Year 8, No. 1, June 2015, issN 2335-4194
Académica Turística
Tourism & Innovation Journal Revija za turizem in inovativnost
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Académica Turística
Tourism & Innovation Journal - Revija za turizem in inovativnost Year 8, No. 1, June 2015, issn 1855-3303
3 The Tourism Industry Competitiveness and Innovativeness Indices - A Comparative Study
Doris Gomezelj Omerzel
15 ICT Applications in the Hotel Industry through an e-CRM Systems Theory Approach
Vicky Katsoni
25 Multimodal Creativity in (Anti)Tourism Texts
Sabrina Francesconi
35 The Reinvention of Architectural Tradition: The Case of a Transylvanian Saxon Community
Gyongyi Pasztor and Izabella Buzogany
47 Cultural and Historical Resources as a Factor for the Development of Sustainable Tourism: A Case Study of Lighthouses in the Northern Adriatic
Mirjana Kovačic, Miha Markelj and Alen Jugovic
53 An Analysis of Tourist and Passenger Vessel Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
Katarina Mušič, Janez Mekinc and Helena Cvikl
67 Abstracts in Slovene - Povzetki v slovenščini
71 Instructions for Authors
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Tanja Armenski, University of Novi Sad, Serbia Rodolfo Baggio, University di Bocconi, Italy Štefan Bojnec, University of Primorska, Slovenia Dimitrios Buhalis, Bournemouth University, uk Alan Clarke, Pannonian University, Hungary Frederic Dimanche, skema Business School, France Jesse Dixon, San Diego State University, usa Felicite Fairer-Wessels, University of Pretoria, South Africa
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Yoel Mansfeld, University of Haifa, Israel Tanja Mihalič, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Matjaž Mulej, Univesity of Maribor, Slovenia Milena Peršič, University of Rijeka, Croatia Caroline Ritchie, University of Welsh Institute, uk Vinod Sasidharan, San Diego State University, usa Regina Schlüter, National University of Quilmes, Argentina
Sonja Sibila Lebe, Univesity of Maribor, Slovenia Marianna Sigala, University of the Aegean, Greece John K.Walton, Ikerbasque, Instituto Valentín de Foronda, University of the Basque Country, Spain SuoshengWang, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, usa
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issn 1855-3303 (printed) issn 2335-4194 (online)
2 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Original Scientific Article
The Tourism Industry Competitiveness and Innovativeness Indices - A Comparative Study
Doris Gomezelj Omerzel
University of Primorska, Faculty of Management doris.gomezelj@fm-kp.si
The aim of this paper is to compare five tourism destinations: Slovenia and its four neighbouring countries (Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia). The travel and tourism industry is growing throughout the world and is a vital component of many countries' economies. However, each country's government tourism strategies and organisations of its tourism industry are distinct. This paper presents some statistics for these destinations and analyses the role of tourism in the countries' economy. It also presents the preliminary results of broader research in the area of in-novativeness in tourism. Contrasts and similarities at the national level are highlighted.
Keywords: tourism, competitiveness, innovativeness, comparative study
Introduction
Tourism is often considered to be a sector that is a main generator of jobs and of development (Tang and Tan, 2013). It has a potential to contribute to the economic growth (Osman and Sentosa, 2013) and thus to be a key factor in reducing poverty in emerging economies. The tourism sector may be stimulated by various economic measures, but also handicapped by many barriers that can affect its competitiveness. It is a highly dynamic sector and is greatly influenced by global competition on the tourism market, which is characterised by constant transformation (Sundbo et al., 2007; Orfila-Sintes et al., 2005). Competitiveness can be achieved by improving education levels (Cepar and Bojnec, 2010), and innovation (Mei et. al., 2012); innovation is essential for economic growth, job creation and social wealth (Scherer, 1999). Tourism firms must be innovative if they want to survive (Tidd et al., 2005). By
innovating and implementing innovations, tourism firms can offer products and services of higher quality and, consequently, be more competitive. Inno-vativeness also influences the productive income of countries (Fagerberg, 2005). The performance of the tourism sector is measured by using different indicators according to which national economies can be ranked (Berbeniciuc-Mititiuc, 2013).
In this paper, we aimed to present Slovenia and its four neighbouring countries, using some statistical data. Our analysis is based on three sources, i.e. (1) the World Bank report (World Bank, 2013); (2) the World Economic Forum (WEF) global competitiveness report (WEF (2014), and (3) Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013 - World Economic Forum (WEF (2013)) taking into consideration only five European countries. The data taken into consideration are presented in Table 1.
Academica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015 | 3
Doris Gomezelj Omerzel
The Tourism Industry Competitiveness
and Innovativeness Indices
Table 1 The sources of the data
Data	Period	Source
International tourism, number of arrivals	1995 to 2012	World Bank report
International tourism, receipts (current US$)	1995 to 2012
Capacity for innovation	GCI 2013-2014 WEF global competitiveness report 2014
Quality of scientific research institutions	GCI 2013-2014
Company spending on R&D	GCI 2013-2014
Gov't procurement of advanced tech products	GCI 2013-2014
University-industry collaboration in R&D	GCI 2013-2014
Availability of scientists and engineers	GCI 2013-2014
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index	2009-2013	Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013
Presentation of the Five Countries Included in the Study
Austria covers a total area of 83,870 km2; its population is estimated at ca. 8,500,000. It has a diverse terrain, comprising mountains (the Alps cover about 62% of the total land), the Pannonian Plain to its east, and the River Danube valley. It also has a rich cultural heritage. Tourism, in both summer and winter, is an important source of national income and contributes significantly to the national economic performance. International and domestic tourism in Austria is set to grow in the future (according to the number of overnights receipts). In the tourism strategy for 2015, the goal is to improve the competitiveness of Austrian tourism; many measures have been set up, including the improvement of productivity, the creation of non-seasonal offers and the creation of innovative products, strengthening internationalisation, optimising sales channels, implementing a destination management, and increasing the service quality. Tourism policies should be coordinated at all levels, and more funds should be invested in tourism promotion. Moreover, research and training should be improved and offered to the tourism industry (Smeral, 2007).
Croatia covers 56,594 km2, and its population is estimated to be ca. 4,400,000. It is mainly lowland, and its beaches, in particular, attract many visitors. Croatia also has 1,246 islands and islets; only 48 of them are permanently inhabited (EUROPA - EU member countries). Croatia is an important player in the Mediterranean tourism market. In the past, Cro-
atia had been a serious competitor for Spain, Italy, France and Greece. Unfortunately, in the 1990s, Croatia encountered political instability and war, causing a significant decline in tourism demand. Croatia is still rebuilding its tourism industry, and it has yet to realise its tourism potential. Nevertheless, Croatia has its comparative advantages in its beautiful natural geographic attractions (unspoilt and attractive coastline, national parks, mountain region, and Pannonian mainland), numerous cultural and natural sites, and excellent value. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) recommended that the Croatian government make the tourism industry a strategic priority and protect this industry by taking care of employment, trade, investment, education and the environment (WTTC, 2014).
Hungary covers a total area of 93,000 km2; its population is estimated to be 10,000,000. Much of the country is flat, with low mountains in the north. Lake Balaton, a popular tourist centre, is the largest lake in central Europe (EUROPA - EU member countries). While statistics about the results in Hungary's tourism industry are encouraging, its long-term success will be strongly affected by seasonality, low revenues (as compared to arrivals) and weak internal demand. Thus, more should be spent on promotion activities, for the development of a more favourable business environment for tourism and for improving the quality of facilities and services. Furthermore, tourism infrastructure has to be improved, especially domestic transport and the rail networks (Europe-
10 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Doris Gomezelj Omerzel
The Tourism Industry Competitiveness
and Innovativeness Indices
an Commission, 2014). Lupson (2006) identified four types of tourism with potential for growth. First, business tourists, as professionals attending conferences and meetings also often bring new knowledge and ideas to the host country. Second, with its abundance of cultural attractions (architecture, museums, operas, and cultural events) Hungary should become a cultural tourism destination. Third, the interest in health and the quality of life has resulted in the growing interest for the development of health and wellness tourism. Hungary should take advantages of its thermal and medicinal waters, therapeutic caves and mineral water. This type of tourism is also welcomed because it shows little seasonality. Fourth, Hungary can perform well in wine tourism because Hungarian wines are prominent throughout Europe. Wine tourists usually spend more time and money in the host country; moreover these tourists bring life to rural areas as they like to visit the countryside. One of the key priorities of the current Hungarian Tourism Development Strategy is the improvement of education and training with regard to labour market needs, i.e. the development of human resources in the tourism sector (European Commission, 2014).
Italy has a total area of 301,263 km2; its population is estimated at ca. 60,000,000. Much of the country is mountainous, except for the Po plain in the north, and runs from the Alps to the central Mediterranean Sea. Italy includes the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, Elba and about 70 other smaller ones. In 2013, the tourism sector moved from the Prime Minister's Office to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The main goals are safeguarding Italian cultural heritage and developing the tourism industry. The central government is responsible for the elaboration and implementation of national tourism policies and coordination with the regions and autonomous provinces, for structural funds, for supervising different tourism agencies, for the promotion of investments, and for delivering certifications and for the relations with the international organisations (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2014). Tourism plays an important role in the Italian economy; however, it is losing competitiveness and falling behind France and Spain. As a tourist destination, Italy has many critical points The problematic areas are governance issues, fragmented promo-
tion resulting in only a few operating tourism firms being able to offer innovative and competitive tourism products, poor and insufficient infrastructure, weak training and education of human resources, a major difference in the level of development between the north and the south of the country, and political leaders who do not consider tourism to have potential for the development of the country (Angelo-ni, 2013).
Slovenia has a total area of 20,273 km2, and its population is estimated to be ca. 2,000,000. Four major European geographic regions can be identified in Slovenia: the Alps, the Dinaric area, the Pannonian plain and the Mediterranean. The country is mainly mountainous. The Slovenian Tourist Board (STB) is the national umbrella tourist board, responsible for planning and performing the promotion of the country as a tourist destination, especially in foreign markets.
In its current development strategy goals, measures and activities are defined, emphasising the sustainable concept of tourism development. In general, the main goals are to increase competitiveness, to create a favourable business environment and to implement effective and innovative marketing. With the aim of achieving these goals, investments in quality and innovation should increase, strategic partnerships within the sector and with external stakeholders should be encouraged, and obstacles to the development of effective tourism should be eliminated (European Commission, 2014b). The vision of the tourism development, appointed by The Slovenian Tourism Development Strategy 2012-2016 (Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, 2011) is:
In 2016, tourism in Slovenia will be entirely based on sustainable development and Slovenia will be a developed tourist destination with a modern, diverse and top-quality tourist offer, based on innovative and quality integral tourist products and high value-added services aimed to satisfy tourists.
Following the short presentation of the five countries included in our study, we continue with the presentation of recent statistical data. The recent figures regarding international tourism, i.e. Number of arrivals and receipts (in current million US$) are presented in Figure 1 and Figure 2.
10 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Doris Gomezelj Omerzel
The Tourism Industry Competitiveness
and Innovativeness Indices
Figure 2
50000000 45000000 40000000 35000000 30000000 25000000 20000000 15000000 10000000 5000000 0
Austria Croatia Italy —H Hungary Slovenia
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Figure 1 International tourism - number of arrivals (2004 to 2012) Source: World Bank, 2013
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
Austria —• Croatia Italy Hungary Slovenia
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
International tourism, receipts (current ten million US$) Source: World Bank, 2013
In 2013, Germany was the most important origin country for Austrian tourism (53.7% of all overnight stays by foreign tourists were guests from Germany). Other important origin markets were the Netherlands (9.1%), Switzerland (4.6%) and United Kingdom (3.3%) (Arrivals, Overnight Stays). For Croatia, the most important origin market in 2013 was Germany (24.2% of all overnight stays by foreign tour-
ists were guests from Germany), followed by Slovenia (10.3%), Austria (8.7%), the Czech Republic (7.6%), and Italy (7.4%). (Croatian National Tourist Board, 2014). Germany, Austria and Slovakia comprise the largest numbers of visitors to Hungary. In 2013, large increases in terms of country of origin were seen among travellers from the UK and the US. (Hungarian Tourism Ltd., 2014). Tourists to Italy mainly come
10 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Doris Gomezelj Omerzel
The Tourism Industry Competitiveness
and Innovativeness Indices
from nearby countries, because of the advantage of less distance to travel and a common currency. The most important origin market is Germany, followed by Switzerland, France, and Austria (Italy: Inbound tourism - International arrivals and receipts, n.d.). Regarding revenues, Germany is the first market, followed by the United States, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (ITALY MONITour, 2014). In 2013, the share of foreign tourists was 62% in Slovenia. The key destinations from which the most overnight stays of foreign tourists were recorded were Italy (16%), Austria and Germany (12% each), the Russian Federation (6%) and the Netherlands and Croatia (5% each).
Innovativeness and Competitiveness
The literature regarding tourism struggles with the vagueness of the competitiveness concept. From a macro-perspective, competitiveness is primarily in the domain of governments with the ultimate goal of increasing the welfare of citizens. It is a huge task, which includes economic, social and cultural variables that influence the performance of the country in the international market. From a micro-perspective, it is about the phenomenon at the level of firms. In an effort to be competitive, each company aims to provide products or services for which consumers are willing to provide satisfactory payment. The long-term competitiveness of enterprises is the ability of the company to remain on the market to protect investors' capital and provide them with profit and to ensure the existence of jobs in the future (Dw-yer et al., 2003).
The resource-based view of the firm (RBV) is the initial framework for developing the construct of firm competitiveness and for understanding how firms can achieve and sustain competitive advantages (Eisenhardt & Martin, 2000). One of the firms' sources in adapting their strategy to market changes and creating firms' value is the capability of in-novativeness (Stieglitz & Heine, 2007). This can also be understood as an organisational willingness to accept changes and new routines, the assumption of risk and, in particular, the capacity to identify opportunities (Hurley & Hult, 1998; Tajeddini, 2010). Innovation is, therefore, a key factor in firm competitiveness because through innovation firms grow and
improve their competitive market position (Tucker, 2002).
The innovativeness and competitiveness indexes for the five studied countries will be presented. For each country, six innovativeness indexes are taken into consideration (Capacity for innovation, Quality of scientific research institutions, Company spending on Research & Development (R&D), University-industry collaboration in R&D, Government procurement of advanced technological products, and Availability of scientists and engineers; all six indexes are scored from 1 to 7) and Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (rank out of 140)).
In the 2014 WEF Global Competitiveness Report (WEF, 2014) competitiveness is defined as a »set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country«. It is measured by many variables, which are grouped into 12 pillars: 1) Institutions (legal and administrative framework), 2) Infrastructure (transport and communications infrastructure), 3) Macroeconomic environment, 4) Health and primary education, 5) Higher education and training, 6) Goods market efficiency, 7) Labour market efficiency, 8) Financial market development, 9) Technological readiness, 10) Market size, 11) Business sophistication and 12) Innovation.
Since this article focuses on innovation in firms, we only show data from the Innovation Pillar, which is measured by six variables. Only by investing sufficiently in research and development, by acquiring knowledge from high-quality scientific research institutions, by collaborating with universities and industry; and by protecting intellectual property can firms actively innovate. Moreover, the venture capital should be at firm's disposal. Ranging from 1 to 7, Austria was rated the highest in all indexes (Capacity for innovation 5.0, Quality of scientific research institutions 5.0, Company spending on R&D 4.7, University-industry collaboration in R&D 4.8, Government procurement of advanced tech products 3.7) except in Availability of scientists and engineers (4.4.). For this item, Italy has the best rating (4.7). In addition, Italy was also highly evaluated for other indexes (Capacity for innovation 3.7, Quality of scientific research institutions 4.9, Company spending on R&D 3.2, University-industry collaboration in R&D 3.7, Government procurement of advanced tech products 2.7). On average, the worst ratings were applied
10 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Doris Gomezelj Omerzel
The Tourism Industry Competitiveness
and Innovativeness Indices
Innovation (average)
Availability of scientists and engineers
Gov't procurement of advanced tech products
University-industry collaboration in R&D
Company spending on R&D
Quality of scientific research institutions
Capacity for innovation
Slovenia
Italy
Hungary
Croatia
Austria
Figure 3 Innovativeness indexes
Source: WEF global competitiveness report 2014
to Croatia (3.1), the estimations of individual indexes were also quite low (Capacity for innovation 3.1, Quality of scientific research institutions 4.0, Company spending on R&D 3.1, University-industry collaboration in R&D 3.5, Government procurement of advanced tech products 2.6, Availability of scientists and engineers 4.0).
Regarding competitiveness, countries were classified almost in the same way (The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index; rank out of 140). Austria seems to be the most competitive (3rd place), followed
by Italy (26th place), Croatia (35th place), Slovenia (36th place) and Hungary (39th place).
Next, we were interested in how the tourism firms in these five countries evaluate their innovation activity for the previous three years.
Methodology
The first part of the paper presented the numbers of international tourism arrivals and international tourism receipts in five neighbouring countries as well as an analysis of the secondary data from the area of competitiveness and innovativeness. We con-
10 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Doris Gomezelj Omerzel
The Tourism Industry Competitiveness
and Innovativeness Indices
2013 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (out of 140)
Avstrija Croatia Hungary Italy Slovenia
Figure 4 The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index for Five countries
Source: Author calculation (from WEF 2013; The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013)
tinue with the second part of the study, i.e. an analysis of the primary data acquired through the survey that was performed in all five countries.
Sample and Data Collection
Based on the literature review, a questionnaire for measuring innovativeness was developed and pretested. The target population was tourism firms with up to 250 employees. First, five lists of tourism firms, based on the different firm databases in the analysed five countries, were drawn up, and then representative samples were chosen in each county, using the method of probability sampling. The sample was selected by random sampling and included from 800 to 1300 companies (small and medium-sized) in each country. The questionnaires were anonymous and translated into all five languages. Prior to finalising the questionnaire, we carried out testing to ensure that the questionnaire was understandable, and there were no mistakes in the measurement items. All the mistakes found from language interpretations were corrected. The online questionnaires were sent by e-mail. The-response rate was low; 36 usable questionnaires were returned from Austria, 61 from Croatia, 31 from Italy, 29 from Hungary and 97 from Slovenia. Due to the small amount of returned questionnaires, our study should be classified as an indicative study.
Measurement of Variables
In the current economy, great importance is dedicated to innovation. Nevertheless, to date no agreement
has been achieved regarding the definition of innovation, much less of how to measure innovation. In existing studies, the methodologies are highly varied. In the past, studies were mainly aimed at measuring innovation in the manufacturing sector, but recently researchers have been dealing with the measurement of innovation in service sectors. Measuring innovation is complex, firstly because of the nature of innovation and, secondly, because innovations are always arising in connection with the environment (social, economic, technological and organisational development) (OECD, 2005). In reviewing the literature, we found that different researchers implemented very different criteria for measuring innovation and occasionally also the outputs of innovation. Some authors measured the individual dimensions of innovation, for example product, process, market and organisational innovation (Varis & Littunen, 2010), product, process, and management innovation (Madrid-Gui-jarroet al., 2009), innovation in general (Kyrgidou & Spyropoulou, 2013; Deshpande et al., 1993; Dibrell et al., 2011), as well as the success of product and process innovation (Ritter and Gemunden, 2004). Studies frequently focus more on the outputs of innovativeness (Bigliardi and Dormio, 2009). Recently, papers in the area of innovation in tourism have become more common. Some researchers have analysed the importance of incremental and radical innovation in the hospitality sector (Chang et al., 2011); others focused on the hotel industry (Orfila-Sintes et al., 2005; Nieves et al., 2014).
10 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Doris Gomezelj Omerzel
The Tourism Industry Competitiveness
and Innovativeness Indices
In our study, all items were measured on a five-point Likert-type scale where 1 = strongly disagree, and 5 = strongly agree. The scale of innovativeness has been created from the existing literature and chosen as the most appropriate for our study, i.e. specifically for the tourism sector. Innovativeness was measured with 19 variables (5 for Product innovation, 5 for Process innovation, 5 for Marketing innovation and 4 for Organisational innovation), all variables were adapt-
ed from Nieves et al. (2014). The new variables (Product innovation, Process innovation, Marketing innovation and Organisational innovation) were calculated as the average of the belonging items.
Findings
Table 2 The Values of Dimensions of Innovativeness in five countries
In the last 3 years:	Austria (n=36)	Croatia (n=61)	Italy (n=31)	Hungary (n=29)	Slovenia (n=97)
Product/service Innovation	3.10	3.59	3.50	3.27	3.20
Process Innovation	3.64	3.69	3.51	3.23	3.13
Marketing Innovation	3.20	3.47	3.34	2.94	3.16
Organisational Innovation	2.56	3.07	3.16	2.34	2.71
Source: Author's calculation
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Figure 5 Innovativeness for five countries (primary and secondary data) Source: Author's calculation
Although the secondary data show that Austria is performing much better in the area of innovation in contrast to the other four countries, the firms
in tourism sector do not share this opinion. In the self-evaluation (within the questionnaire) tourism firms from Austria viewed their innovation activity
10 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Doris Gomezelj Omerzel
The Tourism Industry Competitiveness
and Innovativeness Indices
for the previous years as being not much better than that of tourism firms from other countries. For the comparison of our secondary and primary data, we decided to present the results on a two-dimensional graph.
Hungary and Slovenia's ratings of Innovation (using secondary data) were low (3.6 for Slovenia, and 3.5 for Hungary). Performing the survey, we realised that firms in the tourism sector also rated their innovation activities as low. Hungarian firms' evaluations of innovation varied from 2.34 to 3.27, while Slovenian firms' evaluations varied from 2.71 to 3.20. Croatia and Italy's ratings of innovation (using secondary data) were also quite low (3.1 for Croatia and 3.7 for Italy), almost the same as for Hungary and Slovenia. However, by using the data of the performed survey, we can see that firms in these two countries estimated their innovation activities as being much better. Italian firms' evaluations varied from 3.16 to 3.51, while Croatian firms' evaluation varied from 3.07 to 3.69. However, Austria seems distinct from this group of countries, as its Innovation (using secondary data) was rated high (4.8). Nevertheless, the secondary data show that Austrian firms estimated their innovation activities as low (from 2.56 to 3.64). Of course, it must be taken into account that the secondary data were acquired from the firms of all industry sectors while our survey was performed in the sample of tourism firms.
Conclusion
This study has presented some data on the competitiveness and innovation of five neighbouring countries: Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Hungary and Croatia. In addition, the results of a survey regarding innovation, performed in these five countries on a sample of tourism firms are presented. According to the data acquired from the World Bank report (World Bank, 2013), the five analysed countries have been effective in attracting tourists. The number of international tourist arrivals and the international tourism receipts have grown in the last ten years (see Figure 1 and Figure 2). They have also been assessed as competitive tourism destinations by the WEF's TTCI (World Economic Forum: The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Austria seems to be the most competitive (3rd place, out of 140 countries), followed by Italy (26th place), Croatia (35th place), Slove-
nia (36th place) and Hungary (39th place). The study found that countries display different levels of competitiveness and innovation. We agree that innovations are critical for the competitiveness of the tourism industry. Moreover, the tourism industry has to move toward sustainable innovation. It is also facing major changes, and creative and innovative solutions are thus required. The European Union has set out an ambitious plans and measures that that will enable the tourism industry to become a competitive, modern, sustainable and responsible industry (European Commission, 2010).
