international scientific conference; University of the Aegean, 14–16 December 2000. Chios, Greece: Homerean Cultural Center The 1st international scientific conference on tourism in Greece was organized by the University of the Aegean and was held at Homerean Culture Center, Chios Island, Greece, the 14–16 of December 2000. The general theme was ‘‘Tourism on islands and specific destinations’’, the president of the scientific committee was Professor Gerasimos Zacharatos (University of the Aegean) and the president of the organising committee was Associate Professor Paris Tsartas (University of the Aegean). The majority of the delegates were affiliated with universities, but some practitioners and tourism policy makers were also represented. The conference aimed to bring together all relevant stakeholders to discuss the significance and the future challenges of tourism on islands and specific destinations. The mixed audience of approximately 125 participants included representatives from many European countries as well as from the USA and Australia. This combination guaranteed lively and interesting discussions during the several joint panels and paper presentations. The official languages of the conference were English and Greek, and instant translation service was provided at a professional level. In the opening ceremony, Gerasimos Zacharatos introduced the conference program and explained its aims and objectives while stressing the importance of tourism on islands and specific destinations for the 21st century. He explained that the present conference was organized within the framework of a thorough attempt to examine the tourism development of regions with
specifications in location and development. The main target of the organizers was the examination of the characteristics and the developmental problems of two extended groups of regions: islands, and specific destinations (such as mountain areas, areas of rich cultural sources, areas of a sensitive natural and structured environment and other). Without doubt, this conference proved to be a big, varied and excellently organised and administered event. The majority of papers focused on the imperatives of the continual dynamically changing environment of sustainable tourism development with emphasis on islands and diversified destinations. The papers were presented in one plenary and 22 parallel sessions grouped in the following major categories: (a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e) (f)
(g)
Tourism development of islands and specific destinations: characteristics, specialities and problems. Special interest and alternative forms of tourism: their contribution to the development of islands and specific destinations. Management matters of natural and structured environment in the development process of islands and specific destinations. Human capacity and business activity of islands and specific destinations: employment market, education, and training. The role of new technologies in the development of islands and specific destinations. The tourist product of islands and specific destinations: matters of quality, management, marketing and promotion. Planning Matters and strategies for tourism development of islands and specific destinations.
Conference Reports
Asia Pacific Tourism Association sixth annual conference in Phuket, Thailand, 2000 ‘‘Tourism’’ a strategic industry in Asia and Pacific: defining problems and creating solutions The 6th annual APTA conference was organized by the Faculty of Hotel & Tourism Management, Prince of Songkla University (PSU), Phuket Campus and supported by APTA, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Phuket Tourist Association, Thai Hotels Association Southern Chapter, and several other universities. While the Conference center was at PSU campus, most Conference delegates stayed in hotels near the Patong Beach, which was about 30 min driving distance away from the PSU campus. Fortunately, free daily shuttle bus services between PSU campus and the Patong Beach hotels were provided. The sound Conference program and the attractive scenery in Phuket attracted hundreds of regular and new APTA conference participants from many countries in the world (mainly from Asia Pacific) to attend this Conference. The Conference participants consisted of hospitality and tourism educators, researchers, government officials, industrial practitioners, and interestingly a large group of students in school uniform, making the students very identifiable. Following a pre-conference tour and a reception on 28 June 2000, the Conference was officially opened on 29 June 2000. Chairman of the organizing committee, President of the PSU, and Chairman of the APTA Board delivered welcome speeches. After that, The Governor of TAT presented a keynote speech on opportunities and threats for Thai tourism development. Audience could learn the development of the Thai tourism industry in the past 40 years, and appreciated the industry’s promising growth in the new century. The underlying factors for Thai success, such as political and economic stability as well as visa-free or visa-on-arrival access, should set a good example for other travel destinations’ development. The Conference had a total of 6 concurrent sessions. These sessions were fairly comprehensive, which covered most hospitality and tourism areas. Many case studies in Asia Pacific were presented in the Conference. Overall, presentations were of high quality, and questions from audience were generally well dealt with. The conference proceedings, with about 110 papers and more than 800