Future research should focus on analysing the relationship between competitiveness, and the inno-vativeness of a country with the contribution of the tourism industry to economic growth. The research question should inquire whether and how these countries utilised their competitiveness and if they can transform it into economic benefits and welfare for their residents.
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10 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Doris Gomezelj Omerzel
The Tourism Industry Competitiveness
and Innovativeness Indices
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Original Scientific Article
ICT Applications in the Hotel Industry through an e-CRM Systems Theory Approach
Vicky Katsoni
Athens Technological Educational Institute, Faculty of Management and Economics,
Department of Business Administration
katsoniv@teiath.gr
As the investment in and adoption of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has become an indispensable component of the tourism and hospitality business sector, researchers increasingly seek to understand and communicate the significance of the new technologies, to investigate and interpret developments in ICTs, and to attempt to forecast the way ahead for both industry and technological development. This paper explores areas of ICT literacy and e-CRM (Electronic Customer Relationship Management) in the hotel industry, and draws attention to the need to support and promote ICT through an e-CRM systems theory approach in all the departments in the hotel sector, as the most effective tool for an effective marketing management policy for the ultimate goal of providing a holistic and coherent message towards tourists. It asserts that a collaborative marketing management network of information flows between businesses through ICT and e-CRM use should be vigorously developed in the hotel industry, as it enables the formation of cooperation in new, efficient ways to access unique or innovative resources. The whole approach should be based on trust and a business culture that values cooperation and ongoing dialogue between different hotel departments and the external business environment.
Key words: ICTs, tourism, hotel industry, e-CRM
Introduction
As an international industry and as the largest provider of jobs on the planet, tourism boasts a greater array of heterogeneous stakeholders than most other industries. The accelerating and synergistic interaction between technology and tourism in recent times has transformed the nature of tourism products, processes, businesses, and competition. Developments in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) have undoubtedly changed both business practices and strategies, as well as industry structures (Porter, 2001). Tourism businesses that have failed to master the right ICT systems find it difficult to direct and manage their information-intensive businesses without damaging their competitiveness (Law & Jogaratnam, 2005). More strategically,
ICTs are reshaping the fundamental structure of industry and society (Buhalis, 1998, 2003). The significance of crossing the threshold of ubiquitous communication access has brought the entire tourism industry to new levels of interactivity. Developments in search engines and in the carrying capacity and speed of networks have influenced the number of travellers around the world that use technologies for planning and experiencing their travels. The Internet is rapidly becoming the primary source of information for travel and tourism.
ICT has also radically changed the efficiency and effectiveness of tourism organisations, the way that business is conducted in the marketplace, and how consumers interact with organisations (Buhalis, 2003; Wang & Pizam, 2011). Accordingly, many ho-
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tels have regarded ICT as a new and efficient marketing environment, and most travel arrangements are now conducted online (Li & Law, 2007). This paper addresses the roles of ICT in the hotel industry and asserts that applications of ICT as well as network creation, synergies and e-CRM practices should be carefully considered and taken full advantage of in the researching and developing of systems, such as room reservation, hotel management, internet advice etc. in all hotels' departments, which are discussed below. All these can be powerfully influential in promoting resource sharing and providing the most advanced information services, thus greatly improving work efficiency and reducing business costs (Hu & Gu, 2013). This paper offers a literature review of e-CRM practices integrating technological and marketing elements in the hotel industry, and an overview of the application of ICT and e-CRM practices in all hotel departments; it concludes with an approach that generates synergies, networking and trust between both the various hotel departments but also with the external business environment.
ICT and e-CRM in the Hotel Industry
ICT trends in the hotel industry are increasing on a daily basis. The development of ICT has dramatically changed the way customers interact and seek information, as well as the way they purchase services (Ip, Leung, & Law, 2010). Hotel managers are now fully aware of the benefits that ICT in the hospitality industry, and accordingly, are motivated to create greater awareness of the hotel with the goal of establishing mutually beneficial interactive relationships with guests. Having no geographical or physical barriers, the Internet is considered a competitive marketing channel in the hospitality and tourism industry (Doolin et al., 2002). Rather than actually going to a travel agent, travellers increasingly prefer interacting with the tourism business online to conveniently obtain information on destinations, prices or schedules (Greenspan, 2004). Hotels understand the Internet to be a tool that allows potential guests to find information about them and that motivates guests to make a reservation at the hotel (Mi-lovic, 2012).
In the dynamic business environment in which hotel organisations currently operate, a business's main priority is focused on improving services to
end users, and improving the quality of business processes. In a globally competitive environment, hotels must do everything to reach new customers, and more importantly, to retain loyal and profitable customers. Today, customers require the same information via Internet and mobile phone technology. In the context of Internet distribution and marketing in the hospitality industry, e-CRM is a business strategy supported by web technologies that allows hotels to engage guests in strong, personalised and mutually beneficial interactive relationships, thereby increasing profitability and sales effectiveness.
Knowledge about customers and recognition of their needs enables increased revenue opportunities through the increased number of services that hotel organisations can provide to the customer. Some of the most common reasons for acquiring an e-CRM system include achieving greater revenue and profitability, increased customer satisfaction, simplified processes and lower costs, as well as better insight and decision making (Russo, 2011; Milovic, 2012).
Successful implementation of the selected systems for customer relationship management (e-CRM) is an essential element of modern business. Successful implementation needs an effective project management methodology that will enable risk and cost minimisation and have an impact on greater return on investment (ROI), thus providing maximum customer satisfaction. Assessing the ROI is useful for investments in specific e-CRM applications, such as sales automation in the system of evaluation of effectiveness or cost reduction (Payne, 2005). For example, O'Connor and Frew (2004) found the cost reduction by using electronic strategies in a cheaper distribution system to be one of the main advantages for hotels. As hotels use the Internet to sell and advertise their rooms and products, they can enhance their electronic strategies via a cheaper distribution system (O'Connor & Frew, 2004). Despite the benefits of online marketing, hotels still face substantial challenges since websites of online travel agents (OTA) still handle a significant portion of online reservations (Law and Cheung, 2006). Even though hotel reservations constitute the second most frequently purchased travel product online, according to the empirical study of Card et al. (2003), relatively little research has been devoted to a detailed examination of online hotel reservation websites. Furthermore,
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to date there has been minimal research regarding e-service performance on reuse intentions for online hotel booking (Yoon, 2011).
E-CRM is the latest technique that companies are using to increase and improve their marketing skills and capabilities. Integrating technological and marketing elements, e-CRM covers all aspects of online user experience throughout the transaction cycle: pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase (Alhaiou, Irani, & Ali, 2009; Milovic, 2012). Thus, e-CRM applications in the context of on-line marketing and social media marketing techniques in the hotel industry for the pre-purchase and purchase stages of the transaction cycle, as well as in the techniques applied in the post-purchase stage in the hotel itself are discussed below.
e-CRM in Online and Social Media Marketing in the Pre-purchase and Purchase Stage of the Transaction Cycle in the Hotel Industry
Online marketing has changed almost the entire tourism industry; hotel websites, e-mails, social media, blogs, and other forms of online media can all incorporated in an effective e-CRM strategy. A hotel website should provide all necessary information to guests, including room specifications and services offered. If a website is regularly updated, the visitor can find the latest information about the hotel. As a result, potential customers can easily compare the rooms and rates at different hotels. Usually, hotels have street maps on their websites so potential customers can easily find them; the website will also contain various pictures including of hotel rooms and other hotel facilities. This will allow guests to create a picture of how the hotel looks. Some hotels websites also have virtual tours, such as a video that shows the hotel through the lobby, hallways, and rooms. ICT provides a platform for hoteliers to collect information on the guests. Many hotel websites invite customers to register and identify their interests, from which hotel managers can create personalised services and products and increase customer satisfaction (Ip, Leung, & Law, 2010). Personalisation increases the customers' emotional involvement in the experience, often improving their opinions about it as well as the service provider. Just as it is important to keep their guests informed, the responsibili-
ty of hoteliers is also to keep information about the guests safe (Luck & Lancaster, 2003; Milovic, 2012).
With the aim of being competitive, hotel managers should add value to their offers on hotel websites. Providing features such as reservations and reservation modifications, tracking transaction history, providing a level of personalisation, and understanding the specific needs and preferences of guests enhances the value that customers receive, which increases loyalty (Hamid, Cheng, & Akhir, 2011). Bookings that are done online are often much faster and cheaper. Hotel websites can enhance and increase reservations with online reservation systems (Mi-lovic, 2012). One-stop portal websites providing extensive useful information about travel products and deeply discounted rates have been attracting customers to visit and purchase the products on hotels' websites (Morosan & Jeong, 2008). According to Carroll and Siguaw (2003), selling large volumes of hotel rooms on OTAs' websites draws hotels into a »disadvantageous position« in the travel market. In ore der to avoid this, travellers are persuaded to reserve a room directly on the hotels' own websites (Morosan & Jeong, 2008; Yoon, 2011).
Hotel websites or other forms of presence on the Internet enable hotel managers to easily get and stay in touch with potential and regular guests on a personal basis. Today, web technologies are easily learned by hotel managers. For example, they can very easily update new information or pictures on their site. There is also an enhanced content management system (CMS) that allows the setting and use of multilingual content. It is thus very easy and cost efficient for the hotels to translate the messages into the languages of potential guests. Through the presence on the Internet, hotel managers very easily use the fundamental principles of hospitality marketing to increase the hotel's reputation. Effectively managed, websites can be the best medium for creating relationships with customers, developing the hotel brand, enhancing guest retention and encouraging repeat visits of the existing hotel guests (Milovic, 2012).
Awareness regarding optimising hotel websites for search engines is vital. Each traveller or tourist uses search engines to obtain information about where they want to go. Hotel managers need to focus significant time and resources on this type of In-
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ternet traffic, particularly in creating strategies that will help them increase their presence on search engines. Internet search engines are constantly changing the rules of ranking websites. It is, therefore, crucial for managers remain aware of the latest search engine optimisation trends (Milovic, 2012). When a hotel has an effective site that is optimised for different web browsers, it results in increased reservations, customer loyalty and a good return on investment (ROI). Furthermore, online presence saves hotel staff time with automated processes on the site, such as typing the basic information about the guests, questionnaires, layout of conference rooms and other information that can be collected from the website. Moreover, it is easier for staff to collect the contact details of guests, which will encourage their return through regular blogs, newsletters, membership in an online community, promotions and other forms of contact. The use of questionnaires allows hotels to improve service quality, customer satisfaction, and to develop new capacities and avoid mistakes (Ip Law, & Lee, 2010; Milovic, 2012).
Moreover, the tourism and hospitality industry is turning to social media to promote its services and to engage customers in a more personal way (Mi-lovic, 2012). Contact with potential customers can be achieved in several ways (Wilhite, 2010), for example by creating a presence on major social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc.) and sponsoring a group of people with common interests who live nearby is one of the ways to find guests, by providing in-depth, focused, and member-generated contents, engaging tourists through interactions with other members based on common attributes and interests, and retaining them by facilitating relationship building with other members (Wellman et al., 1996; Wang & Fesenmaier, 2004; Zhu et al., 2005) and so forth. 'Virtual' or 'social' networks can be defined as permeable structures without physical borders separating them from the environment, comprising a multiplicity of autonomous, interdependent, and self-organising actors that rely on the Internet infrastructure to integrate and exchange value (Pollock, 1998; Romano, Eliva & Passiante, 2001; Wang & Fesenmaier, 2004; Zhu et al., 2005; Katsoni, 2013a).
The biggest on-site opportunity for social media in the hospitality industry is at the intersection of social media and mobile phone technology. For exam-
ple, if mobile geolocation features alert a hotel that a guest is in the building, it creates the opportunity for them to offer relevant services. Perhaps when a guest arrives, for instance, management will encourage him to come down to the bar and enjoy a complimentary cocktail (Kessler, 2010). Hotels also need to join social networks that are specifically designed for tourists. Tourism-based user groups have several purposes; they provide an open forum for companies that offer products and services associated with the user group. TourNCare, Tripatini, and GoAbroad are examples of social networks exclusively for tourists and travellers. Marketing to these groups reaches the guests who have already been identified as interested in tourism. (Milovic, 2012).
Blogs are one virtual form of networking among tourists, acting as media through which individuals and organisations present opinions and/or information about specific topics that are relevant to the tourist destination, such as images, photographs, links to related sites, critiques, variety of activities, reviews and opinions (Puhringer and Taylor, 2008). Hotels can benefit from the existence of blogs, as they can provide them with valuable information in the forms of 'e-word of mouth' messages, such as specific performance reviews, product and event evaluations, reviews of service standards, identification of product or infrastructure gaps. (Bickart & Schindler, 2002; Puhringer & Taylor, 2008). Hotel managers should have a blog to post information on activities, attractions, dining, shopping, or nightlife. It allows them to provide guests with suggestions on what to do. Moreover, it is a constant source of content that can be used on other social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. Inviting guests to join the hotel's Facebook page, and asking them to post pictures of the hotel and their trip could enhance the hotel's reputation as well. Interacting with customers using Facebook and Twitter can improve customer service. Personalised customer service is also possible via the telephone, but it is immensely easier to accomplish with social media. Another option is having a Facebook or Twitter page to answer the questions that guests may ask. Instead of having to come to the hotel to collect brochures, guests could ask questions before they get to the hotel, from their rooms, or while they are out exploring. They would also have easy access to the questions other guests
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asked and previous recommendations (Kessler, 2010; Milovic, 2012).
The growth in the use of e-mail is one of the most important developments in business communication in the last quarter century. The widespread acceptance of e-mail has deeply influenced society and business, changing how individuals interact with each other and how businesses interact with customers (O'Connor, 2008). It is important to send an appropriate e-mail message to the right guest at the right time, all with the aim of improving the guest experience (Milovic, 2012). Another way is the use of contact forms that suggest hotels. Internet users rarely divulge their personal information for marketing purposes (Katsoni, 2015), although the use of self-directed user contact forms requires the exchange of such information. This may include users who sign up for a mailing list and in return receive discounts or by entering their contact information get a chance to win a prize. These mailing lists can still be used for marketing campaigns of desired customers (Milovic, 2012). Email marketing for hotels helps show the very best of the hotel in a single customised message. Not only does the email feature the hotel's logo and contact information, as well as a personalised greeting for the recipient, but it will also show all the hotel has to offer. Here, we can differentiate the following (Xo-tels, 2012): confirmation emails (email messages that guests receive immediately after completing online reservation in order to confirm it), pre-arrival emails (messages that are sent to remind guests about the reservation they made); thank-you emails, and finally guest satisfaction surveys (Milovic, 2012).
With the use of e-CRM software and based on stay patterns and preferences, hotels can send targeted, relevant and high-quality emails to guests. This system for guest profiling with email marketing with newsletters and special offers is aimed at increasing the frequency of stays. The integration of e-CRM and PMS (Protection Management System) enables the automatic sending of emails that are highly personalised and customised for each guest.
e-CRM in the Post-Purchase Stage
of the Business Cycle in the Hotel Industry
The results of electronic marketing campaigns can be measured with the help of an e-CRM system, as well as the knowledge about how much income has been
generated from each email and campaign. More can be known about the preferences of guests and their purchasing habits, and it is possible to receive feedback from guest satisfaction surveys. The most important thing is to be able to quantify this information, specifically concerning income (Milovic, 2012; Katsoni, 2015). Applications of e-CRM can be found in the room division department and online reservation rooms, where customers often obtain a discount by using online booking in comparison to the traditional reservation method. Also, the Hotel Front Office System (HFOS) operates 24 hours a day and 365 days a year at the point of contact with the customer, offers a variety of information to frontline employees, and provides a safe and swift transaction time in order to decrease the time spent on the system and increase the time spent on customer service. The system also was designed using easy-to-understand language and technology (Aziz, Bakhtiar, Kamaruddin & Ahmad, 2012) and offers an up-to-date, relevant and necessary information to the user which will satisfy the users' needs (Bailey and Pearson, 1983; Eldon, 1997; Ahn, Ryu & Han, 2004; Kim, Lee & Law, 2008).
Restaurant management information systems (RMIS), (Aziz, Bakhtiar, Kamaruddin and Ahmad, 2012) are another form of e-CRM. According to Choe (1998) as well as Huber (2003), an RMIS is a system that supports the management in their decision-making processes as well as in traditional financial reporting, variance reporting, and forecasting. RMIS have been used to develop store performance in many ways, for example, producing reports that help in managerial decision-making, reducing food delivery times, improving service quality, producing forecasts that aid managers in ordering, planning food production and scheduling labour. Zhang and Lado (2001) said that by properly deploying RMIS at an operational level, companies may develop and support their unique operational resources and capabilities (Aziz et al., 2012). Finally, according to Choe (1998), an RMIS is regularly not only wide-scoped, covering external, nonfinancial information, and future-oriented material, but it also presents data or summarises it within periods of time or areas of interest in a timely and aggregated manner and in a diversity of ways (Aziz et al., 2012).
Furthermore, most hospitality facilities, such as hotels, motels, amusement parks, theme parks, ca-
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sinos, and resorts, face many common problems associated with not being able to locate or communicate with their patrons. These problems may result in lost revenues for the hospitality facilities and in inconvenience for patrons (Halbritter et al., 2007). One aspect consistent with the present RMIS includes a method for providing communication services for a guest at a hospitality facility including a network, a server, and a plurality of terminals. This method, initially mentioned by Halbritter et al. (2007), relates generally to the field of interactive computer systems, and more particularly to a system and method for use in a hospitality facility enabling communication and an individualised content experience.
Systems, methods, and articles of manufacture consistent with the present invention allow a user, such as a patron or a person affiliated with a hospitality facility, to locate and/or communicate with another patron at a hospitality facility. For example, such a system may assign to each patron a unique patron identifier (e.g., account number) and a sending device (such as a magnetic card or a transmitter). Moreover, each location in the hospitality facility (e.g., restaurant, hotel lobby, and hotel room) may include a unique location identifier and a receiving device (such as a card reader or a receiver). Whenever a patron enters or exits a location, the receiving device may receive the patron identifier from his/her sending device. Then, the receiving device may send, for example, to a server, both the patron identifier and the location identifier for storage (Halbritter et al., 2007). Furthermore, a user (such as a patron or a person affiliated with the hospitality facility) may locate or communicate with a particular patron using a client terminal or a similar device. After the user enters the name of a particular patron, the client terminal may retrieve the location (or last-known location) from a database on a server. The user may then send a message, initiate a voice over network (VON) call to the patron, or obtain the patron's current location or last- known location. For example, a patron may send a personal message, such as »Meet me in the lobby in five minutes,« to another patron. Similarly, a perS son affiliated with the hospitality facility may inform a patron of the status of an event, such as the status of an offline game, or notify a patron of a promotion. The message may be of any type, such as an instant message, an e-mail message, or a voice message. The
location information may include information identifying the location, such as »Front Desk,« and/or die rections to that location (Halbritter et al., 2007).
Another example is customer service in Marri-ot hotels. Inherent to good customer service is a superior responsiveness to customer needs. For example, Marriott's reservation system manages the booking of more than 355,000 hotel rooms globally. This system offers Marriott an invaluable opportunity to gather information about the characteristics, habits, and preferences of their guests. In fact, the 12 million customer profiles stored in Marriott's frequent-lodger program are the largest such database in the lodging industry. This information allows Marriott to cross-reference the personal profiles of customers with product preferences. By doing so, Marriott can target incentives and promotions with unprecedented precision and thus offer distinctive customer service (Bilgihan et al., 2011).
Trump SoHo also implemented Cisco solutions for the hotel's network, pervasive wireless access, and unified communications to provide a highly personalised guest experience. Hotel employees wear a wireless IP voice badge that operates over the same Cisco Unified Communications system used for typical voice calls. When the bellhop asks the guest's name at the door, the check-in staff hears so that a moment later they can greet the guest by name. When guests arrive in their room, the colour display on the IP phone shows a personalised welcome message. Furthermore, guests can use the IP phone's touch screen for voicemail, weather by zip code, airport information, and e-mail. Employees can also use the in-room phones to confirm that a room is ready for the next guest. The room attendant enters a code on the phone, which updates the PMS. Finding out right away that a room is ready helps the hotel to accommodate guests who would like to check-in early, thus improving customer service (Bilgihan et al., 2011).
Creating Network Technologies in the Hotel Industry
A hotel can be viewed as a network in which many teams are working in the various departments and divisions within it. Many authors have presented characteristics of effective teams, which are usually associated with »complementary skills who are comk mitted to a common purpose, performance goals and
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approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable«, as Katzenbach and Smith (2000) state. Leadership and trust among members of the team are significant for the hotel's successful performance, which in turn, influences team's processes and interaction, such as coordination to perform different tasks. The systems theory approach is associated with the elements of interdependence and relationships, coordination of activities between and within teams and, at the same time, distinctive roles for the implementation of the superordinate goal that is clearly defined and shared among the network team (Mick-an & Rodger, 2000). Although social network theory argues that the attributes of individuals are less important than their relationships and connections to other actors within the network, at times loose or even non-symbiotic relationships among members or teams, personal expectations, or the way others perceive the roles of the members of the group may influence the way networks function and the results of the network (Mickan & Rodger, 2000; Ooi & Ped-ersen, 2010; Povilanskas & Armaitiené, 2010; Kavou-ra & Katsoni, 2013).
ICT and particularly e-CRM applications play a critical role in the competitiveness of hotels, as well as in the entire tourism industry as a whole. Not only do ICTs and e-CRM systems support consumer-cen-tricity, with consumers being able to identify, customise and purchase tourism products, but they also support the globalisation of the industry by providing effective tools for hoteliers to develop, manage and distribute their offered services worldwide (Buhalis, 1998; Katsoni, 2015). e-CRM provides companies with the means to implement interactive, personalised and relevant communication with customers through both electronic and traditional channels. It uses a complete overview of the customer to make decisions about what is the best way to approach customers. Proponents of e-CRM will recognise that a comprehensive understanding of customers' activities, personalisation, relevance, permits, and timeliness metrics are means to the end of optimisation (Milovic, 2011). It is important to understand that CRM is a way to run a hotel, rather than just a tool to use within the way a hotel is run (Nikolis, 2009). e-CRM can be used to personalise individual experiences that will give individual customers a feeling that they are fully taken care of, which opens up new
marketing opportunities based on customer preferences and history. Ideally, e-CRM enables organisations to adapt their products and services to each client and fully meet the needs and expectations of the client. Increasing global competition and transparency among suppliers and prices has resulted in users being more demanding and more mobile between service providers. As a result, the quality of the service itself is no longer sufficient to increase customer loyalty and repeat purchases (Sigala, 2008). High-quality information about customers, their habits and the services they use, as well as rapid responses to their wishes, can produce competitive advantage.
The internal business departments should have mutual networking, and be linked with tourism management departments, public security, travel agents, etc., especially between different hotels so as to realise online booking. Synergies and interdependence among those involved can reinforce relations and the coordination of activities when all parts involved cooperate to promote a uniform and complete tourist experience (Kavoura & Katsoni, 2013). All of these may lead to a win-win situation for the effective marketing management practice of the hotel, since all teams and divisions involved cooperate to promote a complete tourist experience.
Conclusion and Managerial Implications
The hotel industry must market its product through a variety of channels, expand their market share, and gain a firm foothold in the international market; therefore, it is necessary to participate in international information networks and to collect information about international tourism markets. Indisputably, the following trends for the future need to be recognised (Rauch, 2011; Milovic, 2012; Katsoni, 2015), such as the need to invest in ICT implementation and e-CRM systems leading to the renovation of the majority of the hotel's facilities, such as lobbies, restaurants, bars and fitness centres, as well as replacing beds, TVs, and more; online and especially mobile bookings will continue to grow, as increasing numbers of travellers will be turning to their mobile devices not only to research lodging and travel options but to book and communicate room preferences directly with the hotel. It is crucial that hoteliers optimise their website for mobile usage to cap-
16 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
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ICT Applications in the Hotel Industry
through an e-CRM Systems Theory
ture potential mobile transactions. Furthermore, social media will continue to transform connections with travellers, and it has become necessary for hotels to add social media to their marketing mix.
This paper argues that a hotel collaborative marketing management network of information flows between businesses through ICT use and e-CRM applications should be vigorously developed, as it enables the formation of cooperation in new expeditious ways to access unique or innovating resources. The whole approach should be based on a trust and business culture that values cooperation and ongoing dialogue between not only the different hotel departments, (Levy et al., 2003; Turban et al., 2004; Inkpen and Tsang, 2005; Kavaratzis and Ashworth, 2008; McGehee et al., 2010: 486; Kavoura & Katso-ni, 2013), but also between the internal and external environment in the hotel industry, in a balanced and holistic way. Missing any stage of the e-CRM application in any aspect analysed above will result in a loss of satisfaction for customers and become a possible source of conflict and inadequate service between the involved stakeholders. An e-CRM system can be used as an effective tool for applying a systems theory approach in the hotel industry, as its successful implementation is associated with the elements of interdependence and relationships, and the coordination of activities between and within teams; at the same time, distinctive roles for the implementation of the superordinate goal that is clearly defined and shared among the network team, as defined by Mic-kan and Rodger (2000), which is essential to the success of the firm.
To this end, the role of e-CRM is of significance for an effective marketing management policy and facilitates the ultimate goal of providing a holistic and coherent experience towards tourists (Kavoura & Katsoni, 2013), in all aspects of online user experience throughout the hotel industry transaction cycle, i.e. the pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase stages analysed in the present article. A collaborative internal and external marketing management policy, aimed at achieving the full automation of reservation, rooming, accommodation, guest market analysis, financial planning, and other aspects in all hotel departments and the determination of the target market competition in the market of guest sources
are all guaranteed by ICT and application of e-CRM
systems.
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Katsoni, V. (2015). Trends of Tourism Marketing in the Digital Era. The International Centre
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Katsoni, V., & Dionysopoulou, P. (2013). The Influence of Social Media (SM) & Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and the Creation of Collaborative Commerce (C-Com-merce) in the Tourism Sector. Paper presented at the 5th International Scientific Conference Tour-
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Turban, E., King, D., Lee, J., & Viehland, D. (2004). Electronic Commerce 2004: A Managerial Perspective. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
Wang, Y., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2004). Modeling Participation in an Online Travel Community. Journal of Travel Research, 42(3), 261-270. Wang, Y., & Pizam, A. (2011). Destination Marketing and Management: Theories and Applications. Oxfordshire, UK: CAB International. Wellman, B., Salaff, J., Dimitrova, D., Garton, L., Gulia, M., & Thronthwaite, C. (1996). Computer Networks as Social Networks: Collaborative Work, Telework, and Virtual Community. Annual Review Social, 22(1), 213-238. Xu, X., Zhao, R., & Xu, L. (2014). The Differentiated
Pricing Strategy or Hotel under DualChannel Reservation Forms. Open Journal of Social
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16 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Original Scientific Article
Multimodal Creativity in (Anti)Tourism Texts
Sabrina Francesconi
University of Trento, Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia sabrina.francesconi@lett.unitn.it
This paper argues and seeks to demonstrate that the tourist-travel dichotomy traces a debatable and contestable discursive space, often articulated via anti-tourism stances. This notion is epitomized in innovative and creative multimodal domain-specific texts, whose generic configurations transcend traditional boundaries and question stable and rigid conceptual and generic distinctions. Such instances consistently occupy an increasingly hybrid, blurred and opaque contact zone, which needs to be explored with a relevant and appropriate methodology. Acknowledging the crucial role of multimodality in processes of genre change and innovation, the feasibility of multimodal analysis for tourism-travel text examination is here claimed. Hence, the meaning-making contact and interaction of different modes and modal resources will be inspected in three creative instances,: a static poster, a dynamic digital travel diary and a website. All texts have been chosen as they provide evidence of multimodally projected creative (anti)tourism discourse. The following questions will be raised. Which modes and modal resources are deployed in the multimodal ensembles? How do they interact? Which meanings do they express? Albeit differently in terms of syntagmatic and paradigmatic configurations, the three texts multimodally project an (anti)tourism discourse with ultimate tourist purposes, inviting viewers to visit the destination or to book the accommodation option.
Keywords: multimodality, meaning-making, creativity, (anti)tourism texts
Introduction
This paper argues that the dichotomic tourist-traveller opposition traces a debatable and contestable discursive space, often articulated via anti-tourism stances. This notion is foregrounded in innovative and creative multimodal domain-specific texts, such as travel apps, travel blogs or humorous advertisements, whose generic configurations transcend traditional boundaries and question stable and rigid conceptual and generic distinctions. As a result, they occupy an increasingly hybrid position, between tourism and travel domains, and between travel literature and tourist discourses. Such a blurred and opaque contact zone needs to be explored with a relevant and appropriate methodology.
Acknowledging the crucial role of multimodal-ity in processes of generic change and innovation,
the feasibility of multimodal analysis for the examination tourism-travel texts is here claimed. Hence, the meaning-making contact and interaction of different semiotic systems will be inspected in three creative instances: a static poster, a dynamic digital travel diary, and a website. Which semiotic systems are deployed in the multimodal ensemble? How do they interact? Which meanings do they express? How do they express (anti)tourism stances? How is promotion achieved? Albeit differently in terms of syntagmatic and paradigmatic configurations, the three texts multi-modally project an (anti)tourism discourse1 with ultimate tourist purposes, inviting
i As for graphics, the word 'anti-tourism', with a hyphen, is adopted to indicate the socially widespread attitude, whereas '(anti)tourism' (between parentheses) is used
Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015 | 25
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Multimodal Creativity in (Anti)Tourism Texts
viewers to visit the destination or to book accommodation.
The first section discusses anti-tourism positions in literature, in social situations and in tourism discourses. This is followed by an illustration of the adopted methodology, i.e. multimodal analysis. The third section presents a text analysis for static, dynamic and digital texts and is followed by the conclusion.
The Anti-Tourism Positions Embedded into Tourism Discourse
The anti-tourism discourse configures an explicit denigration of tourism and tourists (Francesconi, 2014). Dating back to the 17th century, the first authoritative traces are clearly visible in the literary works of George Gordon Byron and William Wordsworth, who lamented the enlargement of the practice of travel. Subsequently, authors such as Frances Trol-lope, Charles Dickens, Henry James and E.M. Forster have perpetrated this condemnation. Best known as Virginia Woolf's father, the man of letters and mountaineer Leslie Stephen thus wrote on the pages of Cornhill Magazine:
The tourist, in short, is notoriously a person who follows blindly a certain hackneyed round; who never stops long enough before a picture or a view to admire it or to fix it in his memory; and who seizes every opportunity of transplanting little bits of London to the districts which he visits. [...] We are supposed to travel mainly in search of the beautiful and the picturesque; and yet the faculty which takes pleasure in such things is frequently in a state of almost complete atrophy.
(p. 174)
This passage depicts the tourist as a passive, superficial, unrefined being, incapable and unwilling to appreciate the value of what s/he is visiting. Unfolding a dichotomic discourse, tourism condemnation is tightly linked with travel celebration (Buzard, 1993; Fussel, 1987). Accordingly, travel would be a responsible, sustainable, fulfilling activity practised by independent, curious and refined human beings moved by an authentic interest in what is remote,
when it is embedded into tourism discourses and texts with ultimate tourist aims.
ancient and authentic. In a novel that inspired Bernardo Bertolucci's movie The Sheltering Sky (1990), Paul Bowles overtly outlines the opposition:
Whereas the tourist generally hurries back home at the end of a few weeks or months, the traveler belonging no more to one place than to the next, moves slowly over periods of years, from one part of the earth to another. Indeed, he would have found it difficult to tell, among the many places he had lived, precisely where it was he had felt most at home.
(1949, p. 6)
This American writer foregrounds the different relation the tourist and the traveller would maintain with home, the former having a nostalgic bond that forces him/her to hurry back home as soon as possible, the second boasting a cosmopolitan nature and attitude.
Far from being confined to literature, anti-tourism pervades everyday formal and informal interactions. Curiously, such positions are frequently used in tourism discourse and among tourists themselves (Culler, 1989; Francesconi, 2014). As MacCannell (1976) and Culler (1989) claim, all tourists denigrate and ridicule other tourists, positioning themselves as distinct and different, namely as travellers. They systematically long for the best-kept secret destination, look for non-tourist accommodation options, eat traditional and local cuisine; to summarise, paraphrasing Culler, an off-the-beaten-track travel is definitely the most beaten track (169).
Clearly, the anti-tourism standpoint projects more an ideological assumption than an ethical position. The semantic border between a tourist and a traveller is indeed more opaque than it appears and the attempt to find a clear distinction, by considering the sender profile, holiday type, communication function, proves to be problematic. The anti-tourism discourse thus traces a semiotic circuit that configures and perpetuates stereotyped visions of self and other (Francesconi, 2014).
Like tourists and tourist practices, tourism tex-tuality cannot be snobbishly condemned as 'superficial' (Culler, 1989) but deserves critical attention and scientific investigation. In fact, tourist textual practices and genres show global and social reach and impact (Thurlow and Jaworski, 2010, p. 235). They boast, accordingly, an extreme potential to influence pro-
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spective tourists with regard to destination-image formation and destination-choice performance. Simultaneously, they unveil and reveal pervasive and rooted socio-cultural dynamics.
In his socio-semiotic approach to tourism and tourism texts, Culler (1989, p. 159) addresses tourism texts as 'marking' a tourist attraction, acting as signs to the signified: 'by giving information about it, representing it, making it recognizable'. In the form of guides, plaques, leaflets, 'the marker represents a sight to the tourist' (ibid.), expressing the semiotic structure of tourist attractions. Consequently, tourism is to be seen as a 'semiotically embedded service' (Thurlow and Jaworski, 2010, p. 7) and tourism texts as sign systems representing and making sense of the world. The text configuration process indeed informs and is informed by the socio-cultural context in which instances are produced and consumed and of which they provide valid insights.
Contemporary tourism communication mainly relies on the digital medium, by which interaction has become global instant, and democratic. Over the last decade, the development of Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 applications has progressively enabled a generalized shift from a vertical, monological delivery of information to horizontal and participatory forms (from business to consumer, B2C, through consumer to consumer, C2C, to human to human, H2H). Nevertheless, traditional textual forms, based on a mono-logic delivery of information, tend to coexist alongside more open ones.
Further to this, tourism and travel texts are becoming increasingly multimodal, variously combining semiotic resources, resulting from either natural or induced phenomena (Calvi, 2010). In the first case of natural phenomena, it reflects the aforementioned technological changes or other economic, aesthetic, psychological trends. In the second case of induced phenomena, it is exploited by tourism marketing experts for its semiotic, cognitive and emotional potential: it captures the readers' attention and engenders a positive mood and a pleasant psychological attitude; it assists concentration, performs emphasis and thus leaves a lasting mnestic trace (Francesconi, 2014).
Valid for all promotional domains, these multi-faceted processes remain central in destination promotion. This is due to the intangibility of the travel and holiday experience as object of promotion, by
which the holiday cannot be directly seen, touched and inspected before the actual experience (Cho & Fesenmaier, 2011). In an attempt to overcome this on-tological limit, promotional tourism texts constantly attempt to re-present the place, that is, to shape and offer a new, consumable textual presence (Franc-esconi, 2001a, 2011b). Multimodal instances create in their users an illusion of holiday experience and consumption before leaving home, by intertwining medium and mode-derived affordances such as a) static and dynamic b) verbal, visual and audio effects, c) hyper-textual navigation.
In this paper, I argue and aim to demonstrate that the tourist-travel opposition as a debatable and contestable discursive space is foregrounded in innovative and creative multimodal domain-specific texts. These consistently occupy an increasingly hybrid position, in-between tourism and travel domains, conceptual and generic stances. The blurred and opaque contact zone needs to be properly explored with a relevant and appropriate methodology.
Methodology Issues:
From SFL to the Multimodal Framework
As multimodality is here addressed as a relevant meaning-making strategy in tourism discourse, the tools of multimodal analysis are adopted for the investigation of authentic domain-specific instances. Multimodal analysis originated in M.A.K. Halliday's systemic functional linguistics, or SFL, (1978), viewing language as doing things and as making meaning in a given context. Questioning logocentrism and the predominance of writing in our system of thought and communication, multimodality does not deny but redefines writing, seen as one semiotic resource among others and as making meaning in combination with other modes (Kress, 2010, p. 79). All semi-osis is thus addressed as multimodal, monomodali-ty being perceived as an abstraction (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2001, 2006; Kress, 2010; Lemke, 2002). If all texts are and have always been multimodal, it is contemporary communication that makes substantial and pervasive use of co-occurring semiotic systems.
Specifically, an emerging field of interest in multimodal studies is intersemiosis, which expresses an interest in forms and reasons for modal interplay. Attention is drawn to the use of several semi-otic modes in the design of a product or in the per-
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formance of an event and to their mutual relation: of equality, of inequality, or, again, of complementarity. Examination of multimodal semiosis should overcome an 'additive' view, interested in the juxtaposition of the different meanings expressed by the distinct modal systems. An 'integrative' perspective, in contrast, observes intersemiosis in the light of 'inter-semiotic complementarity' (Royce, 2007, p. 63), as it subtly associates and integrates modes that mutually balance weaknesses and strengths. This implies that modal relations as reciprocally enhancing the semi-otic potential of each mode and invites the inspection of 'multiplied meaning' as deriving from the interaction of modal resources (Baldry and Thibault, 2006; Lemke, 1998; Stockl, 2004, p. 9).
In this vein, multimodal artefacts can be divided between space-based and time-based texts. The former include static texts such as brochures, leaflets, maps, and realize meaning through the simultaneous co-deployment of visual and verbal items. The latter encompass dynamic texts, such as conferences, videos, and walks, and are articulated upon the unfolding in time of various integrated semiotic resources. Between these is hypertext, which combines properties of both static and dynamic texts (Francesconi, 2014). All of them project meaning along the syntagmatic and paradigmatic axes and can be analysed accordingly.
Overall, meaning-making may occur both syn-tagmatically and paradigmatically. These linguistic concepts indicate the various juxtapositions of verbal items into larger units. Good examples of conventionalised syntagms are collocations and colligations, the first indicating lexical and the second grammar co-occurrences (Eggins, 2011; Halli-day and Matthiessen, 2004). In contrast, paradigms operate on the selection of one among several possible realisations: SFL text analysts examine indeed meaning-making processes deriving from the choice of an item along the paradigmatic axis of the clause, its place in the clause unit or its syntagmatic combination with another item. It is noteworthy that SF grammar is not seen as a rule-based system: every grammar choice implies a selection from a set of options within a system and choices are not assessed in terms of (un)correctness but of (un)appropriateness to a particular context (Eggins, 2011, p. 20).
In multimodal environments, syntagmatic and paradigmatic meaning-making systems indicate a) the orchestration of various semiotic resources within the page (synchronic syntagmatic), and b) modal sequential interaction unfolding as choice across pages (paradigmatic). Notably, synchronic syntag-matic co-occurrences simultaneously display in space, whereas paradigmatic combinations unfold in time. In order to illustrate multimodal syntagmatic and paradigmatic configurations, I will be discussing three authentic examples: a static instance, a hypertext and a dynamic, multimodal text. All texts have been chosen as they provide evidence of multimodal-ly projected creative (anti)tourism discourse.
Configurations of Ego-Enhancing Anti-Tourism in a Static Text
The first example I wish to share is a poster showing the Divina Toscana tourism promotion campaign, realized by Rome-based firm LS&BLU and meant to be presented at the Milan Tourism trade fair (BIT), in February 2014. Inspired by Dante Alighieri's epic poem The Divine Comedy, the six visual-verbal texts depict Tuscan dreamy natural landscapes and art pieces with well-known quotations from the literary masterpiece, whose title it overtly mentioned. Upon its release, the president of Tuscany's own regional government, Enrico Rossi, has defined the campaign 'Toscana Taroccata', 'fake Tuscany', denouncing the digital manipulation of images. The project has been also widely criticised by photographers, by the local press, and by Tuscan people, who have interpreted it as misleading advertising. The €100,000 campaign has thus been withdrawn and the Tuscany region exhibited blank walls at the Milan BIT.2
In spite of this, the posters are of interest in terms of multimodally-projected meaning, as they deploy visual and verbal modes simultaneously co-occurring and interacting on the same page. Against the backdrop of Florence city, the first visual I wish to discuss shows a group of visitors admiring Michelangelo's David. The syntagmatic co-occurring verbal text writes: »Esthetes, contemplate perfection.« Both the visual and the verbal texts express the ac-
2 See images and discussion on the campaign on the Corriere Fiorentino website:
http://corrierefiorentino.corriere.it/firenze/notizie/ politica/2014/9-febbraio-2014/campagna-divina-tos-cana-no-rossi-toscana-taroccata-2224047125741.shtml.
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tion of contemplation performed by the heterogeneous group of people, while the statue embodies ideal perfection. Specifically, the visual text frames a positive script, which is then confirmed by the verbal vector. A cohesive and coherent form of interplay can thus be envisaged, to be defined as 'intersemiotic congruence.' (Royce, 2007)
In the second case, the visual text features a tranquil and serene Tuscan hilly landscape at sunset, with a row of cypresses leading to a picturesque borgo. Quoting the Comedy's most famous passage, the caption writes: »All cares abandon, ye who enter here.« The visual shapes a positive script (showing a land that is like heaven), which is then reversed by a negative script, framed by the verbal text used by Dante to warn people going to hell. Clearly, the visual and the verbal systems project contrastive meanings, featuring what Royce terms 'inter-semiotic dissonance.' (Royce, 2007) As the visual is more powerful than the verbal, it predominates and shapes a positive destination image; the verbal only achieves a humorous effect (Francesconi, 2011c). Apparently opposite strategies, both congruent and dissonant forms of syntag-matic inter-semiosis in the two examples are attention-grabbing and memorable.
Noteworthy for the anti-tourism discussion, the campaign is characterized by the presence of an inter-textual reference to Dante's Divine Comedy. By exploiting this literary quotation, it rejects the formulaic, euphoric and laudatory tones and features of traditional tourism language. An ego-enhancing strategy can be envisaged, one that celebrates and lures the pretended cultural knowledge of its target (Dann, 1996). It makes them, accordingly, feel part of an elite of refined travellers rather than of a massified crowd of superficial tourists and invites them for an exclusive intellectual experience.
Having tackled the creative, multimodal expression of anti-tourism discourse in a static text, the following section will examine a dynamic instance.
Dynamic Intersemiosis in a Travel Diary
My second example is a digital travel diary created by a young couple of travellers to Canada. It is a 9'i4'' clip, uploaded on the Youtube platform, within a vlog environment that includes videos shot in different areas of the world. The term 'vlog' itself is a blend word, which highlights the innovative interac-
tion between the video and the blog communication situations. The authors are two young travellers, Alex and Luke. In the video, we see their bodies and hear their voices. The text is divided into six sequences, in-between an introduction and a conclusion, entitled: 'Architecture in Iqaluit', 'The infrastructure of sewage', 'Education', 'Food', 'Early winter sunsets', 'We love Nunavut'.3
As for intersemiosis, the video deploys the simultaneous unfolding of dynamic images, accompanied by a soundscape. Meaning is projected in the video along both the synchronic and diachronic syn-tagmatic axes: text analysis should address modal co-patternings within the shot (synchronic syntag-matic) and modal sequential interaction unfolding as choice (diachronic syntagmatic). An uncut video unit, the shot is generally taken by film text analysts as the basic meaningful video unit (Pan, Tsai, H., Lee J., 2011), its role and function corresponding to those of the clause in SFL (Halliday 1978; Halliday and Hasan 1986). It is composed by a still frame, and, in turn, composes the highest ranks of scenes and sequences. These textual units are syntagmatically organised via transitions, types of links that mark the shift from one segment to the next. Acting as linking adjuncts between paragraphs or sentences, transition types play a crucial cohesive role, since they weave the text together (Bateman & Schmidt, 2012; Burn, 2013; Francesconi, 2011b; Pan, Tsai, H., Lee J., 2011). In order to show interacting systems in the video, Table 1 provides a transcription of multimodal data depicting synchronic syntagmatic modal co-occurrences along the horizontal axis and the diachronic syntagmatic combination of items along the vertical axis in one of the diary scenes.4
Consistently, this video exploits the (anti)tour-ism discourse at different levels. Firstly, it adopts a Web 2.0 open, participatory environment which invites feedback and subverts traditional tourist mono-logical discourse (Francesconi, 2015; Maci, 2013). Secondly, the video is a diary, shot by independent trav-
3	See the video by Alex and Luke on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x30lPvBuFA4.
4	Data have been obtained through the support of ELAN software, a system for multimodal video annotation developed at the Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijme-gen and freely available online at http://tla.mpi.nl/tools/ tla-tools/elan/.
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Table 1
	Sound track		Trans.					
Shot n. and length	Main Repr. Participant	Size of frame	Angle and movement	Written text	Spoken text	Music	Sound	Trans. Type
1. 6:48-6:49	Written text	X	Eye angle and stationary camera	Early winter sunset	X	Instrumental music: guitar	X	Effect trans.
2. 6:50-6:59	Alex, cell phone and city as bg.	From medium to close-up on Alex	Eye angle, Alex approaching. Hand-held camera.	X	2.21 p.m and the sun is setting in Iqualuit (voice as figure)	IM 0 volume (music as field)	Traffic noise as ground	Effect trans.
3. 7:00-7:14	Alex and city as bg.	Close-up on Alex then she moves from the camera	Eye angle Hand-held camera. Alex moves from camera.	X	It's twilight here, dusk if you will 2:45 p.m. (voice as figure)	IM 0 volume (music as field)	Traffic noise as ground	Effect trans.
4. 7.15-7:21	Alex, house, darkness	Close-up on Alex from behind	Eye angle Alex walking Hand-held camera.	X	L (VO): Christmas lights? What, what time is it? A. 3:00 o'clock. Ah!	IM 0 volume (music as field)	Traffic noise	Effect trans.
5. 7:22-7:24	School bus, street, houses, Darkness	Long shot	Eye angle School bus moving Hand-held camera.	X	X	IM 0 volume (music as ground)	Bus driving noise as figure	Effect trans.
6. 7.25-7:32	Alex and city as bg. Darkness	Close-up on Alex	Eye angle Hand-held camera.		A. We just saw the school bus go by, which is normal 'cause it's 3:00 o'clock but it doesn't feel normal.	IM 0 volume (music as ground)	Traffic noise (noise as field)	Effect trans.