pages, contained the papers written by the Conference presenters and their co-authors. Over 210 authors (this included multiple entries for authors whose names appeared in multiple papers) from 17 countries had contributed to the papers that were published in the conference proceedings. Although these authors were from countries worldwide, most of them were researchers in Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan. The published papers contained technical papers like Information Technology and tourism demand modeling, as well as qualitative papers like service quality and human resources management. Besides, papers in hospitality and tourism oriented areas like eco-tourism and sustainable tourism, together with destination planning and development were published. Papers in other areas such as education and training, MICE, and marketing were also published. The areas that attracted most number of publications were in marketing (24 papers), destination planning and development (17 papers), and education and training (17 papers). Approximately, 53 per cent of the published papers used qualitative approaches whereas the other papers adopted quantitative approaches. Examples of qualitative approaches included literature review and observations, interviews, and secondary data analyses. Examples of quantitative approaches were regression, forecasting, factor analyses, and distribution analyses. Also included in the Conference were 2 general sessions. With a topic of ‘‘Institutions and HR Development in Asia and Pacific: World Organizations Discussion’’, the first general session was delivered by senior industrial representatives from Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Pacific Asia Tourism Association (PATA), and World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The second general session had a topic of ‘‘Tourism Education in Asia and PacificFRegional Co-operation in Education’’, and university administrators/directors of hospitality and tourism departments and schools in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Hong Kong presented their views in this session. It was encouraging to note that hospitality and tourism education, in general and at university level in particular, has been receiving great attention from governments, professional bodies, and universities. Generally speaking, Conference arrangements and logistics were reasonable with events that can be found in comparable conferences. An improvement in the
102
Conference reports / Tourism Management 23 (2002) 101–103
future would be the incorporation of practical workshops and tutorials. This is to provide the necessary knowledge for interested conference participants, especially for students. Another future improvement would be the inclusion of industrial sessions for introducing the latest professional development of industrial applications. The seventh APTA annual conference was held between 4 and 7 July, 2001 in Manila, the Philippines. A consortium of hospitality and tourism educators in the Philippines organized this Conference, and the Filipino representatives confirmed that the Conference was a very fruitful one. For further information about the Conference and its proceedings, please contact Associate Professor Manat
Chaisawat, Conference Chairman, Faculty of Hotel & Tourism Management, Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus, 80 Vichit Songkram Road, Kathu, Phuket 83120, Thailand. E-mail: [email protected].
Rob Law, Simon Wong Department of Hotel & Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong E-mail addresses: [email protected] (R. Law), [email protected] (S. Wong)
PII: S 0 2 6 1 - 5 1 7 7 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 6 8 - 1
Tourism on islands and specific destinations: international scientific conference; University of the Aegean, 14–16 December 2000. Chios, Greece: Homerean Cultural Center The 1st international scientific conference on tourism in Greece was organized by the University of the Aegean and was held at Homerean Culture Center, Chios Island, Greece, the 14–16 of December 2000. The general theme was ‘‘Tourism on islands and specific destinations’’, the president of the scientific committee was Professor Gerasimos Zacharatos (University of the Aegean) and the president of the organising committee was Associate Professor Paris Tsartas (University of the Aegean). The majority of the delegates were affiliated with universities, but some practitioners and tourism policy makers were also represented. The conference aimed to bring together all relevant stakeholders to discuss the significance and the future challenges of tourism on islands and specific destinations. The mixed audience of approximately 125 participants included representatives from many European countries as well as from the USA and Australia. This combination guaranteed lively and interesting discussions during the several joint panels and paper presentations. The official languages of the conference were English and Greek, and instant translation service was provided at a professional level. In the opening ceremony, Gerasimos Zacharatos introduced the conference program and explained its aims and objectives while stressing the importance of tourism on islands and specific destinations for the 21st century. He explained that the present conference was organized within the framework of a thorough attempt to examine the tourism development of regions with
specifications in location and development. The main target of the organizers was the examination of the characteristics and the developmental problems of two extended groups of regions: islands, and specific destinations (such as mountain areas, areas of rich cultural sources, areas of a sensitive natural and structured environment and other). Without doubt, this conference proved to be a big, varied and excellently organised and administered event. The majority of papers focused on the imperatives of the continual dynamically changing environment of sustainable tourism development with emphasis on islands and diversified destinations. The papers were presented in one plenary and 22 parallel sessions grouped in the following major categories: (a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e) (f)
(g)
Tourism development of islands and specific destinations: characteristics, specialities and problems. Special interest and alternative forms of tourism: their contribution to the development of islands and specific destinations. Management matters of natural and structured environment in the development process of islands and specific destinations. Human capacity and business activity of islands and specific destinations: employment market, education, and training. The role of new technologies in the development of islands and specific destinations. The tourist product of islands and specific destinations: matters of quality, management, marketing and promotion. Planning Matters and strategies for tourism development of islands and specific destinations.