26 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Sabrina Francesconi
Multimodal Creativity in (Anti)Tourism Texts
	Sound track		Trans.				
Shot n. and length	Main Repr. Participant	Size of frame	Angle and Written movement text	Spoken text	Music	Sound	Trans. Type
7.
7:33-7.46
Alex, interior setting, with lights on
Medium shot
Eye angle Hand-held
L (VO): Is it 2:59 in the morning? A: No, it's 2:59 in the afternoon. Once again, it's dark here: the sun set an hour ago. L (VO): What do you think, Bill?
IM o volume (music as ground)
Dissolve
X
7: 47-7:55
Dog, interior setting, with lights on
From long shot to close-up on dog
High angle. Hand-held camera. Zoom.
(VO) I
don't know	IM o vo-
any diffe-	lume
rence beca-	(music as
use I am a	ground) dog.
X
ellers who have no vested interest in promoting or demoting the destination (Dann, 2012). Third, different intersemiotic strategies are congruently used to shape an informal tenor, author credibility and message authenticity. As for the visual track, these are the presence of travellers, cell-phone display to show the time and prove that darkness comes very early in the afternoon, intimacy-generating eye-angle and eye-contact. As for the soundscape (van Leeuwen, 1999), the most prominent reliability-shaping solutions are the dialogue between Alex and Luke and authentic noises, such as traffic.
After the observation of a dynamic (anti)tourist text, the following paragraph will discuss a humorous hypertextual example.
Hypertextually Projected Humour in Entertaining (Anti)Tourism Texts
My third example is a website presenting the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel based in the capital city of the Netherlands, Amsterdam. The webpage is part of a broader communication campaign developed through posters, videos and souvenirs, where self-humour is exploited as a strategy of self-promo-
tion. Consistently, the website celebrates the lack of services, the negligence, the fake eco-policy offered by the Hans Brinker Hotel.
A hybrid text combining the logics of space and of time, the website advocates the study of the orchestration of different modes in both spatial and temporal dimensions, first, along the syntagmatic (within the fixed webpage) and then along the paradigmatic axes (across multiple and fluid webpages) (Adami, 2013; Boardman, 2005)). Showing a low degree of granularity, or fragmentation, the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel page layout is very basic, mainly white and empty. Only some rare and sparse clusters are present, of different sizes and colours (van Leeuwen, 2011). The most salient, central one depicts a slideshow, with humorous posters inviting users to 'Like' the Facebook page with messages like the following: 'Please like us if you have any complaints'. A similar process is activated at the paradigmatic level, with links offering opportunities for information expansion. A cluster encouraging 'Ask reception', for example, connects with a camera on the inactive and idle receptionist, sitting at her desk. Space on the
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Sabrina Francesconi
Multimodal Creativity in (Anti)Tourism Texts
screen is offered for questions to be typed, and, as a response, she starts knitting. Other clusters, yet, provide information on facilities, services, contact details and a map.
As for anti-tourist positions, the website configures an entertaining and amusing message. Not only does humour differentiate the text from other competitive instances belonging to the same domain: it suspends the disbelief that consumers of tourist promotional material normally have in order to attract and hold viewers' attention and to activate a positive emotional response (Pearce, 2009, p. 639). A powerful strategy of self-promotion (Davies, 2002, p. 20), humorous self-mockery presents the hotel owner and staff as self-ironic and worth-knowing hosts, who will make the stay in Amsterdam unique. The website also configures a parody of traditional celebratory tourism texts and denounces their pretended credibility and reliability. Via these various communication strategies, the website inscribes its audience as different, alternative and unique in terms of age, interests and motivations. The Hans Brinker Hotel thus offers an off-the-beaten-track adventure, opposed to touristy accommodation included in mass tourism packages.
Conclusions
Questioning and challenging simplistic and biased distinctions between travellers and tourists, and, in turn, between tourism texts and travel literature, this paper observes that, as revealed in everyday life and communication, their relation is less dichotomic and more fluid than thought. This is especially valid in creative, multimodal innovative texts, thereby proposed as worth analysing.
Nevertheless, the contemporary scenario of tourism-travel texts shows a high degree of complexity, as a wide range of economic, socio-cultural, psychological, political issues are at stake. The communication system is then multidimensional, multifunctional, multimedia and multimodal, all aspects undergoing constant and substantial dynamism.
Acknowledging the complex and fluid nature of tourism-travel discourse, the approach to authentic domain-specific instances needs to start from a consistent conceptual and methodological framework. Syntagmatic and paradigmatic axes have been identified and proposed as outlining the horizon along
which static, dynamic and hypertextual instances multimodally project meaning.
The methodological framework is to be used in order to map multimodal creative strategies adopted in tourism texts. Acknowledging the widely recognized importance of creativity in tourism as related to innovation, renewal, and regeneration (Richards, 2014), this paper advocates a more extensive and systematic exploration of tourism textuality in this vein. Specifically, it argues that (anti)tourism creativity is an insightful and stimulating line of textual investigation, which is the scope of my future research.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Sarolta Godnic Vicic for her valuable comments and helpful suggestions on the paper.
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Multimodal Creativity in (Anti)Tourism Texts
Cho, Y., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2001). A New Paradigm for Tourism and Electronic Commerce. Experience Marketing Using the Virtual Tour. In D. Buhalis & E. Laws (Eds.), Tourism Distribution Channels. Practices, Issues, Transformations (pp. 351-370). London and New York: Continuum.
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26 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Original Scientific Article
The Reinvention of Architectural Tradition: The Case of a Transylvanian Saxon Community
Gyongyi Pasztor
Babes-Bolyai University, Dept. of Sociology, Cluj gyongyipasztor@gmail. com
Izabella Buzogany
Babes-Bolyai University, Dept. of Sociology, Cluj IB@mail.com
The average Transylvanian Saxon village is a forgotten one. Having lost their Saxon populations, most of them have disappeared from the tourist map. However, there are a few successful cases where specific local features and German identity have been rediscovered, and the architectural heritage is well-marketed as a backbone for new, post-modern forms of tourism. An iconic case is that of Viscri (Weisskirch/Szaszfeheregyhaza), a globally famous site, due to the efforts of the Prince of Wales. The village is proud to have a UNESCO-listed fortified church built in the 13th century, along with dozens of local Saxon peasant houses and guild mansions (some of which now belong to Prince Charles of Wales). All these and the history built around the heritage of stone combined with the natural environment makes Viscri a very attractive rural tourist venue.
This study focuses on the role of architectural heritage in the development of local tourism, based on the practice of reinventing traditions. Thanks to tourism, not only have several guesthouses been started, old types of craftsmanship have reappeared, and the social ties between the Roma and ethnic Romanian populations have even been tightened, but some abandoned - otherwise valuable - houses have been renovated and connected to the branded housing stock.
Keywords: tourism, architectural heritage, story, Saxon village, Transylvania, history
Introduction
The phenomenon of cultural heritage tourism cannot be considered to be new, since cultural heritage in different parts of the world long ago reached the attention of travellers (Weiler & Hall, 1993). It is enough to recall the travels of young aristocrats in the 16th century with the aim of learning, known later as the »Grand Tour«; but the European tours of 18th century American travellers can also be considered. Although according to some authors (see Richards, 1996) traditional culture ceased to be the objective of tourism in the era of modernity, currently the prac-
tice and activity of tourism itself has become a standalone culture. Nevertheless, in addition to experiences, »cultural places of interest« play an important role in shaping tourism.
The most important questions of the sociology of tourism at the end of 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries are connected to cultural heritage tourism. According to Hollinshead (2004), the character of increasing mass tourism is changing, becoming increasingly complex. One of the important features of the changes is laid on cultural and heritage tourism, which is becoming the most rapidly grow-
Academica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015 | 35
Gyöngyi Pásztor and Izabella Buzogány
The Reinvention of Architectural Tradition
ing segment. The process obviously has both positive and negative effects. According to Richards (1996), positive effects can be observed in economic growth and the strengthening of local identity, cultural characteristics and values. The negative effects are often the conflicts (of interests) developing amongst various stakeholders (Porter & Salazar 2005), as well as the standardisation, commodification and value changes of culture (see MacCarnell, 1973; Richards, 2014; Shepherd, 2002).
In this study, the character and consequences of tourism shaped by Saxon cultural and architectural heritage are presented in the case of the village of Viscri. Although we are aware of the fact that this example shows rather specific than general features as compared to other Saxon villages in Transylvania, we believe that the positive effects of the situation formed here are cases of best practices, i.e. examples to follow, whereas its negative effects can be considered warning signs. Viscri, for such a remote and small village, is one of the most famous tourist destinations of Romania. Today, there is almost no travel book, brochure or advertisement that would not present the image of this town frozen in time.
The first part of this study presents the cultural and historical characteristics of the Transylvani-an Saxon community and Viscri within it, while the second part details the changes currently occurring here, followed by the effects of the formation of tourist supply and tourism. All of these are presented in the mirror of local people's interpretation.
Saxon's in Transylvania. Short History
The first wave of Saxon settlers arrived in Transylvania around 1150, when the Hungarian King Geza II started to settle them in larger numbers in the eastern part of the country. His aim was to fortify a defence line of castles on the south eastern boundaries of the Hungarian Kingdom; he decided to bring in north-western settlers good at castle building and craftsmanship. The people originating from the regions along the Rhein and Mosel rivers in Flanders and Luxembourg were partly common peasants, and partly knights. They came with better developed cultivating techniques and strong armies. In exchange for this the king offered the settlers outstanding privileges: in addition to the free use of waters and forests, they enjoyed exemption from duty, they paid
their taxes in a single amount, and they were entitled to choose their own parish priests (Wagner, 2000).
The year 1486 was of a vital importance in the forming of Saxon autonomy. King Matthias of Hungary extended the privileges of the Diploma Andrea-num throughout the entire territory of the so-called Königsboden (Crown Lands), thus establishing the self-governing body of the Saxons, called the Sächsische Nationsuniversität (Entirety of Transylvani-an Saxons, Universitas Saxonum), which defined the framework of Saxon society for centuries (Vogel, 2001).
The 15th and 16th centuries were an era of strong economic growth in Transylvanian Saxon towns: craftsmanship and trade flourished behind the strengthened walls of the towns. Sibiu (Hermannstadt) and Brasov (Kronstadt) became the centres of gunsmiths, where firearms were also made from the mid-15th century onward. In the age of King Matthias, the goldsmith's craft reached the peak of its prosperity, with the royal court among its customers. At this time, towns were not only well-developed from an economic point of view, but also architecturally (Vogel, 2001). Large towns were fully strengthened, and villages were centred around fortified churches. Written documents attest the existence of approximately 250 Saxon villages with fortresses from this period (Wagner, 2000). Church buildings were surrounded with thick walls, fitted with loop holes, brattices and other defensive elements according to the level of the art of war of the period. In case of danger, the entire population of the village moved within the walls. In the corner bastions and defending walls of the fortress church, the grain and bacon supplies of the families were stored, as well as the hope chests of the village's maidens. However, fortified churches only provided provisional defence against raids; therefore, in cases of predictable danger, the population of villages fled to the nearest fortified towns (Eltetö, 1980).
The rapid expansion of cities populated by the Saxons led to Transylvania being known in German as Siebenbürgen, deriving from the seven biggest fortified towns: Bistritz-Bistrita, Hermannstadt-Sibiu, Klausenburg-Cluj, Kronstadt-Brasov, Medi-asch-Medias, Mühlbach-Sebes, and Schässburg-Sighisoara (Vogel, 2001).
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The Reinvention of Architectural Tradition
The second wave of German-speaking immigrants joining the Transylvanian Saxons arrived during the 16th century Western European Counter-Reformation; as they were also granted religious freedom in the Transylvanian Principality. The Transylvanian acceptance and spreading of the ideas of the Reformation had started among the Saxons, who (thanks to their connections with the spiritual life of Germany, mainly due to their studies in Wittenberg) quickly spread Luther's teachings in Brasov and Sibiu. In this process, Johannes Honterus and Gaspar Heltai had a great role, the latter becoming a defining personality of not only the Saxon, but also of Transylvanian Romanian and Hungarian book printing (Vogel, 2001).
The 18th century represented the beginning of the community's decline. In 1785, Emperor Joseph II abrogated the privileges granted by Andrew II; thus the centuries-old autonomy of Saxons ceased to exist, and they became a national minority. After the Aus-tro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Hungarian State took several measures aiming at the Magyarisa-tion of the minorities living on its territory. Transyl-vanian Saxons attempted to resist through their various social, cultural and religious associations. Although Transylvanian Saxons (and Roman Catholic Transylvanian Swabians) supported Transylvania's union with Romania in 1918, the new Romanian governments continued the minority assimilation policies of the period of Hungarian rule. Due to the progressive Romanianisation of Transylvania, the Saxons lost even more of their significance (Wagner, 2000).
In World War II, Romania joined Nazi Germany. Transylvanian Saxons also joined the nationalist movements of the German Empire. When, in 1944, towards the end of the war, Romania changed sides and joined the allied forces, part of the Saxon community escaped to Austria and Germany. Many of the Saxons remaining in Romania were deported to work camps in the Soviet Union. The survivors were transported to Germany, from where they returned home. Family relations with Germany and the minority policy of the Romanian communist regime led to the gradual emigration of the Saxons. Of the population of 248,000 in 1941, 91,000 people had emigrated or died by 1948. By 1989, only 95,000 Saxons remained in Romania. The last blow to the Saxon na-
tion was given by the communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, which made an agreement with the German government, thus permitting the emigration of 10-11,000 German people each year, in exchange for 10-12,000 German Marks per person. The increasingly worsening economic, political and ethnic oppression made the Saxons' resistance all the weaker, with more and more people choosing the path of emigration. In 1990 and 1991, when they could easily obtain a passport, another 15,000 people emigrated. During the 1992 census, 119,436 ethnic Germans were registered, of which around 40,000 were Saxons (Pozsony, 1997). Due to the emigration of congregation members, fortified churches not only lost their protective roles but also their religious and community roles. Most of the churches are monuments, either ruined or renovated, without a function today.
Viscri: The Site
Viscri (Deutsch-Weisskirch in German, Szaszfeher-egyhaza in Hungarian) is a village in the north-western part of Brasov County, somewhat off the Brasov-Sighisoara main road, belonging to the municipality of Bunesti (Szaszbuda, Bodendorf). It can be approached from two directions: coming from Bunesti on a 7-km long road, or from Rupea (Reps, Kohalom) on another 14-km long paved road. At first sight, Vis-cri appears like any other Transylvanian Saxon village from where a large number of Saxons had emigrated, and the Romanian, Hungarian or Gypsy population moving in their places gave it a new life. However, upon closer examination, the characteristics that distinguish it from most of the other Tran-sylvanian Saxon villages become more apparent. Vis-cri is a silent, simple village, as its inhabitants keep saying, yet it is exactly this simplicity that makes it original.
The settlement is mentioned for the first time in 1231 as villa Albae, the name's etymological equivalents are the German Weisskirch and the Hungarian Szaszfeheregyhaza. Its first inhabitants were Sze-klers;1 Saxons were settled in their places in the be-
1 The Szeklers are a subgroup of Hungarians, who live in the valleys and hills of the Eastern Carpathian Mountains. The Szekler seats were the traditional self-governing territorial units in Transylvania during medieval times. The seats were not part of the traditional Hungarian county system, and their inhabitants enjoyed a higher level of freedom than those living in the counties.
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The Reinvention of Architectural Tradition
ginning of the 12th century. Its 15th century fortified church sits on a small hill, built around a little chapel inherited from the Szeklers. Seven towers emerge from the white wall ring, among which the church steeple is the oldest one; its 2.3-meter thick walls were built in the 13th century. The increasing population made the extension, as well as the fortification of the church necessary in the 16th century; the other towers were added at that time. In the 18th century, another outer defence wall and a grain storage corridor were also added. This can only partly be seen today, because in the 19th century (when the castle lost its protective function) further reconstruction was made. The painted boards of the chancel, the corselet tables of the benches under the chancel, and the
painted ornaments of the pulpit are probably additions from 1724 (Schnell & Steiner, 2009).
The village lying around the fortified church has preserved its mediaeval atmosphere and, due to its difficult accessibility, even its integrity. Its characteristic Saxon houses stand on both parts of the wide main road, most of them inhabited by new (non-Saxon) inhabitants, while just a few buildings are empty.
Until the 18th century, the inhabitants of the village were exclusively of Saxon origin, when a group of Romanian-speaking shepherds settled down here. By the end of the 20th century, the ethnic structure of the village had radically changed: the inhabitants of the settlement changed completely. The Saxon population left the village in several waves. Some emigrat-
Figure 1 The Evolution of the Ethnic Structure of Viscri between 1850 and 2012
ed to Austria and Germany after World War II, while others moved to the industrial centres during communist period, mainly to Sighisoara and Sibiu. Finally, in the final years of communism, they departed for Germany as a result of the population policy of the Romanian State. The process was finalised by the last migration wave after the change of the political system (Fabini & Fabini, 1991).
Consequently, the size and the ethnic structure of the inhabitants of the village radically changed between 1850 and 2012. As can be seen in the figure below, until 1977 the proportion of the German (Saxon) population clearly exceeded the number of other ethnic groups, albeit following a decreasing trend. A significant drop appears after that, when the Saxon inhabitants left the village en masse. Between 2002 and 2012, a slight increase of the German population
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The Reinvention of Architectural Tradition
can be observed, due to the fact that several ethnic Germans came back or settled down in Viscri. Regarding the number of Romanians and Roma, it can be observed that their population has been increasing over the years but, with the exception of 1977, the number of Roma is always smaller than that of the Romanians. Until 1992 the number of Hungarians changes between 1 and 5, in 1992 it reaches 11 and 27 in 2012. According to the 2012 census, the number of the inhabitants in Viscri was 382, of which more than half (61.5 per cent) were Romanians, a quarter (24.6%) Roma, while 7.1% Hungarian and 6.81% of German nationality.
Tourism in Viscri
In order to study the history and effects of tourism in Viscri, interviews were conducting in the village in addition to fieldwork observation. Attention was given to include the widest possible categories of the local community. Interviews were made with leaders, the most important organisers of local tourism, the directors of the foundations functioning in the village, with the owners and employees of guesthouses, as well as the inhabitants of the village, including Saxons, Hungarians, Romanians and Roma.
The early indications of tourism appear in Viscri as early as the beginning of the 1990s. Those leaving the village and moving to Germany did not sell their houses, but passed them instead to the remaining families. These empty, but furnished houses in good condition formed the structural basis for the reception of guests, as the buildings could easily be transformed into accommodation. Arriving tourists (only small in number at that time) constituted a small but increasing demand for tourist services.
So the strangers came asking »Could we sleep somewhere here?« Yes, I said, »You can, but... there is no bathroom, there is no.... and the toilet is outside in the back of the yard [...] I took care of the house, I paid the taxes and I said... as long as the house is empty, at least it should be self-sufficient. So this is how I started, with two rooms in the beginning. I built a bathroom in the former larder or at the place where the bacon had been smoked, and I also made a simple sewage system. And it started... (W.F., a Saxon man remaining in the village)
Although there is no exact data about the number of tourists visiting the village (which is not registered by the authorities), the sole indicator is the number of tickets sold at the fortified church. One can presume that the majority of the tourists coming here also pay a visit to the church; therefore, it can be considered a relatively good indicator. Accordingly, it can be said that the number of tourists visiting Viscri has been increasing over the years, and their annual number today greatly exceeds 10,000 people.
Last year we had more than 12,000 tourists. We know it because here (at the fortress) we give them tickets at the entrance, and the tickets are numbered. This is how we count them. (S.G., a 76-year old Saxon woman)
According to the caretaker of the fortified church that is functioning today as a museum, at the beginning of the 1990s only a very small number of tourists arrived from Germany, France or Great Britain, and sporadically from Romania; today tourists not only come from European countries but also from America, Asia and Australia.
There were several important moments in this process of increasing the number of tourists and of countries of origin. The first such event occurred in the end of the 1990s when the village was listed in the Guide du Routard,2 which helped to increase the number of tourists coming from France. Following that, in 1999, Viscri was included into the UNESCO World Heritage list, together with six other Saxon settlements, which launched another wave of tourists. As an effect, the circle of tourists is definitely widening; they not only come from Romania and the rest of Europe, but also from other continents. The beginning of the activity of the British-founded Mihai Eminescu Trust Association was decisive (2000). Due to this, the number of tourists arriving from the UK is increasing, and Viscri thus has finally appeared on the global »tourist map«.
The Mihai Eminescu Trust (MET) was established in London in 1987. The original goal of the
2 Guide de Routard is a prominent French tourist guide founded in April 1973 by Michel Duval and Philippe Gloaguen. In 40 years (1972-2012), more than 40 million copies were published. The online version Routard. com hosts as the largest Francophone traveller community nicknamed »routarnautes«.
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The Reinvention of Architectural Tradition
foundation was to morally support Romanian émigré intellectuals (mainly writers, artists, and philosophers). This was thought to be possible mainly by maintaining contacts with Western universities and personalities, and by smuggling in and out books and periodicals. The foundation's first essential program and important appearance in the international public was its marked stance against the village systematisation plan of the communist regime3 during which several media and cultural events, and protest actions were organised. The foundation was also supported by Prince Charles, whose spoke several times in public about the disturbing situation and prospects of Romanian villages. After 1990, the MET devoted its activity to saving Transylvanian (mainly rural) architectural heritage; therefore, in 2000 the foundation's Romanian branch was registered; it functions with the direct patronage of HRH the
3 »Systematisation« refers to an urban planning programme of the national-communist regime of Romania, according to which rural and urban settlements were supposed to be reorganised according to the ideological and economic expectations of the regime. The measures were based on the directives of the 10th Communist Party Congress in 1972, as well as Law 58/1974, according to which »the rational and balanced distribution of the production forces [...] aiming to ensure the organisation and arrangement of the towns and villages according to a plan, in accordance with general economic and social progress, the tightening of the perimeters of construction areas in settlements to the strictly necessary and the optimal utilisation of their territory, the transformation of certain rural settlements with a perspective to develop into economic and social centres with an urban character«. As the first stage of the process mainly concerned the towns, the systematisation of villages never came about, but the degree to which it was planned is well-known from documents. In accordance with a report prepared for the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party in 1986, of the 13,123 villages in Romania 9,192 were considered »via-ble«, while the rest of 3,931 were supposed to be torn down, with their population moved into the remaining settlements. However, the remaining villages were not planned to remain »untouched« either, in their case the lodging areas were supposed to be reduced from 625,258 ha to 285,839 ha, thus tearing down 1,863,417 households, moving their dwellers in order to maximise agricultural areas. In the case of the remaining villages, for the sake of the best possible use of the land, blocks of flats were planned to be constructed for the former inhabitants (Tiu, 2014:14).
Prince of Wales. The strategic location of the foundation's activity is Viscri, a place subsequently regularly visited by the Prince of Wales, the village where he bought a house for himself and later on other estates in Transylvania.
The house he bought is one of the oldest buildings in the village; according to the inscription above the gate, it was built in 1758. Curious tourists cannot distinguish any feature of the house from the other houses of the village. The villagers got used to direct those inquiring about the prince's house towards the big blue building standing near the intersection. They respect and recognise the merits of the prince, and are happy to speak about him. Although his frequent appearance is becoming more and more regular, his modesty and informality is remains a great experience for local people.
He is a man like everyone else, just like us. There is no big difference! He is a human being, just like us. He walks this direction, here he goes up to the fortress... He waves his hand and even stops at our gate! (Roma woman selling socks at her gate)
He is the spiritual patron of the association... When he came here, he wanted to buy a house, the association wanted to give him a house as a gift, but he did not allow that. No! That blue house over there is his! (W.F., a Saxon man who remained in the village)
He promised us then to come here. We did not believe it... But he came indeed, and since then he has been visiting us every year.«(S.G., 78-year old Saxon woman)
His physical and spiritual presence continuously reminds the local community that the heritage they own is a valuable and exceptional one. They talk about it willingly and proudly, just as about Prince Charles' presence. The environment, considered natural and often underestimated in the past, has now become a value worth being preserved and shown to others.
He tells us every time he is visiting us: »You don't even know what a valuable treasure you own! There is no treasure like this in the whole world!« (S.G., 78-year old Saxon woman)
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The »treasure« mentioned means the architectural, natural and cultural environments. The word »authenticity«4 refers to the material environment characteristics of the village and to the cultural heritage from which it originates. While the architectural environment remained there due to a fortunate combination of factors, the cultural contents have changed significantly. A way of living close to nature, gardening and animal husbandry is still characteristic for the inhabitants of the village today, and some of them engage in traditional crafts such as bricklaying. However, the cultural contents connected to the everyday life of the Saxon community and to their feasts are mere memories today. The Saxon community itself is simply missing, due to their emigration.
Prince Charles' regular presence not only strengthened the self-esteem of local people, but significantly contributed to the increase of tourist traffic. His interest in the village, his royal support of the cultural values is considered to be an engaging attraction by itself: the tourists arriving here due to his interest want to see and experience the values of Viscri and its surroundings, which are considered to be valuable by the prince.
They want to see, get to know the things Prince Charles was attracted by. They are curious about the culture or the environment. What did Prince Charles see in this place [...] That's what they want to know! (W.F., Saxon man in the village)
And Prince Charles [...] We are grateful to him, because it is thanks to him that tourists come here and thus we can get by! For if this did not exist, we could hardly make a living! We could hardly make a living... (Roma woman selling socks at her gate)
4 Ever since MacCannell (1973) first emphasized the key role of authenticity in tourism, it has been an important topic in sociological studies, resulting in various theories attempting to explain the term in the context of tourism. The trend is most evident when a huge number of destinations are branded as authentic (Terziyska, 2012). Being focused in the process of tourism development and its consequences for local communities, we consider authentic to be what local people and tourists consider it to be. Although we are aware that authenticity is a socially constructed, negotiated concept and is not a permanent property of the toured object. (Cohen, 1988)
Several of the families in the village run guest houses today. Among them there are Saxons consist of those have never left this place and those who came back, families moved here from abroad or from larger towns, people living in two places, and entrepreneurs. The Saxon families remaining here can be considered the most active members of the local community and of hosting tourists. Among the families moving here, there are two categories. The first are retired couples from abroad who came to Viscri looking for a simple way of living, and they host tourists mostly as a hobby. The second category consists of young couples arriving here to find a relaxed life closer to nature, finding an excellent work opportunity in tourism instead of the loud and rapid life in big towns.
We had been working in an office and got bored of it. We got bored and bought a house in Viscri. We came to Viscri because we liked the village very much, but we did not want to get involved in tourism. We bought the house just like that. For a long time we came here only for holidays on our free days. But then we thought that we could in fact... move here! (R.G., woman to village from Bucharest)
The owners of some of the guesthouses are families with roots from the village but with their permanent dwelling-places and workplaces mostly in Brasov or Sighisoara. They use the house inherited from their parents or grandparents for hosting guests. Hospitality for them is mainly a summer-time activity. They take advantage of the opportunity to earn some extra money, as a consequence of the increasing numbers of visitors.
There are a total of 16 guesthouses in the village, with approximately 90 to 100 rentable beds, half of them functioning only periodically. Guesthouses generally have two or three bedrooms, mostly renovated, with bathrooms. In some guesthouses, former larders or smoke chambers were renovated into bathrooms or even bedrooms. An important element of authenticity is the character of the furniture of the guesthouses, although often with modified settings and ornaments, yet with their old design, reflecting tradition. Flower-modelled, handmade carved furniture and beds with drawers are the most important
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elements of the houses; these are completed by the handmade textiles and tile vessels.
We always tell tourists that here they cannot find too much comfort. That they are probably going to sleep in a drawer, smaller than a normal bed. But most of them, mainly those coming from abroad highly appreciate it (W.F., Saxon man remaining in the village)
By 2011, 105 buildings had been renovated in Vis-cri with the support of the MET. A significant part of these are dwelling houses and farmhouses, a part of the fortified church as well as the local school. In many cases, the foundation supported and provided professional assistance in the process of the transformation of these buildings into guesthouses.
Here we tried to give back the buildings their original colour, with the help of the foundation, to lime-wash the houses with their former original colours. We took off the newer strata of paint from the walls and had a look at the original colour of the house. Then we worked only with lime and sand, without cement, so we use traditional materials. Of course, it does not last for a long time. Cement lasts longer but we do everything again as the old people did, with lime and sand. (G.G., 46-year-old Saxon woman)
Based on their expectations, motivation and destinations, the owners of the guesthouses in Viscri differentiate tourists coming from abroad and from Romania. In their opinion, Romanian tourists are mainly attracted by the Prince's house; this can be experienced mostly when Prince Charles' visits are covered in the media. At the same time, some guesthouse owners think that, unlike foreign tourists, Romanians lay a greater emphasis on comfort and food.
Romanians come here because of the Prince's house, and a few of them because of the fortress, I think. Still, most of them because of the Prince's house. And because here there is silence, it is a village, and here they can find good food. (R.G., woman who moved to the village from Bucharest)
I think Romanians lay an emphasis on food, more than those coming from abroad. [...] But
they appreciate the environment, the castle, everything... as well. [...] But we know that in Romania people eat a lot, mainly meat. So they consider that food is important. In the case of foreigners, this is not so much the case. When they go somewhere, food is at the second place. I think this is a small difference - Romanians pay more attention to comfort and food. (G.G., 46-year old Saxon woman)
While Romanian tourists are rather attracted by Prince Charles' house, comfort and home tastes, foreigners appreciate the cultural and architectural heritage, the landscape and the values of authentic rural life. The include the silence, the cows finding their ways home by themselves, animals walking freely on the streets, and the architecture of the village. Albeit in a significantly smaller number, younger tourists mainly attracted by adventure and active leisure have also appeared in the village. They characteristically take hiking tours and ride their bicycle.
They [those coming from abroad] come because they consider the village interesting, because here things happen just like they had happened in their countries a long time ago [...] and they cannot find that in the Western world any more. So they appreciate that here cows can be seen on the streets, or hens or I don't know what. and that there are people here who use a hoe and plough with animals (R.G., woman moved to the village from Bucharest).
For those tourists who spend more than three days in the village, local people organise special programmes to present the atmosphere and the authenticity of the place. Guests can participate in everyday activities like dealing with the animals, feeding them, gardening, baking bread, making cheese, so that they can get a living experience about the special features of the regions. Riding horse carriages is popular; the carriage starts from the village and the tourists can get actively involved in the activities at »stations« like the blacksmith's workshop or the charcoal burner's near the village. After that, they can have a picnic at the edge of the forest. The last station is at the local brickmaker's. Curious tourists can look at and directly try out the process of forging horseshoes, making coal at the charcoal burner's, or making bricks and tiles at the brickmaker's. The
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shepherds pasturing at the edge of the village welcome the guests who can be the witnesses of milking, and making different dairy products, and they can also be the first tasters of the freshly made products. Moreover, Viscri and its surrounding preserve several fortresses and fortified churches that can be visited by tourists. Towns like Sighisoara, the Fâgâras Mountains and the not-so-known volcano crater in Racos are also nearby.
They can go with the carriages to the place where the sheep are, there can see how the sheep are milked, and how cheese is made. There was a charcoal-burner's place but that does not exist any more... [...] There is a blacksmith in the village, so one can go there, too. It is a very beautiful place, one can see how he is working with the windbag, the anvil, and he can even make a little horseshoe for the children. We have also got a brick maker... He can speak about his work, show the kiln and how the bricks are made, and tourists can even try it out... And they can also go truffle-hunting. (R.G., woman moved to the village from Bucharest)
Social Consequences of Tourism in Viscri
The increasing tourist traffic has brought about significant changes. Compared to the size of the population, it can be seen that the level of accommodations and the annual number of visiting tourists is significant: a village of hardly 400 inhabitants includes almost 100 accommodation facilities and approximately 10,000 tourists come here annually. In a short time, hosting guests has become the most important source of income, besides animal husbandry and agriculture, in which almost every inhabitant of the village participates directly or indirectly.
The owners of guesthouses are the most important, directly involved, but not the sole actors of the tourist industry. Their services are completed by guides and traditional craftsmen, which provide become commodified (sold) products, mainly targeted at tourists.
The advantage is that we can do things. It is a possibility by which many of us can make our daily bread directly or indirectly - either by opening a guesthouse or working at one. (R.G.,
woman moved here from Bucharest, owner of a guesthouse)
We have no time now for ourselves any more, we cannot sit and talk to each other in the evenings as we used to. Our summers are quite stressful. We have to work from dawn till late at night! (G.G., 46-year old Saxon woman)
Well, for me the biggest advantage is that this is how I can make a living. (W.F. guesthouse owner, one of the remaining Saxon men in the village)
Tourism is a source of living for the locals, especially for those with little education, who are unlikely find a job elsewhere. Almost all guesthouses have one or two permanent employees, occasionally supporting people to help with the work in the garden. Agriculture today is almost solely focussed on household animal husbandry and gardening, which are important parts of tourism, as the guests are looking for local flavours and products.
When the guests arrive, we have to show them the kitchen garden. They want to see where the tomatoes or bell peppers they are served on the table are grown. Often they pick them themselves, which is real fun for them (S.G., 76-year old Saxon woman)
Among the (re)invented and sold traditional activities emerges the production of woollen socks and felt slippers, closely connected to the traditions of the place and its authenticity: it symbolically reproduces them. Producing clothing items made of wool has been one of the traditional crafts performed by the women of Viscri, just as in many other Transylvani-an villages. The most important winter activities of young women and girls had been spinning, weaving, knitting, and felting. Simultaneously with industrialisation, these activities gradually disappeared from everyday routines, as industrially produced materials and cloth became readily available.
During the 1990s, traditional and agricultural activities again became more widespread in the village; not so much as a bare necessity, rather than as a »marketable« activity performed in the spirit of authenticity and tradition, which can be showcased as a local specialty. The reviving of the traditions in this manner is linked to a local inhabitant return-
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The Reinvention of Architectural Tradition
ing home from Germany. He used his connections to build a network for the sale of the products, in other words, he succeeded in finding a market for woollen socks and felt slippers. In the beginning, he relied on his connections and relatives in Germany; later, he formally established a foundation and made still more business connections. Today, felt slippers and knitted socks made by the women in the village are an important trademark of the settlement, and an integral part of its brand.
This is how the employee of the Viscri Incepe Foundation recalls the establishment of the foundation:
In 1999, a family from Germany bought a pair of socks from a poor woman, offering her some food in exchange. The second day, the woman came with another pair. After that the thing gained ground and other women also started to produce socks. Now we have an association called »Viscri incepe« (Viscri begins), with 95 women; 80 of them are permanent ones. But at one point we even had as many as 140 female contributors« (CB, 43-year old woman, works at the Viscri Incepe Foundation)
Knitting socks and making slippers are just the final stage of a more complex series of tasks, which provides work for almost every woman. This organic system of labour division is inclusive, democratic and horizontally integrates all the activities. It is a sort of social enterprise, which makes use of the local resources producing not only a marketable product, but also community capital: mutual trust, cooperation, and social status. The chain of production starts with the collection of local wool, which is bought by the foundation from local shepherds. This is followed by the careful cleaning and drying of the wool, jointly done by the women in the yard of the local spinning factory. The next step is spinning but, because the local spinning factory closed many years ago, the production of wool is outsourced to a spinning factory in Brasov. Once the wool comes back from the spinning factory, women start their work based on orders. The work carried out within the foundation is divided into two parts: knitting socks and the preparing of felt slippers. Knitting socks »...is different! It is a clean work!« (G.K., Roma woman working for the Foundation), and is much simpler. The produc-
tion of felt slippers necessitates much more strength, care and time.
Most of the prepared products are sent to Germany, while the rest can be bought in the local shop of the foundation. Sometimes, the producers sell their products in front of the gates of their own houses.
Obviously, increasing tourist traffic also has its drawbacks, which is perceived by the locals mainly in the change of the undisturbed atmosphere.
There are too many cars. The village had been more serene before, with more green areas. Now, as there are more and more cars coming, there are even fewer birds in the streets, because cars often hit them. [...] Then the green areas were more extensive. It was much more enchanting before. (G.G., 46-year old Saxon woman)
Summary
Most of the current studies investigating the local effects of tourism warn of its negative consequences. These usually point out the effects on the environment (see UNEP, 2005), the standardization and commodification of culture (Shepherd, 2002; Kneaf-sey, 2001), as the well as the loss of authenticity (Mac-Carnell, 1973) and the adaptation to tourist demands (Hall & Lew, 2009). We think that in this respect Vis-cri is somewhat different, as the tourism that is taking shape there is not only the engine of a successful sustainable development, but also a tool by which old and almost forgotten cultural values and crumbling architectural heritage are rediscovered. Traditional Transylvanian Saxon culture is not threatened by its commodification or staged authenticity, because it is (in fact) only living in memories. Tourism contributes to the sustaining and preserving of this memory. Moreover, all this is happening with the interests of the present village community being primarily kept in mind.
Our study reveals that the two very important characteristics of evolving tourism in Viscri are its effects of social integration and the respect for the specific features of the environment and landscape. The emergence and development of tourism in Viscri is not merely a consequence of the commodification of traditional architecture and culture but also an innovative social initiative. The aim of our ethnographic research was to understand the consequences of
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The Reinvention of Architectural Tradition
tourism on the local community and we discovered a successful model of Roma integration and social development. Naturally, these occur on a present-day scale, with a level of tourist traffic that is significant, yet does not overwhelm the settlement.
References
Cohen, E. (1988). Authenticity and Commoditization in Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 15(3),
371-86.
Eltetö, J. (1980). Eleskamra a templomerödben [Larder in the Fortified Church] In. P. Kövi, Erdelyi lakoma [Transylvanian Feast]. Bucharest, Romania: Kriterion. Fabini, H., & Fabini, A. (1991). Viscri. Transilvania in Kirchenburgen in Siebenbürgen. Berlin, Germany: Koehler & Amelang. Hall, C. M., & Lew, A. A. (2009). Understanding and Managing Tourism Impacts. An integrated approach. New York, USA: Routledge. Hollinshead, K. (2004). Tourism and New Sence: Worldsmaking and the Enunciative Value of Tourism. In C. M. Hall & H. Tucker (Eds), Tourism and Postcolonialism: Contested Discourses, Identities and Representations (pp. 25-42). Lon--don, England: Routledge. Ilarion, T. (2014). Ceausescu si problema sistema-tizärii rurale [Ceausescu and the Problem of Rural Systematisation]. Sfera Politicii. Anul 1989 in Europa de Est, 178. Kneafsey, M. (2001). Rural Cultural Economy: Tourism and Social Relations. Annals of Tourism Research, 28(3C), 762-783. MacCarnell, D. (1973). Staged Autenticity. Arrangements of Social Space in Tourist Settings. American Journal of Sociology, 73(3), 598-603. Porter, B. W., & Salazar, N. B. (2005). Heritage Tourism, Conflict and Public Interest. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 11(5), 361-370. Pozsony F. (1997). Az erdelyi szaszok jeles napi szoka-sai [Customs of Transylvanian Saxons on festive Days]. Csikszereda, Romania: ProPrint. Richards, G. (1996). Production and Consumption of European Cultural Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 23(2): 261-283. Richards, G. (2014): Tourism Trends: The Convergence of Culture and Tourism.
https://www.academia.edu/9491857/Tourism_ trends_The_convergence_of_culture_and_tour-ism. (11.12.2014.)
Schnell, H., & Steiner, J. (2009). Patrimoniu Mondial UNESCO. Ghid pentru sat sKi cetate. Viscri. Deutsch-Weisskirch [UNESCO World Heritage. A Guide for the Village and the Fortress. Vis-cri. Deutsch-Weisskirch]. Regensburg, Germany: Verlag Schnell & Steiner.
Shepherd, R. (2002). Commodification, Culture and Tourism. Tourist Studies, 2(2), 183-201.
Terziyska, I. (2012). Interpretations of Authenticity in Tourism. Science & Research, 4. http://www.aca-demia.edu/2073928/Interpretations_of_authen-ticity_in_tourism (11.12.2014.)
United Nations Environment Programme (2005) Making Tourism More Sustainable, http://www. unep.fr/shared/publications/pdf/DTIx0592x-PA-TourismPolicyEN.pdf (11.12.2014.)
Vogel S. (2001). Az erdelyi szaszok [Transylvanian Saxons]. Honismeret, 29(3), 96-104.
Wagner, E (2000). Istoria sailor ardeleni [The History of Transylvanian Saxons]. Bucure^ti, Romania: Editura Meronia.
Weiler, B., & Hall, C. M. (1993). Special Interest Tourism. London, England: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
36 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Original Scientific Article
Cultural and Historical Resources as a Factor for the Development of Sustainable Tourism: A Case Study of Lighthouses in the Northern Adriatic
Mirjana Kovacic
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Maritime Studies, mirjana051@gmail.com
Miha Markelj
University of Primorska, Ph.D. Student at Faculty of Tourism Studies - Turistica markelj.m@gmail.com
Alen Jugovic
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Maritime Studies ajugovic@pfri.hr
Lighthouses are distinct cultural landmarks and have a fundamental role in maritime safety, but it is rare to see them used as tourist attractions anywhere in the world.
Tourism on the Adriatic coast is predominantly based upon the concept of sun, sea and sand. In order to diversify the already existing products and attractions, selective forms of tourism have to be taken into consideration.
The purpose of this research is to present a new form of selective tourism that is based on the integration of lighthouses in the tourism sector. The paper will thus analyse lighthouses in Croatia that have been included in the »Stone Lights« project to determine whether their cultural and historical value has become devalued because of their integration into tourism services. Additionally, the research will examine the possibility of implementing the project with similar lighthouses in Slovenia and Italy.
Keywords: tourism, selective tourism forms, cultural and historical resources, lighthouses, Croatia, Italy and Slovenia
In the late 1990s, the company Plovput Ltd. in Split launched a complex investment project called »Stone Lights« to ensure the continuity of human presence in the lighthouses. The Croatian Adriatic has over 5000 of years history written on its stone sea cliffs; the Austria-Hungary Empire built a number of lighthouses on them in the 19th century. Often located in poorly accessible, isolated locations, lighthouses offer a unique sense of true beauty. Built of white stone, with walls a metre or thicker, lighthouses are among
Introduction
the most pleasant summer retreats on the Adriatic. Located in landscapes of particular beauty, nowadays they host tourists with adventurous spirits. Unlike the lighthouses in Croatia, lighthouses in Slovenia and northern Italy are not yet regarded as points of interest in the tourism sector even though they bear the same cultural and historical resemblance to those in Croatia.
Defining the Problem
Over the last two to three decades, global tourism trends have reflected a change in tourists' behaviour.
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Mirjana Kovacic, Miha Markelj
and Alen Jugovic
Cultural and Historical Resources as a Factor
for the Development of Sustainable Tourism
Nowadays, tourists' priority is to experience a destination, not merely to visit it. Since the mid-1980s, there has been a growing interest in forms of tourism that are closer to nature and offer individual experience (ecotourism) (Pancic Kombol, 2000). Because of the war in Yugoslavia, Croatian tourism was in decline, but since the mid-1990s tourism on the coast and islands has gradually begun to recover. Previously, the leading concept of tourism had been mass tourism development, focusing only on sun and sea tourism products and not on other natural and cultural attractions that the coastline could offer. This concept is slowly disappearing. However, there is a delay in the application of new ideas that are arising from the need to segment the tourism market. A redefinition of the old concept is needed, in which the application of selective tourist offers should be based on innovative tourist products that are able to satisfy increasingly demanding tourists (Jadresic, 1991; Lu-kovic, 2008).
Accommodation capacities are being restored, and the Croatian coast and islands are slowly becoming recognizable as a tourist destination and are coming into line with new trends in an increasingly demanding market. When comparing the structure of foreign tourists in Croatia, a greater diversification of sending tourism markets can be observed from 1998 to 2013 (Croatian Bureau of Statistics, 2015).
Currently, new elements are becoming included in the creation of the new image of Croatia as a coastal and island tourist destination. In an attempt to enrich the coastal tourism services and facilities with competitive and innovative tourism products, the promotion of lighthouses as tourism facilities has already started.
Theoretical Background
Globalization has changed the meaning of travel over the past century. Increasingly, it is becoming based on detachment from everyday life (Pearce, 1994, Ser-go & Tomcic, 1998). The bulk of tourism demand is physically concentrated in cities. There is a growing interest for destinations with a strongly visible sense of place, as a local response to the omnipresent global. In order to remain competitive in an increasingly demanding market, tourism products seek to emphasize local identity and, among other things, must integrate natural and cultural heritage.
Heritage sites also need to be preserved for future generations, because they represent one of the most important factors of local identity and are frequently one of the primary pillars of a recognizable tourism product.
Destinations that can offer psychophysical relaxation are becoming increasingly popular. "Seclusion" and "exclusivity" are terms that have been increasingly mentioned in the competitive tourist offers in most of the tourism strategies in the selected area of research.
Analysis of the Stone Lights Project
Croatia is one of the few countries in the world to integrate lighthouses as accommodation facilities in its tourist services without failing to satisfy the two abovementioned elements of modern tourism demand: the search for local identity and the aspiration for peace and quiet in an ecologically clean, natural environment. In contrast to other countries that have also started to convert lighthouses into tourism facilities (e.g. Chile, Scandinavian countries and the United Kingdom), the advantage of the lighthouses in Croatia is their position in attractive secluded locations. Lighthouses on Croatian islands and at the coast can satisfy a variety of tourism activities.
Lighthouses on the Adriatic Coast have always attracted attention with their air of mystery, as well as the attractiveness of the isolated locations on the islands and the coast. In ancient times, before lighthouses appeared, there were primitive guidance systems for vessels involving the burning of a torch on the tower at the entrance to the port. Lighthouses in the modern sense of the word were built on the Adriatic since the beginning of the 19th century when the Austro-Hungarian Empire, wishing to develop a powerful navy, erected an initial network of lighthouses. Because of the need for navigation and orientation at sea, the Austro-Hungarian Empire built a total of 65 lighthouses, from the oldest one at Cape Savudrija in Istria dating back to the 1818, to the youngest at Rivanjske Sestrice on the small island of Rivanj near Zadar, which was built in 1899. During the Second World War, many lighthouses were damaged or destroyed, and many lighthouse keepers died or went missing. During the 19th and 20th centuries, generations of lighthouse families lived in the lighthouses and maintained them. Since that period, new
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Cultural and Historical Resources as a Factor
for the Development of Sustainable Tourism
lighting systems and some upgrades of the facilities were made, but the cultural elements generally remained intact (Piplovic, 2003).
Since the automation of the lighthouses during the 1990s, and the introduction of GPS satellite navigation systems as well as radar technology in maritime traffic, the need for people in lighthouses has been significantly reduced and so lighthouses are losing their former navigation and residential functions (Seric, 2003 and 2004; Opacic, 2005).
About 15 years ago, an idea and vision for the management of lighthouses were formed with the aim of conserving and preserving them. The idea of lighthouses as tourist accommodation facilities opens the possibility of the financial self-preservation of cultural heritage monuments with their integration into tourist facilities and services. Furthermore, many European castles and palaces are involved in tourism not only as attractions but also as luxury accommodation facilities.
The conversion of a lighthouse rests largely on its protection; thus, examples of their connections within the tourism sector are rare (Opacic et al., 2010). In Chile, for example, the concept of organizing the physical surrounding of the lighthouses as a nature park was developed. Within the international movement for protecting lighthouses, Scandinavian countries attempted to develop alternative forms of income for the former lighthouse keepers and their families, while the lighthouses were restored as valuable cultural landmarks (Pearson, 1995). Unfortunately, today the majority of the lighthouses throughout the world, as well as in Croatia have no permanent inhabitants occupying their facilities.
In the late 1990s, the company Plovput Ltd. established the »Stone Lights« project, based on its posp itive experiences in the conservation of lighthouses by integrating history, ecology and tourism. The aim of the project was to preserve the cultural integrity of the lighthouses and to give them new meaning by remodelling their interiors into self-catering tourist apartments. In that way, financial means intended for the future renovation and preservation of lighthouses as cultural and historical monuments would be obtained (Plovput, 2011).
After having completed the analysis of the present situation and after the economic analysis of accommodation capacities in the process that occurred
from 2001 to 2009, 14 lighthouses (Savudrija, Rt Zub, St. John, Porer, Veli rat, Rivanjske sestrice, Prisn-jak, St. Peter, Host, Plocica, Struga, Susac, Palagruza and St. Andrija) were gradually included in the offer of tourism services. The intention is to remodel 28 more lighthouses into accommodation facilities. The overall area of all 48 lighthouses in Croatia is 10,398 square meters; 83% of which is living space and 17% are supporting facilities. The aforementioned information strongly indicates that lighthouses represent a significant tourism potential on the Croatian coast. Although the lighthouses offered to tourists differ in their attractiveness, size, number of apartments, vicinity of tourist destinations and traffic infrastructure, one of the most important preconditions for their successful implementation in tourism is location, according to which lighthouses are divided into three groups (Perisic, 2009):
-	lighthouses on the open sea on uninhabited islands
-	lighthouses situated on inhabited islands away
from island villages
-	lighthouses on the mainland close to urban villages.
Each group can offer different possibilities. While one group offers solitude on the island on the open sea, the other group offers the possibility of becoming familiar with the life of local people on bigger inhabited islands, and the third group of lighthouses, on the mainland, offers the possibility to learn about natural and cultural attractions in the immediate and distant areas.
Lighthouses on the open sea are situated mainly on uninhabited islands and offer solitude to the fullest extent (Robinson tourism). On such islands, the dream of having your own island is realized. Tourists can enjoy different natural and cultural attractions while exploring the surroundings. Lighthouses are usually rented by guests who are aware of the charms of the wilderness. Plovput has restored ten such lighthouses: St. John, Porer, Rivanjske sestrice, Prisnjak, Host, Plocica, Struga, Susac, Palagruza and St. Andrija.
Lighthouses situated away from villages on islands are favourable to those tourists who wish to have solitude, peace, time for bathing, fishing and
48 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Mirjana Kovacic, Miha Markelj
and Alen Jugovic
Cultural and Historical Resources as a Factor
for the Development of Sustainable Tourism
diving, but also a possibility to go to the village for essential needs. Tourist can go shopping, and they have the possibility of becoming familiar with the life and customs of local people. Such lighthouses are favourable for the development of nautical tourism, and they are becoming desirable destinations for numerous amateur sailors. There are two such lighthouses: Veli rat on the Island of Dugi otok and Struga on the Island of Lastovo.
Lighthouses on the mainland and close to urban centres are old attractive buildings providing accommodation in the lighthouse in an excluded location, beautiful beaches, but also all the conveniences of a tourist site in an urban place on the coast (Perišic, 2009; Kovačic et al., 2011). As they are located on the mainland, tourists can use their own cars for their arrival, sightseeing and for becoming familiar with the natural and cultural attractions in the immediate and distant areas. Such lighthouses situated near coastal urban places are: Savudrija on the cape of the same name on the western coast of Istria, Rt Zub between Novigrad and Poreč on the western Istrian coast and St. Peter's lighthouse located on the cape of the same name in Makarska.
Results
An analysis of tourist traffic to the lighthouses shows that the proximity and accessibility of the coast remains one of the most important factors of their tourist utilization (Plovput, 2014). It has been determined that the desirability of the lighthouse decreases proportionally with the distance from the mainland or from major populated islands. With closer and more accessible lighthouses, the tourist season lasts longer, and they attract tourists during the off-season more than the lighthouses on small, uninhabited islands in the solitude offshore. Differences in occupancy with respect to the categorization of apartments on the lighthouses have not been observed, which confirms the hypothesis that the most important feature is location and not apartment category for tourist traffic to the lighthouses (Opačic et al., 2010; Kovačic et al., 2011). Although the profitability of the project is relatively small and the period of cost recovery long, it has already been proven that tourism has enabled the preservation of Croatian lighthouses as a form of cultural heritage. In the long run, this is, along with the maintenance of lighthouses that supports the safety
of navigation, the most important result of the project.
Future tourism development for Croatian lighthouses must be based on the following preconditions (Kovacic et al., 2011):
-	rational use of the existing resource base,
-	promotion of environmental safety measures and infrastructural advancement preservation of cultural characteristics,
-	raising the quality of the experience of tourists and the quality of life of residents.
The Croatian islands and coastline also have not implemented all the possibilities that selective tourism offers, although the Adriatic coast in Croatia is, due to its geographical diversity, a perfect place for the development of many forms of selective tourism, including nautical, cultural and ecological tourism (Corluka, Matosevic, & Geic, 2013).
Nevertheless, the new type of tourism in lighthouses is slowly developing. It is marked by the proximity of the emissive market with a unique coastline and highly favourable climatic and hydrographical as well as navigational conditions. Alongside these favourable factors, it has to be mentioned that Croatia is one of the most visited tourist countries in the world. The natural characteristics of the Croatian coast, which are favourable for the development of all forms of maritime tourism, have encouraged other tourists, such as boaters, divers, Robinson tourists and others to visit this area, and thus the development of selective forms of tourism has been encouraged.
Regarding tourism in lighthouses, different factors that can increase the competitiveness of this form of tourism can also be identified, which can be categorized into more general ones and specific ones:
-	general factors include the climate, beauty and cleanliness of the sea, beautiful landscape that includes the diversity of the coast and islands as well as the settlements;
-	specific factors include airport accessibility in relation to major markets, personal safety and security of navigation, the number, arrangement and equipment of the lighthouses, the friendliness and education of the staff, other services, the attractiveness of services on mainland, and the prices of services.
48 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Mirjana Kovacic, Miha Markelj
and Alen Jugovic
Cultural and Historical Resources as a Factor
for the Development of Sustainable Tourism
If the above-stated factors are assessed properly, an increase of tourism demand in lighthouses can be expected in the future.
Implementation of the Project in Slovenia and Italy
Plovput's Stone Lights project could also represent a positive example of preserving the old Austro-Hun-garian lighthouses in Slovenia and Italy. In order to extend the successful project to Slovenia and in the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the research has identified 15 lighthouses (eight1 in Italy and seven2 in Slovenia) from which three lighthouses could adopt the Plovput Stone Lights project model.
The relatively small Slovenian coastline harbours a neocortical lighthouse that was built in the 19th century on the tip of the peninsula in the medieval town of Piran. Before the lighthouse, the church of St. Mary stood there. The church was modified into a lighthouse between 1871 and 1872 (Darovec et al., 2007). Attached to the lighthouse, there is also an area for the lighthouse family, similar to those of the lighthouses along the Croatian coast. Although the local community has begun attempts to restore the lighthouse tower, the Plovput model of converting the lighthouse into tourism accommodations facilities while preserving the cultural monument could be applied, and positive results could be expected.
Apart from the lighthouse in Piran, other lighthouses on the Slovenian coast are smaller in size and thus do not have the possibility of accommodating people.
On the Italian coastline in the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, eight different lighthouses can be identified. Historically, a part of the Italian coastline was also under the Austro-Hungarian Empire and thus the same type of lighthouses as in Croatia and Slovenia can also be found in Italy. The two most appropriate sights to adopt Plovput's model are the lighthouse in Trieste Molo Santa Teresa and the lighthouse in Bibione near the Tagliamento river es-
1	The lighthouses in Italy are: Tagliamento (Bibione), Punta Sottile, Vittoria, Trieste Molo Foraneo, Lanterna di Trieste, Molo Santa Teresa, Porto Franco Vecchio south Head, Porto Franco Vecchio north Head.
2	The lighthouses in Slovenia are: lighthouse at Rt Debeli rtič, west (breakwater) mole at Port of Koper, east (breakwater) mole at Port of Koper, lighthouse in Izola, lighthouse at Piran peninsula, Piran harbor lighthouse (west) and Piran harbor lighthouse (east).
tuary. Both of them reflect the Austrian architectural style and have a place where the lighthouse family used to live.
The lighthouse in Bibione was built in 1913 and later rebuilt after being bombed in 1917. Today, the building is in the hands of a local custodian and does not have a proper management plan (Lighthouses of Northern Italy, 2014). Plovput's model could thus also be implemented here. The lighthouse in Trieste Molo Santa Teresa is home to the Trieste section of the Italian Naval League and thus cannot be used in future tourism development because it already has an established management plan (Auriemma & Ka-rinja, 2008).
Apart from the abovementioned lighthouses, the Italian coastline consists of several smaller ones that do not have the possibility of accommodating people and a bigger one called the Faro della Vittoria in Trieste. This lighthouse is 70 meters high and was constructed from white marble stone from Vrsar in Istria but does not bear an architectural resemblance to the ones built in the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The lighthouse was constructed in 1927 and dedicated to the Italian victory in the First World War (Vittoria lighthouse, 2014). Clearly, Plovput's model is also not applicable here because the tourism offer of the lighthouse is limited only to towers with a viewpoint.
Conclusion
In an attempt to enrich the tourist offer in the Croatian coastal area with competitive and (in a global framework) innovative tourism product, in 2001 the company Plovput Ltd. (Split, Croatia) started to convert lighthouses on the Croatian islands and along the coast into tourist accommodation facilities.
With the implementation of the Stone Lights project, lighthouses are gradually being included in the offer of tourism facilities and services in Croatia while preserving traditional cultural elements of the lighthouses as well as their natural surroundings. The positive effects of the project can be seen when funds are generated for the conservation maintenance and revitalization of the lighthouses, which are important as cultural heritage monuments.
According to data about tourist traffic on the lighthouses in Croatia, it is clear that the proximity and accessibility of the coast remains one of the most
48 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Mirjana Kovačic, Miha Markelj
and Alen Jugovic
Cultural and Historical Resources as a Factor
for the Development of Sustainable Tourism
important factors of their tourist utilization. With closer and more accessible lighthouses, the tourist season lasts longer, and they attract tourists during the off-season more often than the lighthouses on smaller uninhabited islands do.
Although the profitability is relatively small and the period of cost recovery long, it has been proven that the income of tourism has been used in the conservation of the lighthouses. This is the most important result of this project. Tourism on Croatian lighthouses supports the principles of sustainable development and has a wider social importance. The research results presented in this paper show that the selective types of tourism encourage sustainable tourism development in all its aspects and are compatible with regional development concepts. Tourism in lighthouses in the Northern Adriatic has a future because it represents an innovative tourism product and because it restores cultural heritage monuments and gives them new meaning.
References
Auriemma, R., & Karinja, S. (2008). Terre di mare. Trieste: University of Trieste and the Maritime Museum Piran. Croatian Bureau of Statistics. (2015). Retrieved June
26, 2015, from www.dzs.hr Corluka, G., Matoševič, M., & Geic, S. (2013). Selective Forms of Tourism, The Way of Extending the Summer Season. Economy Trandisciplinarity Cognition, 16(2), 88-96. Darovec, D., Panjek, A. & Kavrečič P. (2007): Srce Istre, poti kulturne dediščine. Koper: Založba Annales.
Jadrešic, V. (1991): Selektivni turizam pouzdano sredstvo za revitalizacij u prostorno ekološke i kulturne baštine Hrvatske. Turizam: medunarodni znanstveno-stručni časopis, 2(1), 5-16. Kovačic, M., Favro, S., & Perišic, M. (2011): Swot Analysis of Sustainable Development of Croatian Lighthouses. Conference book of 30th International Conference on Organizational Science Development. Future Organization, 1(1), 818-827. Lighthouses of Northern Italy (2014). Lighthouses in the Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Veneto. Retrieved June 24, 2014, from http://www.unc. edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/itane.htm
Lukovic, T. (2008): Selektivni turizam Hrvatske, ili znanstveno istraživačka potreba. Časopis Acta Turistica Nova, 2(1), 51-74.
Opačic, V. T., Favro, S., & Perišic, M. (2010). Tourv ism Valorisation of Lighthouses on Croatian Islands and Along the Coast. Procedings book of the 1st International Conference on Science Development, 1(1), 37-51.
Opačic, V. T. (2005): Svjetionici hrvatskoga turizma. Retrieved June 2, 2014 from http://www.geografi-ja.hr/članci
Pančic Kombol, T. (2000): Selektivni turizam. Uvod u menadžment prirodnih i kulturnih resursa. TMCP Sagena 1(1), 26-30.
Pearce, D. G. (1994). Alternative Tourism. Concepts, Classifications and Questions. In V. L. Smith & W. R. Eadington (Eds.), Tourism Alternatives, Potentials and Problems in the Development of Tourism (p. 15). John Wiley& Sons.
Pearson, L. F. (1995). Lighthouses. Buckinghamsire, U.K.: Shire Publications LTD.
Perišic, M. (2009). Lighthouses as a Part of Tourist Offer Being Specific tourist Destination. Interdisciplinary Management Research, 5(1), 381-395.
Piplovic, S., (2003): Izgradnja i održavanje svje-tionika na istočnom Jadranu. Godišnjak zaštite spomenika kulture Hrvatske, 27(1), 185-207.
Plovput d.o.o. (2014). Official company webpage. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.plovput. hr/pomorska-signalizacija/svjetionici
Plovput d.o.o. (2011). Hrvatski svjetionici - Croatian lighthouses. Split: Plovput d.o.o. Split, Print d.o.o., Split.
Šeric, N. (2003). Ekološki turistički projekt Kamena svjetla - Čuvari lanterni povijesnih vrijednosti. Jadranska metereologija 48(1), 74-80.
Šeric, N. (2004). Kamena svjetla: priče i legende o jadranskim svjetionicima, o mjestima na kojima su izgradeni i o njihovom podmorju. Split: Marjan ti-sak.
Šergo, Z., & Tomčic, Z. (1998): Kreiranje turistickih potreba u selektivnom turizmu, Medunarodni kongres Hotelska kuca 98. Hotel u turistickoj des-tinaciji. Zbornik radova, 1(1), 311-320.
Vittoria lighthouse (2014): Information about the History of the Lighthouse. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.potiprvesvetovnevojne. si/code/41711/Svetilnik-posvecen-italijanski-zma-gi-v-prvi-svetovni-vojni-(Faro-della-Vittoria)
52 j Académica Turística, Year S, No. 1, June 2015
Original Scientific Article
An Analysis of Tourist and Passenger Vessel Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
Katarina Mušič
University of Primorska, Faculty of Tourism Studies - Turistica katarina.music@fts.upr.si
Janez Mekinc
University of Primorska, Faculty of Tourism Studies - Turistica janez.mekinc@fts.upr.si
Helena Cvikl
Višja strokovna šola za gostinstvo in turizem Maribor helena.cvikl@vsgt-mb.si
Tourism is acutely dependent on safety, as it is one of the most important competitive advantages; this is true for nautical tourism and tourist transportation on tourist and passenger vessels. This paper presents the first comprehensive analysis of tourist and passenger vessel accidents in the Slovenian Sea for the period from 2007 to 2011, using data provided by the Maritime Administration of the Republic of Slovenia.
On the basis of statistical data, we analysed the relationship between the number of vessels and the number of accidents; the causes and number of accidents, and the distribution of accidents, according to months and years. The research problem was devised to reveal the causes and common characteristics of tourist and passenger vessel accidents, thus enabling the creation of proposals for measures to reduce them. This paper presents a historical overview of the worst maritime accidents, their causes, and their consequences. Equally important is establishing the research problem, the international regulations, and the fundamental elements of the legal basis for the provision of maritime safety in Slovenia. The analysed results show that there are relatively few maritime accidents involving tourist and passenger vessels; the usual reasons for the accident were avoiding other vessels and docking in port, the consequence of human error, and strong tramontana winds, as natural causes. The methodology for monitoring and recording statistical information about accidents including tourist and passenger vessels is inadequate, and urgent improvements are required for an in-depth analysis.
Keywords: safety, Slovenian Sea, vessels, maritime accidents, tourism, nautical
Introduction
The impact of globalization on the processes taking place around the world is the greatest in the tourism industry. Globalization and modern forms of transport can transport tourists to even the remotest destinations. Places, events and people from different
parts of the world have become more accessible than ever. Alongside modern telecommunications and the Internet, which is a significant factor in globalization is the development of transportation. Increasingly, new and modern roads and advanced and safe cars allow us to travel ever faster from Point A to Point
Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015 | 53
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Katarina Music, Janez Mekinc and Helena Cvikl	Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
B. The development of trains over the past three decades is also very evident, as they have become faster and more comfortable, but they are used for short and medium distance travel, and not for longer trips, for which air transport is preferred. In Slovenia, the development of rail passenger traffic in recent decades has virtually stalled.
The greatest development in the last five to seven decades has been in that of air transport, with technologically advanced aircraft and airports. Even in commercial terms, aircraft have undergone remarkable development; consequently, the whole world is now interconnected by flight paths. For passengers, flights are practical and safe, and the recent rise of popular low-cost providers has brought airline tickets within reach of large numbers of people.
Mention should also be given to water transportation, i.e. river and maritime transport. Individuals have engaged in marine and sea travel since ancient times. The first records of regulated shipping are from 5th century B.C Egypt. (Timerime, 2010). At present, shipping remains one of the most important means of transport for goods and people. How important shipping is to the world economy is shown by the fact that 90% of the world's cargo is transported by cargo ships (UNCTAD,1 2012). Sea freight transport is, of course, of a much greater magnitude than passenger transport; thus, cargo ships are much more prone to accidents. Especially notable are oil tanker accidents, since they are usually accompanied by ecological disasters as a result of oil leakage (EMSA,2 2010).
Accidents also occur with maritime passenger and tourist traffic. Such accidents cause considerable material damage and casualties. In a review of cruise ship accidents up to 2012, the cruise ship RMS Titanic still ranks in the first place. Human error is responsible for approximately 70 percent of maritime accidents while sailing, along with extreme weather conditions and equipment failure (Marine Insight, 2012). In cases of human error, the crew of the ship or its shipmaster must be held accountable for their mistakes and even prosecuted. The most recent notable example was the Costa Concordia ship disaster (Saltzman, 2013).
In the 21st century, tourism is a modern global culture and leading industry; in Slovenia, it is also
1	United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
2	European Maritime Safety Agency
one of the main economic sectors, as the 105,500 people employed in tourism during 2012 earned as much as 13% of the nation's GDP (Černič, 2013). From the tourism perspective, Slovenia has three strategic areas: nautical tourism at the coast, gambling-entertainment tourism along the borders and health tourism inland (GZS,3 2011). Nautical tourism is developing rapidly. The world already has several million tourist boats (yachts, motor boats, sail boats, etc.) of varying types and sizes. The Gulf of Trieste, as the most northern end of the Mediterranean, covers 551 km2, one-third (180 km2) belonging to the Slovenian Sea (Zavarovana območja in njihov pomen za turizem..., 2004), has become one of the world's most important waterways for a variety of raw materials by being the shortest transport link between Central and Eastern Europe. Increasingly, it is becoming significant for maritime transport. With the development of tourism, nautical tourism is also developing in the Slovenian Sea, bringing a significant share of income to the economy (Božič, 1999). The development of passenger transport, nautical tourism and cruise tourism in the Slovenian Sea has required deepening of the seabed, replacing fenders and installing new cleats4 for larger capacities, especially at the Koper passenger terminal (Turk, 1999), and the redevelopment of the existing coastline.
Coastal nautical tourism is an important component of tourism supply and tourism product, especially for tourists who strongly favour it. At the advent of nautical tourism in Slovenia, which dates back to just after the Second World War, such tourists were typically from the wealthier classes. Accordingly, their vessels were also large. Over the past three decades, however, due to the increases in the standards of living, nautical tourism has become a mass phenomenon. Data on the global extent of nautical tourism in other countries states that around 100 million people engage in it, of which 20 million were Europeans, and that the annual growth rate accounts for around 3 to 4% from 2009 to 2011 and prior to that up to 10% (GZS, 2011). The northern location of all three marinas in the Slovenian Sea means that foreign nautical tourists from neighbouring and
3	Gospodarska zbornica Slovenije - Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia
4	Ship or harbour equipment used for mooring ships and other vessels
54 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Katarina Mušič, Janez Mekinc and Helena Cvikl
An Analysis of Tourist and Passenger Vessel
Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
Central European countries predominate. The majority are Italians, Germans and Austrians. Vessels between 10 and 12 metres long are the most common.
Safety in nautical tourism is crucial to its development. Therefore, we decided to prepare an initial analysis of passenger and tourist vessel accidents in the Slovenian Sea to determine whether there are characteristics that define such maritime disasters. The analysis will focus on identifying the trends and characteristics of accidents of maritime passengers and tourist vessels in the Slovenian Sea.
Research Problem
In this study, we analysed data on marine tourist vessel accidents in the Slovenian Sea for the 2007-2011 period. In the Nautical Guide to the Slovenian Sea and Coast, tourist vessels (ships and boats) are defined as those intended for sport and entertainment (GIS,5 2013). In our study, we use the same terms, but in addition to ships and boats, motor yachts and sailing boats are also represented in the survey. Under maritime law, a vessel is defined as an object that is designed for navigation at sea. For accident characteristics, we identified the causes and consequences, time periods over months of the year, the nationalities of the complainants and the offenders. It is necessary to state the basic technical concepts that define each marine accident to understand the analysis. Particularly important is the difference between two similar concepts (maritime) incident and (maritime) accident. The difference stems from the concept of safety, which in English is determined by the words »security« and »safety«. »Security« refers to actively ensuring safety, which also includes the technology and regulations that ensure safety. The word »safety« is defined as situations where the risks and threats of adverse events are kept to a minimum. Notwithstanding the fact that the word »safe.-ty« in Slovenian covers both aspects of safety (Cvikl & Artie, 2007), the Slovenian language distinguishes the concept of an »accident« (Eng. Incident) that dee fines the event in which a person is injured or dies, and an »accident« (Eng. Accident), in which a person is injured, but also adversely affected materially (SSKJ). Insurance companies in Slovenia define an incident as an event that is unexpected and unintentional, and at the same time causes injury requiring
5 Geodetic Institute of Slovenia
medical care (Zavpro, 2012). The Protection Against Natural and Other Disasters Act (1994) defines an accident as: »an event or series of events caused by uncontrolled natural and other forces that affect or threaten the life or health of people, animals and property, cause damage to cultural heritage and the environment to the extent that it is, for their control and management, necessary to use special measures and resources.« According to the different use of the words »incident« and »accident«, it is not surprising that the Regulations for the Investigation of Marine Accidents (2011) defines »marine accident« as any incident on board or in relation to a ship, in which a person dies or suffers serious physical injury in connection with the operation of the ship; a person falls overboard due to the operation of the ship; the ship is lost, assumed lost or abandoned; the ship is damaged; the ship runs aground unless it is deliberately short-term and, therefore, undamaged; the ship is unfit to sail; ship collision; property damage caused by the ship's operation or contamination of the environment due to ship damage or the operation of the ship«. The regulations define a severe accident as a »maritime accident in which a ship is destroyed, a person dies, or there is significant pollution of the environment«. In Slovenia, the majority of tourist voyages are undertaken as domestic journeys, primarily for transporting passengers between two or more Slovenian ports.
The subject of our study covers international and Slovenian legislation in this field and the parties who are responsible for implementing all the necessary measures for safety at sea. International standards directly specify safety at sea, which are defined in various international legal instruments and summarized and aligned with the Slovenian legislation for ensuring safety at sea. The implementation of standards and measures to ensure safety and the responsibility of different parties are defined below. Shipping is one of the most important industries in the world, but also one of the more dangerous (IMO6, 2011). The safety of shipping is determined by international regulations, which are adopted and implemented by all maritime countries. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), the Paris MoU7
6	IMO - International Maritime Organization
7	Paris Memorandum - Paris MoU - The organization consists of 27 participating maritime Administrations
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Katarina Mušič, Janez Mekinc and Helena Cvikl
An Analysis of Tourist and Passenger Vessel
Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
on Port State Control and the International Maritime Organization based in London are the international institutions and authorities responsible for establishing uniform regulations and standards and, consequently, maritime safety (GIS, 2013). The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) includes all the coastal states and states that have an interest in the progress and effectiveness of maritime safety. Member states promote protection, sustainable development and concern for the maritime environment. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is an umbrella organization concerned with the safety of maritime traffic (GIS, 2013). Founded in 1959, it is responsible for ensuring safety at sea, on the basis of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). This convention is the fundamental international regulation dealing with maritime safety. It defines safe ship construction, fire safety, organizations that carry out rescues for incidents and accidents, radio communications standards, maritime navigation/sailing and other safety regulations that relate to vessel safety. The IMO also approves international rules about procedures for the collision of two or more vessels, as well as the international standards for sailors The IMO plays a very important role in the development and adoption of international rules on maritime liabilities and pollution, and for the transport of dangerous freight. The Paris Memorandum (Paris MoU) encompasses the methods and international standards of supervision and a review of a vessel's compliance with international environmental standards, standards of safety and security. It also relates to the safety standards and appropriate living/working conditions for crew members (Paris MoU, 2010).
International Dimensions of Sea Accidents
Research has shown that maritime rescue services have been interconnected since the 18th century, but participation today continues under the auspices of the International Lifeboat Federation (ILF) (Evans, 2003). »Marine Insight« (2012) published a new list of the ten largest cruise ship disasters. Despite the expectation that such accidents would be in decline due to modern technologies, statistics shows the op-
and covers the waters of the European coastal States
and the North Atlantic basin from North America to
Europe.
posite. Natural factors and human error remain most common causes of accidents at sea. The greatest number of maritime passenger casualties (1,517) recorded in the history of sea transport is still that from the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The tragedy resulted in a strong fear of travelling by cruise ship. In 1934, 137 passengers lost their lives when the SS Morro Castle caught fire. Sailing along the coast of New York, they failed to extinguish the fire due to a lack of fire-fighting equipment, and the vessel burned and sank with all passengers on board. This has earned it an unenviable second place on this scale. The third place goes to the Royal Pacific Cruise, which experienced an incident in 1992 in Greek waters colliding with another ship. Of the 530 passengers, 30 lost their lives, and 70 were injured. In fourth place with 32 victims, the Costa Concordia is ranked as the most recent of cruise ship disasters. It ran aground off the Italian coast, with more than 4,000 passengers on board. Some people were able to jump off the ship and swim to shore 400m away. In fifth place is ranked the luxury Club Royale casino cruise ship, which sank in 1995 during the storms of Hurricane Erin. There were no passengers on board; however, 8 of the 11 employees who were on board the ship at that time lost their lives (Marine Insight, 2012).
In recent years, the European Union has invested great efforts in increasing safety at sea. In doing so, they have adopted rules focussed on enforcing high standards of passenger and crew safety and for reducing pollution. The EU's encouraging approach in rewarding companies that invest in maritime safety, while at the same time punishing companies that make shortcuts, when it comes to safety and pollution, for higher profits can be positively assessed (European Commission - Maritime transport, 2014). Furthermore the difference in the authority of the United States Coast Guard and the EU is noteworthy, as the EU rules check the safety requirements and standards solely for cargo and passenger ships, while in the United States, the Coast Guard also checks the safety of other sailing vessels (USCGAUX8, 2013).
The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), consisting of all the EU Member States and Norway, collates a review of passenger vessels in maritime accidents. The total number of maritime accidents increased in 2010 compared to 2009 and 2008, while in
8 United States Coast Guard Auxiliary
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An Analysis of Tourist and Passenger Vessel
Katarina Music, Janez Mekinc and Helena Cvikl	Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
2007 there were 149 shipping accidents. In 2008 (134 creased in comparison with 2007 (147 incidents); in incidents) and 2009 (135 incidents), the number de- 2010 the number of incidents again increased to 147.
Table 1 Number of passenger ship accidents/incidents in 2007-2010
Cruise ships	2007	2008	2009	2010
Sinking	4	0	0	2
Collision/Contact	73	77	80	70
Running aground	24	26	30	22
Fire/Explosion	17	17	11	30
Other	31	14	14	23
Total	149	134	135	147
Source: EMSA Maritime Accident Report 2010
The data reveal that accidents due to collision and running aground have decreased. We can conclude that the reason for such a trend is the modern technologies and equipment, which have allowed the crew to better control the ship's navigation. In other categories, in which human error is considered to be the underlying cause, the number of maritime accidents of passenger vessels has risen. In 2010, there were as many as 30 cases of maritime accidents due to fire/explosion, while the numbers in previous years
Table 2 Fatalities on cruise ships
	2007	2008	2009	2010
Fatalities on passenger ships	10	6	4	7
Source: EMSA Maritime Accident Report 2010
In its annual report for 2010, the Spanish Commission for Maritime Safety presented some interesting findings, stating that a third of all maritime accidents were due to human error, faulty equipment or unforeseen circumstances. The Spanish institutions responsible only investigated in detail those accidents that they considered would provide information to assist in the implementation of measures to improve maritime safety (CIAIM,9 2010), which is certainly an interesting approach. Thus, in 2010, they investigated 31 accidents of passenger vessels from a total of 91 officially registered accidents. Similarly, the relevant Slovenian institutions also empha-
9 Standing Commission for Maritime Accident and Incident Investigation
54 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
ranged from 17 (in 2007 and 2008) and 11 (in 2009). It should be noted that these statistics relate to passenger vessels that do not carry specific hazardous or flammable materials. In 2010, one ship sank in the harbour, the other on its way to the shipyard.
The number of fatalities on passenger vessels in the years 2007-2010 is similar; the highest in 2007 (10), the fewest in 2009 (4), while in 2010 the total was 7 people.
size that a detailed analysis of maritime accidents is important from the point of protection, rescue and assistance (ACPDR10, 2011). The same is also underscored by Husick (2009), who says that reporting on maritime accidents assists in determining the causes of accidents and making recommendations for their prevention.
International comparisons of statistical data show a growing number of maritime passenger vessel accidents, especially characteristic of the seas around Florida, both in the Atlantic and in the Gulf of Mexico. Those most affected are the maritime routes to the Bahamas and the Caribbean Islands. There is a
10 Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Civil
Protection and Disaster Relief
An Analysis of Tourist and Passenger Vessel
Katarina Music, Janez Mekinc and Helena Cvikl	Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
trend for increasing numbers of maritime accidents, which have been growing by 5% annually over the last ten years. This is true for large tourist cruisers, as well as sailing boats, yachts and water sport craft (Shackley, 1996).
Of particular interest is navigation safety in the neighbouring Croatian Sea. In Croatia, a large part of the tourist sea transport is carried out by public transport carriers, express lines and ferries. Vessels in this part of the Croatian Sea are the concern of the Agency for Coastal Lines and Maritime Traffic, which provides the rules for operators; publishes tenders and awards the rights for the provision of public transport (AOLPP,11 2014). The National Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre Rijeka (MRCC Ri-jeka) is the Croatian institution dealing with safety issues and accidents on the Croatian Sea. This institution only publishes information about all accidents at sea, both freight and passenger vessels. In 2010, it registered nine accidents, in which 24 people were injured, and one year later (2011) it registered 15 maritime accidents, in which 20 people were injured. The data shows that in addition to unfavourable weather conditions, the main causes of accidents were due to human or technical errors. The statistics highlight inexperience in navigation, lack of appropriate vessel equipment, or the failure to comply with the navigation rules. Croatia has recently tightened its legislation governing navigation safety in the Croatian Sea, with the intention of improving safety and reducing accidents.
Legal Basis for Providing Maritime Transport Safety in Slovenia
The favourable geographical location and the Mediterranean climate and the proximity to central Europe have logically dictated the development of nautical tourism and the construction of modern marinas on the Slovenian coast. Nautical tourism here, involving yachts, motor boats, sailboats and other types of vessels, has practically all the necessary elements available for modern nautical services: from safe moorings and specialized professional services, to the quality of the environment (GZS, 2011). In Slovenia, safety and standards and their development in the maritime sector are under the control of the Mar-
11 Agency for Coastal Lines and Maritime Traffic Republic of Croatia
itime Directorate, in collaboration with the Slovenian Maritime Administration, which operates within the Ministry of Infrastructure and Spatial Planning. There are also other entities that are responsible for maritime safety, such as the Maritime Police and Harbour Master. Slovenia is a member of all three international organizations that oversee international maritime safety: the International Maritime Organization, the International Hydrographic Organization and the Paris Memorandum (MZI RS,12 2013). The legal framework and regulation of maritime matters dealing with the safety of navigation on Slovenian territorial and internal waterways is the Maritime Code of Slovenia, which provides for safety at sea, imposing conditions that must be satisfied in the territorial seas and internal waterways, facilities for navigation safety, ports and anchorages, and the conditions which must be met by vessels and other floating devices and their crew (PZ,13 2001). Operational control and implementation of the terms of the Maritime Code is upheld by the Marine Police Station, located in Koper, and the Maritime Administration Port Harbour Masters.
In Slovenia, the majority of tourist trips are undertaken as internal journeys, carrying passengers between two or more Slovenian ports (PL,14 2011). Ships and other vessels are usually free to choose the shipping route between two ports, decided by the shipmaster on the basis of the current conditions (depth, draft, weather, etc.). However, when coastal states need to ensure safety for the most critical areas, they enact special maritime regimes, approved by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), according to which shipping must strictly observe these regulatory regimes. This is the case in the Slovenian Sea, where the waters surrounding the Cape of Savudrija and the Bay of Koper are less than two nautical miles from the coast, thus vessels are required to reduce speed to less than 12 knots (ACP-DR, 2011). In relation to the regulations concerning safe maritime navigation in the Slovenian Sea, it is noteworthy that two important features, i.e. the provision for the treatment of persons with reduced mo-bility15, which requires special attention from the op-
12	Ministry of Infrastructure, Republic of Slovenia
13	Maritime Code
14	Rules of Passenger Ships
15	These are individuals who have particular difficulty when
54 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Katarina Mušič, Janez Mekinc and Helena Cvikl
erator or a companion tourist sailing together, as they require additional help from employees and additional understanding by other passengers, and the 'blue' Freephone 080 18 00 number or specific radio frequency (VHF channel 16, channel 70 DSC, MMSI 002780200) access to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Spatial Planning (2013). The aforementioned measure provides an extra dimension of safety in the Slovenian Sea.
Research
Circumstances of Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
The Slovenian Sea covers 180 km2 and is part of the Gulf of Trieste in the Adriatic Sea. The length of the Slovenian coastline from the Gulf of St. Jernej on the Italian border to the mouth of the Dragonja River on the Croatian border is 46.6 km, while the distance by air is a mere 17 km. The largest by coastal proportion
Figure 1
damage), which can only be directly related to the risk of shallow water. Unfortunately, it does not include information on whether accidents were due to the vessel running aground or damaged by the shallows. The Slovenian Sea is exposed to the winds, especially the tramontana wind and the southerlies,
using public transport, including the elderly, disabled, individuals with special sensory needs and wheelchair users, pregnant women and individuals accompanying
An Analysis of Tourist and Passenger Vessel
Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
are the gulfs of Koper and Piran; important but smaller are those of Strunjan and Portorož (Klan-jšček and Radovan, 2005). Most of the coast is inaccessible by land due to its steep descent into the sea, and by the sea, due to the shallow water. The geomor-phological structure of the Slovenian coastal zone is highly diverse; 97% of the Slovenian Sea depths do not exceed 25 m; 60% of the sea is shallower than 15 m and 40% shallower than 10 m. Depths over 25 m occur only in less than 3% of the measurements (Klan-jšček and Radovan, 2005). The littoral shoreline is quite rocky and gravelly, and only partially covered with vegetation. The shallow waters represent a danger to navigation in the Gulf and are especially dangerous off the Cape of Savudrija. The information available deals with the causes of accidents (collision with an object, malfunction and engine damage, beaching, capsizing, and the steps taken to avoid hull
storms (especially in summer) and fog (especially in winter). There are three main freight ports in the Gulf of Trieste: Koper, Trieste and Trzic. Koper also has a terminal designed exclusively for maritime passenger transport. There are also three smaller ports
small children. At each such voyage, especially in case of an accident and evacuation of the vessel, priority is given to those individuals, and they are supervised even more closely and carefully.
Number of vessels ■ number of accidents
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
4391
4815
27
4997
4850
20
Relationship between the number of vessels* and the number of accidents
Source: SI - Stat, Slovenian Maritime Administration * Data on the number of vessels collected until 2010 (SI STAT)
Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015 | 55
Katarina Mušič, Janez Mekinc and Helena Cvikl
and marinas in the Slovenian Sea at Izola, Portorož and Piran (ACPDR, 2011). A quantitative analysis of the data, which was obtained from the website of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia along with data provided by the RS Maritime Administration, along with the Maritime Directorate of the Ministry of Infrastructure, was used. The data obtained were analysed; the results were tabulated and graphically represented.
For the purposes of our study, we analysed the number of vessels from Austria, Croatia, Italy, Germany and Slovenia; as in the surveyed period, only nationals from these countries reported an accident in the Slovenian Sea.
From Figure 1, it is clear that the greater number of vessels does not actually increase the number of accidents, which is an interesting figure for 2010;
2500 2000
Figure 2
The third table shows that, in most cases, the reported accidents involved Slovenian citizens, only one case was for Austrian (2007), Croatian (2008) and German (2010) nationals and twice for the nationals of Italy (2011). In all cases, Slovenian nationals were responsible for the accident. No data is recorded on serious or tragic accidents in the Slovenian Sea, but it is known that there was only one casualty with serious bodily injuries for within the entire surveyed period (2011).
Figure 3 shows that in 2010, most accidents (13) involved avoidance and docking. In comparison with
An Analysis of Tourist and Passenger Vessel
Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
while there are fewer vessels in the period from 2007 to 2010, the number of accidents is highest (34) and, in contrast, according to data from 2008, where the highest number of vessels was 4,997, the number of accidents that year is almost the lowest: 21 accidents. The fewest accidents happened in 2007: 4850 vessels with 20 accidents.
Figure 2 shows the number of vessels moored in the Slovenian Sea from 2007 to 2010; 2011 is unfortunately not covered in the survey, as the Statistical Office stopped collecting data on the number of vessels moored in the Slovenian Sea after 2010. As expected, the maximum numbers were national, thus Slovenian vessels, then Italian, followed by German, Austrian and finally Croatian vessels. Vessels of other nationalities can also be found around the Slovenian Sea, but they are comparatively few.
2011
1920
		1812		
			1472	
716				
Germany	Slovenia
the rest of the research period (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011), 2010 also shows more accidents with vessels at berth, as a result of a strong bora wind or tramontana. Ten such accidents were registered. The year 2010 had the highest number of vessel accidents (34) and in addition to the previously mentioned reasons, three accidents were due to malfunction or engine damage, followed by two accidents due to poor visibility, and another due to mast breakage and capsizing.
The year with the second highest number of vessel accidents is 2009, which recorded 27 vessel acci-
Austria	Croatia	Italy
2007 ■ 2008 2009 ■ 2010
Number of vessels by year and nationality of craft Source: SI - Stat, Slovenian Maritime Administration
Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015 | 55
An Analysis of Tourist and Passenger Vessel
Katarina Music, Janez Mekinc and Helena Cvikl	Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
Table 3 Notifications of accidents by year and nationality
Country of the applicant / year of accident	2007	200S	2009	20l0	20ll
Austria	i	0	0	0	0
Croatia	0	l	0	0	0
Italy	0	0	0	0	2
Germany	0	0	0	l	0
Slovenia	i9	20	27	33	22
Total	20	2l	27	34	24
Number of injuries	0	0	0	0	l
Source: SI - Stat
Figure 3
Damage to the hull Poor visibility Breaking the mast Avoidance and docking Vessels at berth (bora wind or tramontana) Capsizing Beaching
Malfunction or engine damage Collision with object Sinking Torn sail Damage to the rudder
0
Causes and number of accidents from 2007 to 2011 Source: Slovenian Maritime Administration
F
2011 2010
2009 2008 2007
10
12
14
dents. Most (8) were due to avoidance and docking, followed by seven accidents while at berth (strong bora wind, or tramontana), then four accidents due to a malfunction or engine damage, three accidents resulting from capsizing; the reason for two of these was poor visibility and beaching; one accident occurred due to mast breakage.
The year 2011 is next in line with 24 reported accidents, which mostly happened while at berth due to the strong bora winds or tramontana (9), followed by eight in order to avoid accidents and docking, then four accidents due to damage to the hull; only one accident occurred due to beaching, malfunction and damage to the engine, and sinking. In 2008,
there were 21 accidents reported; of this number, the most frequent accidents were due to collision with an object (7), followed by four accidents due to beaching, then three accidents due to malfunction or engine damage, two in order to avoid an accident and docking, and (after an accident due to poor visibility) capsizing, sinking, torn sails and rudder damage. In 2007, the biggest cause of vessel accidents was collision with an object, of which nine cases were recorded, followed by four cases of beaching, two cases of engine failure or damage and sinking, and one example of rudder damage, torn sails and capsizing.
The results show that most accidents occur while avoiding objects or docking at marinas and ports.
54 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Katarina Mušič, Janez Mekinc and Helena Cvikl
These types of accidents are caused by human factors, occurring due to negligence in navigation or docking due to bad information about the weather
8
Figure 4
Figure 4 shows the number of accidents by months and years. Most of them take place in July 2010 (7), or in August of 2009 (6), which can be attributed to increased traffic at sea during the summer months when Slovenia has its main tourist boating season. This is followed by five vessel accidents in October 2009, five accidents in May and June 2010 and five accidents in 2011. In the remaining periods, there were less than five accidents per month. It is interesting to note that at least one accident occurred each month in the period between 2007 and 2010, regardless of the tourist or nautical season.
The greatest total number of accidents (19) between 2007 and 2011 occurred in July, as well as 19 accidents in August, which is to be expected because of the two-month peak summer season.
Conclusion
The survey results confirm the fact that a small number of marine casualties and tourist passenger vessels accidents occur in the Slovenian Sea. In almost all cases, the accidents cause material damage. The number and causes of the accident cannot be objectively compared to the accidents of tourist and passenger vessels in other seas, as they differ in their
An Analysis of Tourist and Passenger Vessel
Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
conditions. The lack of information about the weather conditions is common to boats owned by foreign nationals.
characteristics, size, number of ports and marinas as well as the number of vessels. The methodology of data collection for tourist passenger vessel accidents varies from country to country. Even within the EU there is no uniform data collection. This causes a problematic grey area, making it difficult to judge how many accidents are reported and how many are not. As a rule, vessel owners only reported an accident in cases in which there was damage or when claiming insurance compensation for damage. The study has highlighted the problem of a lack of accident data collection, resulting in poor analysis, and consequently making it more difficult to make recommendations and propose preventive measures to reduce accidents.
The fundamental research findings tell us the two main causes of accidents in the Slovenian Sea. The most common is avoiding objects and docking. The risk could be reduced by the active role of a person at the marina or port to advise and assist in manoeuvring and docking the vessel, especially during the nautical tourist season of July and August. Based on the results of the research, those months are also affected by the most accidents and this applies to the entire research period. The second most common
/V*✓ ✓ * ✓ *//./y /
2007
2008
2009
2010 2011

Number of accidents by months and years Source: SI - Stat, Slovenian Maritime Administration
Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015 | 55
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Katarina Music, Janez Mekinc and Helena Cvikl	Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
cause of accidents in the Slovenian Sea is natural accidents while docked, occurring due to strong winds or the tramontana. In this case, the risk can be reduced by giving direct warnings about the suitability and adequacy of mooring, as operators often moor their vessels inadequately. While docking is often carried out in fine weather, vessel operators do not take account the circumstances resulting from the strong bora wind or the tramontana. Even for skipper exams, more attention should be given to safety. The number of accidents is also affected by inadequate marina or port facilities that are not sufficiently protected from strong winds. In this case, marina/ port management should eliminate or reduce their shortcomings in the infrastructure construction and technical developments. Similarly, additional precautionary information for vessel users on the liabilities and ownership of the marina and port properties can be effective. It is also proposed that it is reasonable to intensify measures that reduce the causes of accidents in July and August, when the peak season has the greatest number of accidents, according to the research. In addition, proactive steps to prevent accidents should consider in which country the vessels are registered (Italy, Austria and Germany, in addition to Slovenia) and that preventative measures should also be adapted to the official languages of those countries.
It should be emphasized that the Slovenian Sea, with less than 1,500 berths, has far fewer berths than the Italian part of the Gulf of Trieste, with 15,000 berths in 23 marinas (TFVG,16 2013) and Croatia, with 49 locations also with approximately 15,000 berths. The number of berths directly and indirectly affects the safety of the maritime traffic, so increasing the number of berths by building a modern marina in Koper would be a very welcome. Technological developments aimed at nautical and passenger tourism is also affected by the increase in the length of modern vessels. According to international estimates, vessels made for tourist and passenger purposes are being built about 40 cm longer each year, on average. Similarly, this requires appropriate action in the modernization and construction of marinas on the Slovenian Sea.
According to the statistics of all maritime disasters, we can conclude that the number of accidents
16 Tourismo Friuli Venezia Giulia
in the European area is declining. The area with the highest number of accidents remains the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, but even there the number of accidents has been declining from year to year. In the tourism sector, there has been a strong trend in passenger growth over the last 10 years on large cruise ships, whether in the Mediterranean Sea, Indian Ocean, Gulf of Mexico or around the Caribbean. Due to such large numbers of passengers, while there may be fewer vessel accidents, the consequences can be tragic and generate a great deal of publicity. In 2012, there were three cruise ship accidents, among which, the most notable was the Costa Concordia ship disaster, which killed 32 people (MIT,17 2012). The accident has raised many questions and concerns about ensuring safety during emergencies on large cruise ships and the adequacy of international regulations governing this area. An even more tragic accident took place on the Rabaul Queen ferry in February 2012, with 162 victims. The cause of the accident was bad weather conditions in the Solomon Sea, and the overloading of passengers (Warwick et al., 2012). Another notable incident was the sinking of the luxury yacht Yogi, awarded as the most innovative yacht in its category in 2011. Sailing along the coast of the Greek island of Skyros in the Aegean Sea, it sank due to a combination of several causes: mechanical failure, heavy seas and strong winds. Such media coverage of accidents has led to international organizations and associations to accept stricter and more up-to-date regulations for maritime safety. Greater safety is possible through the development of modern vessel technology, providing detailed information on sea conditions and in the marina/port, easier vessel manoeuvrability and other advanced vessel safety components. In this context, both large passenger ships and smaller passenger-carrying vessels are taken into account. Due to the high competition in the supply of marine technology has become cheaper and more widely available among different customer groups. The development of marine technology is one of the key element of marine safety.
The vision of Slovenian tourism and its development strategy are based on sustainable and responsible tourism, which is also true for nautical tourism. Tourist vessel accidents, unlike cargo vessel accidents, represent a lower risk for ecological disasters.
17 Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport
54 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
An Analysis of Tourist and Passenger Vessel
Katarina Music, Janez Mekinc and Helena Cvikl	Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
However, due to its small scale and the sensitivity of the Slovenian Sea, tourist vessel accidents could also cause ecological disasters affecting the natural heritage of the coastal communities. In the three coastal municipalities, there are eight formally protected areas, including six18 that are directly or indirectly related to public access to the sea (Rejec and Brancelj, 2003). Tourist vessel accidents, such as fire and shipwreck, may cause environmental damage due to the spillage of fuel or other toxic substances. Maritime accidents that directly threaten the ecosystems of the Slovenian Sea also impact the natural value of these protected areas and can have a direct or indirect impact on the economy of the coastal communities.
The findings of this research show that the safety of maritime traffic and tourist passenger vessels is crucial for the development of nautical tourism as a promising, commercially attractive and environmentally friendly activity. Therefore, applying systematic improvements, upgrades and updates to all the elements will provide and increase safety in the Slovenian Sea. The competitiveness of nautical tourism also aids in the development of the quality of safety, in marinas and ports, as well as during the voyage.
Notwithstanding the limitations in capturing the statistical data that we have observed, the study will continue and analyse maritime tourism passenger vessel accidents in the next few years, and, of course, compare those results of the analyses presented here.
References
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Standing Comission for Maritime Accident and Incident Investigation. (2010). Annual Report. Retrieved 15.1.2013 from http://www.fomento.gob. es/NR/rdonlyres/9EE5i9i9-E774-4272-ADE4-FD-07DDAA5102/103092/Report2010.pdf Cvikl, H., & Artič, N. (2007). Security, a Fundamental Component of Hotel Quality in the Future. Hotel-link, 4(9-10), 523-529. Černič, P. (2013). Slovenian Tourism in Numbers.
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Accidents in the Slovenian Sea
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dro~cja/vode/poro~cila_in_publikacije/Vodno_ bogastvo_6morje.pdf United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. (2013). Vessel safety check. Retrieved 20. 1. 2013 from http:// wow.uscgaux.info/content.php?unit=V-DEPT Uredba o preiskovanju pomorskih nesreč. (2011). Uradni list Republike Slovenije, (67/2011), 9221. Retrieved 29. 1. 2013 https://www.uradni-list.si/1/ content?id=104975 Zakon o varstvu pred naravnimi in drugimi nesrečami. (1994). Uradni list Republike Slovenije. Retrieved 2. 1. 2013 from http://www.uradni-list.si/1/ objava.jsp?urlid=199464&stevilka=2183 Zavarovana območja in njihov pomen za turizem: morska učna pot: Mesečev zaliv in njegovi zakladi: strokovni seminar in terensko delo, 28-29 november 2003 (2004). Strunjan, Koper: Univerza na Primorskem Warwick, A., et al. (2012). Commission of Inquiry into the Capsizing and Sinking of the MV Rabaul Queen. Retrieved 15. 1. 2013 from http://www. mvrabaulqueen.com/Commission_Report.htm
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Abstracts in Slovene
Povzetki v slovenščini
Konkurenčnost in inovativnost turistične panoge - primerjalna študija
Doris Gomezelj Omerzel
Osnovni namen tega prispevka je primerjati pet turističnih destinacij: Slovenijo ter štiri sosednje države, in sicer Italijo, Avstrijo, Madžarsko in Hrvaško. Turistična panoga je v vzponu, turistično gospodarstvo raste in ostaja pomembna dimenzija za veliko nacionalnih gospodarstev. Kljub temu se nacionalne turistične strategije, organiziranost te panoge med posamezni državami in pa tudi uspešnost turističnih podjetij razlikujejo. V tem prispevku prikazujemo nekaj statističnih podatkov za preučevane destinacije in poskušamo predstaviti pomen turistične panoge v posameznih državah. Poleg tega predstavljamo delne rezultate preliminarne študije s področja inovativnosti v turizmu, s katero smo identificirali nekatere podobnosti, pa tudi razlike med omenjenimi destinacijami. Ključne besede: turizem, konkurenčnost, inovativnost, primerjalna študija Académica Turistica 8(1), 3-13
IKT aplikacije v hotelski industriji prek e-CRM pristopa s pomočjo sistemske teorije
Vicky C. Katsoni
Uvajanje in investiranje v informacijsko-komunikacijske tehnologije (IKT) sta postala nepogrešljivi komponenti poslovanja v turizmu, zato raziskovalci vedno intenzivneje raziskujejo in poudarjajo vlogo novih tehnologij, raziskujejo in interpretirajo razvoj IKT ter poskušajo napovedovati nadaljnji razvoj turistične industrije in tehnološkega razvoja. Članek raziskuje področja IKT pismenosti in uporabe koncepta e-CRM (elektronski odnosi s strankami) v hotelski industriji ter se osredotoča na vsa področja nastanitvenega sektorja z vidika podpore in promocije IKT preko e-CRM in sistemskega pristopa kot najučinkovitejšega orodja za učinkovito trženjsko politiko - s končnim ciljem posredovanja celovitih in koherentnih sporočil turistom. Poseben poudarek je namenjen dejstvu, da je potrebno trženjske mreže informacijskih tokov v hotelih intenzivno razvijati, saj omogočajo vzpostavljanje sodelovanja z novimi učinkovitimi načini in unikatnimi ter in-ovativnimi viri. Celotni pristop mora sloneti na zaupanju in poslovni kulturi, ki poudarja sodelovanje in aktiven dialog med oddelki ter zunanjim poslovnim okoljem.
Ključne besede: IKT, turizem, hotelska industrija, e-CRM Academica Turistica 8(1), 15-23
Multimodalna ustvarjalnost v (proti)turističnih besedilih
Sabrina Francesconi
V prispevku skušamo dokazati, da nasprotovanje turizmu in potovanjem izhaja iz spornih diskurzivnih praks, ki se pogosto artikulirajo skozi turizmu nenaklonjeno držo. Sama ideja se udejanja v inovativnih in kreativnih multimodalnih, področno specifičnih tekstih, konfiguracija katerih presega tradicionalne meje in postavlja pod vprašaj stabilna in toga konceptualna in generična razlikovanja. Takšni primeri konsistentno zavzemajo vedno bolj hibridna, popačena in mot-
Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2014 | 67
Abstracts in Slovene
Povzetki v slovenščini
na kontaktna območja, ki jih je treba raziskati s primerno in relevantno metodologijo.
Če multimodalnosti priznamo ključno vlogo, ki jo ima v procesu spreminjanja žanra, je mogoča multimodalna analiza turističnih tekstov. Oblikovanje pomena skozi stik in interakcijo različnih načinov in njihovih virov bo obravnavano skozi tri kreativne primere: statični plakat, dinamični digitalni potovalni dnevnik in hiper-tekstualno spletno stran. Ti primeri so bili izbrani, saj gre za primere multimodalne projekcije kreativnega (proti)turističnega diskurza. Raziskovalna vprašanja so bila: Kateri načini in njihovi viri sestavljajo multimodalno strukturo? Kakšne so interakcije med njimi? Kakšni so njihovi pomeni? Čeprav so v svoji sintagmični in paradigmalni konfiguraciji različni, vsi trije teksti multimodalno projicirajo (proti)turistični diskurz, s končnim namenom privabiti opazovalca, da obišče destinacijo oz. rezervira nastanitev.
Ključne besede: multimodalnost, oblikovanje pomena, kreativnost, (proti)turističp na besedila
Academica Turistica 8(1), 25-33
Reinvencija grajene tradicije: primer skupnosti transilvanskih Sasov
Gyongyi Pasztor in Izabella Buzogany
Tipična saška vas v Transilvaniji je pozabljena. Ob izgubi saškega dela prebivalstva je velika večina teh izginila s turističnega zemljevida. Vendar obstaja tudi nekaj uspešnih primerov, kjer je ponovno odkrita lokalna posebnost in nemška identiteta in kjer stavbno dediščino dobro tržijo ter služi kot okvir za novi, postmoderni turistični pogled. Tak primer je Viscri (Weisskirch/Szaszfeheregyhaza), svetovno znano mesto zaradi valižanskega princa Charlesa. Vas je ponosna, da ima na Un-escovem seznamu utrjeno cerkev iz 13. stoletja, skupaj z več deset lokalno specifičnih saških kmečkih hiš in cehovskih graščin, nekatere od teh pripadajo celo princu Charlesu. Vse to in zgodovina v povezavi s stavbno dediščino v kombinaciji z naravnim okoljem naredi Weisskirch zelo privlačen podeželski turistični kraj. Raziskava se osredotoča na vlogo stavbne dediščine v razvoju lokalnega turizma, ki temelji na praksi reinvencije tradicije. Zahvaljujoč turizmu ni bilo postavljenih le nekaj novih penzionov, temveč se je obudilo rokodelstvo in celo socialne vezi med Romi in romunskim etničnim prebivalstvom so se okrepile, prav tako pa so se obnovile nekatere zapuščene hiše. V prispevku je predstavljena pripoved o kamnih kot stavbni dediščini.
Ključne besede: turizem, stavbna dediščina, saksonska vas, Transilvanija, zgodovina
Academica Turistica 8(1), 35-45
Kulturni in zgodovinski resursi kot dejavniki trajnostnega razvoja turizma: študija primera svetilnikov v severnem Jadranu
Mirjana Kovačic, Miha Markelj in Alen Jugovic
Morda bolj kot kdaj koli prej je pomen turističnega potovanja v dobi globalizacije usmerjen v oddaljitev od vsakdanjega življenja, z namenom iskanja edinstvenega
68 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Abstracts in Slovene
Povzetki v slovenščini
doživetja. Ker je večina turističnega povpraševanja danes skoncentriranega v mestih, je viden porast v zanimanju za destinacije s prevladujočimi elementi lokalne identitete.
Z namenom, da turistični produkt ostane konkurenčen na vse hitreje rastočem trgu turističnih storitev, mora sloneti na lokalni identiteti ter vsebovati naravne ter kulturne elemente, saj se le na tak način kaže njegova posebnost. Zaradi tega je v porastu tudi povpraševanje po destinacijah, ki ponujajo izhod iz vsakdana. Svetilniki so izjemni kulturni spomeniki in imajo ključno vlogo pri zagotavljanju pomorske varnosti, medtem ko pa je njihov pomen v turističnem smislu redkost. Namen te raziskave je tako izpostaviti novo obliko selektivnega turizma, ki temelji na vključevanju svetilnikov v turistično ponudbo. Članek tako analizira svetilnike na Hrvaškem, v Italiji in Sloveniji (severni Jadran) z namenom ugotavljanja stopnje razvrednotenja njihove kulturne in zgodovinske vrednosti, zaradi vključevanja v turistični sektor. S pomočjo kvantitativne metodološke osnove bodo analizirani različni naravni in kulturni elementi v obdobju pred njihovo vključitvijo in za tem, z namenom, da se izpostavijo morebitni indikatorji, ki so vplivali na proces razvrednotenja.
Ključne besede: turizem, selektivne oblike turizma, kulturni in zgodovinski resursi, svetilniki, Hrvaška, Italija in Slovenija Academica Turística 8(1), 47-52
Analiza nesreč turističnih in potniških plovil v slovenskem morju
Katarina Mušič, Janez Mekinc in Helena Cvikl
Turizem je odločilno odvisen od varnosti, saj je slednja ena najpomembnejših konkurenčnih prednosti, in to velja tudi za navtični turizem ter prevoze turistov s turističnimi in potniškimi plovili. Prispevek predstavlja prvo celovito analizo nesreč turističnih in potniških plovil v slovenskem morju v obdobju med letoma 2007 in 2011, za katero je podatke zagotovila Uprava RS za pomorstvo. Na podlagi statističnih podatkov smo analizirali razmerje med številom plovil in številom nesreč, vzroki in številom nesreč ter terminske razporeditve indeksa nesreč po mesecih in letih. Raziskovalni problem je koncipiran na odkrivanju vzrokov ter skupnih značilnosti nesreč turističnih in potniških plovil, kar omogoča pripravo predlogov ukrepov za njihovo zmanjšanje. Raziskovalni problem smo teoretično utemeljili z logično-epistemološkim pristopom in deduktivno metodo podatkov ter splošnih postavk, ki so izpostavljene v teoretičnem delu. V prispevku je opredeljen zgodovinski pregled največjih pomorskih nesreč, vzrokov zanje ter posledic. Enako pomembni za oblikovanje raziskovalnega problema so bili tudi mednarodni predpisi in temeljni elementi pravne podlage za zagotavljanje varnosti v pomorskem prometu v Sloveniji.
Rezultati analize so pokazali, da se v slovenskem morju zgodi relativno majhno število pomorskih nesreč turističnih in potniških plovil, vzroki zanje so najpogosteje izogibanje in pristajanje kot posledici človeškega faktorja ter burja ali tramontana kot naravna vzroka. Metodologija spremljanja in zajemanja statističnih podatkov o nesrečah turističnih in potniških plovil je pomanjkljiva in zahteva obvezne izboljšave za potrebe poglobljenih analiz.
68 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 71
Abstracts in Slovene	Povzetki v slovenščini
Ključne besede: varnost, slovensko morje, plovila, pomorske nesreče, turizem, navtika
Academica Turística 8(1), 53-65
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Académica Turística
Instructions for Authors
Instructions for Authors
Aim and Scope of the Journal
Académica Turística - Tourismand Innovation Journal (at-tij) is a peer-reviewed journal that provides a forum for the dissemination of knowledge on tourism and innovation from a social sciences perspective. It especially welcomes contributions focusing on innovation in tourism and adaptation of innovations from other fields in tourism settings.
The journal welcomes both theoretical and applicative contributions and encourages authors to use various quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Besides research articles, the journal also publishes review articles, commentaries, reviews of books and conference reports. Purely descriptive manuscripts which do not contribute to the development of knowledge are not considered suitable.
General Guidelines and Policy of the Journal
Manuscripts are accepted in both American and British English; however, consistency throughout the paper is expected. All manuscripts are subject to an initial editorial screening for adherence to the journal style, for anonymity, and for correct use of English. As a result of this your paper will be either accepted for further consideration or returned for revision. To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to have your manuscript proofread.
Manuscripts should be organized in the following order: title, abstract, keywords, main text, acknowledgements, references, and appendixes (as appropriate).
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Submission declaration. Submission of a manuscript implies that it has not been published previously (except in the formof abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all its authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if the article submitted is accepted, it will not be published elsewhere, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of Academica Turistica - Tourism and Innovation Journal. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
Conflict of interest. All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work.
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Manuscripts should be prepared according to the style prescribed by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (American Psychological Association, 2009; see alsohttp://www. apastyle.org).
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Académica Turística
Instructions for Authors
bar. Use the table function, not spreadsheets, to make tables. Use the equation editor or MathType for equa-tions.Whenever possible, use the si units (Système international d'unités).
The title page should include the title of the article (no more than 85 characters, including spaces), full name of the author(s), affiliation (institution name and address) of each author clearly identified; linked to each author by use of superscript numbers, corresponding author's full name, telephone, and e-mail address.
Abstract. The authors are obliged to prepare two abstracts - one in English and one (translated) in Slovene language. For foreign authors translation of the abstract into Slovene will be provided.
The content of the abstract should be structured into the following sections: purpose, methods, results, and conclusion. It should only contain the information that appears in the text as well. It should contain no reference to figures, tables and citations published in the main text, and should not exceed 250 words.
Beneath the abstract, the authors should supply appropriate keywords (3-6) in English and in Slovene. For foreign authors the translation of the abstract into Slovene will be provided.
The main text should contain a coherent and logical structure preferably following the imrad format (Introduction, Methods, Research [and] Discussion). However, other structures are also welcome (e.g. Introduction, Development and Conclusions) as long as the text maintains its logical structure and focus. Acknowledgments are optional.
The length of the articles should not exceed 9,000 words (including tables, figures, and references), double spaced, using Times New Roman font sized 12.
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Figures. Captions are required for all Figures and shall appear on a separate manuscript page, beneath table captions. Each figure should be saved as a separate file without captions and named as Figure 1, etc. Files should be submitted in *.ai, *eps, *.tiff or *.jpeg format. Photographs should be saved at at least 300 dpi. Line art images should be saved at 1200 dpi. Lettering (symbols, letters, and numbers) should be between 8 and 9 points, with consistent spacing and alignment. Font face may be Serif (Minion) or Sans Serif (Myriad). Line width should be .5 point or greater. Any extra white or black space surrounding the image should be cropped. Ensure that subject-identifying information (i.e., faces, names, or any other identifying features) is cropped out or opaqued. Prior to publication, the author(s) should obtain all necessary authorizations for the publication of the illustrative matter and submit them to the Editorial Board. All figures should be numbered consecutively (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.). The journal will be printed in black and white.
References
References should be formatted according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (American Psychological Association, 2009).
The list of references should only include works that are cited in the text and that have been published or accepted for publication. Personal communications and unpublished works should only be mentioned in the text. References should be complete and contain all the authors (up to six) that have been listed in the title of the original publication. If the author is unknown, start with the title of the work. If you are citing a work that is in print but has not yet been published, state all the data and instead of the publication year write 'in print.'
Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work. Do not use footnotes or endnotes as a substitute for a reference list. Full titles of journals are required (not their abbreviations).
74 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
Académica Turística
Instructions for Authors
Citing References in Text
One author. Tourism innovation specific ismentioned (Brooks, 2010). Thomas (1992) had concluded . . . Two authors. This result was later contradicted (Swarbrooke &Horner, 2007). Price and Murphy
(2000)	pointed out . . .
Three to five authors, first citation. Laroche, Bergeron, and Barbaro-Forleo (2001) had found . . . It was also discovered (Salamon, Sokolowski, Haddock, & Tice, 2013) . . . Three to five authors, subsequent citations. Laroche et
al. (2009) or (Salamon et al., 2011). Six or more authors. Wolchik et al. (1999) or (Wol-chik et al., 1999).
If two references with six or more authors shorten to the same form, cite the surnames of the first author and of as many of the subsequent authors as necessary to distinguish the two references, followed by a coma and et al.
List several authors for the same thought or idea with separation by using a semicolon: (Kalthof et al., 1999; Biegern & Roberts, 2005).
For detailed instructions please see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (American Psychological Association, 2009, Chapter 6).
Examples of Reference List Books
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.).Washington, dc: Author. Swarbrooke, J., & Horner, S. (2007). Consumer behaviour in tourism. Oxford, England: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Journals
Laroche, M., Bergeron, J., & Barbaro-Forleo, G.
(2001).	Targeting consumers who are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 18(6), 503-520.
Wolchik, S. A., West, S. G., Sandler, I. N., Tein, J.Y., Coatsworth, D., Lengua, L., ... Griffin, W. A. (2000). An experimental evaluation of theory based mother and mother-child programs for children of divorce. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 843-856.
Newspapers
Brooks, A. (2010, 7 July). Building craze threatens to end Lanzarote's biosphere status. Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/ environment/nature/building-craze-threatens-to-end-lanzarotes-biosphere-status-2020064. html
Chapters in Books
Poirier, R. A. (2001). A dynamic tourism development model in Tunisia: Policies and prospects. In Y. Aposotolopoulos, P. Loukissas, & L. Leontidou (Eds.), Mediterranean tourism (pp. 197-210). London, England: Routledge.
Conference Proceedings
Price, G., & Murphy, P. (2000). The relationship between ecotourism and sustainable development: A critical examination. In M. Ewen (Ed.), cauthe 2000: Peak performance in tourism and hospitality research; Proceedings of the Tenth Australian Tourism and Hospitality Research Conference (pp. 189-202). Bundoora, Australia: La Trobe University.
Paper Presentation
Thomas, J. (1992, July). Tourism and the environment: An exploration of the willingness to pay of the average visitor. Paper presented at the conference Tourism in Europe, Durham, England.
Theses and Dissertations
Sedmak, G. (2006). Pomen avtentičnosti turističnega proizvoda: primer destinacije Piran (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Working Papers
Salamon, L.M., Sokolowski, S.W., Haddock,M. A., & Tice, H. S. (2013). The state of global civil society volunteering: Latest findings from the implementation of the un nonprofitt handbook (Comparative Nonprofit Sector Working Paper No. 49). Baltimore, md: Johns Hopkins University.
Web Pages
Croatian Bureau of Statistics. (2001). Census of population, households and dwellings. Retrieved from
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Académica Turística
Instructions for Authors
http://www.dzs.hr/Eng/censuses/Census2001/ census.htm
For detailed instructions please see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (American Psychological Association, 2009, Chapter 7).
Manuscript Submission
The main manuscript document should be in Microsoft Word document format and the article should be submitted to http://pkp.turistica.si/index.php/test/ index
Please make sure that you do not leave any trace of your identity in the submitted files. Otherwise, your identity can be accidentally revealed to reviewers and your manuscript might be rejected.
We are introducing new manuscript submission system. The first responses from the authors are positive, but we still apologise for any inconvenience.
For technical assistance please contact mitja.pe-telin@turistica.si and for additional information regarding article publication contact the Editorial Board at academica@turistica.si
74 | Académica Turística, Year 8, No. 1, June 2015
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