Student Blog

Dark Tourism – Tahirih McLaren-Brown

Tahirih McLaren-Brown — Thu, 17 May 2012 22:39:17 +0000

The Gallipoli battlefields on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey, is a dark tourism site containing cultural and historical significance to many New Zealanders and Australians. The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) fought an unsuccessful battle against the Turkish for the control of Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915, causing the death of 8700 Australian and 2721 New Zealand soldiers. The national connections with Gallipoli still remain with the site being named ANZAC Cove and large ANZAC Day commemorations being held every year at ANZAC Cove and in New Zealand and Australia. Gallipoli can be categorised as dark or darker on Stone’s Dark Tourism Spectrum as; it is a site of death and suffering; has historical and educational components; the location is authentic and there is a low amount of tourism infrastructure. High numbers of New Zealand, Australian and British travellers visit Gallipoli because of the sites cultural significance and to pay respects to the soldiers who lost their lives. Historical education is also another reason for visitation. Tourists visiting Gallipoli can experience the four locations of ANZAC Cove, Cape Helles, Walkers Ridge, and Chunuk Bair which each have memorials and cemeteries. In total there are five cemeteries and six memorials tourists can visit. Other site attractions include war trenches, war tunnels and walks to the battle locations. Above ANZAC Cove is a purpose built commemorative site for the high number of visitors that attended the ANZAC Day ceremonies. ANZAC Day is the most popular visiting time, with an international ceremony the day before and a dawn ceremony followed by New Zealand and Australian ceremonies the day of. The closest town of Kabatepe also has a visitor centre which contains a small war museum.

Tour companies in Turkey offer group and private day tours of a number of sites and also offer Gallipoli as a stop in multi day tours. Some comp offer a once yearly ANZAC Day Ceremony tour. Many visitors are self-guided as the memorials and cemeteries are easily accessible.

http://www.anzac.govt.nz/

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/anzacday

http://www.gallipoli-tour.com/anzac-cove-gallipoli.html

http://www.turkeytravelcentre.com/gallipoli-anzac-day-tours/anzac-cove-guide.html

TEFI Blog Post #4 – Analysis of Travel Blog Discussions on Global Warming and Climate Change in the UK

Katherine Buchanan — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:03:12 +0000


I took focus on the UK for this blog post because I am spending 3 weeks there this summer to visit a friend and attend the Olympics. I am very excited, but unsure what the whether will be like during this time. I thought having a genuine, personal curiosity in the topic would make this a bit more fun and insightful!

On lonleyplanet.com, a common question being asked is just what kind of weather to expect in the UK and Ireland. It seems that tourists are unsure of what to expect, given recent global warming affects in other areas of the world (me being one of them!). One person mentioned that southeastern Europe hasn’t seen a white Christmas since 1970, and that it doesn’t snow until January/February. But even in the summer months, the weather is unpredictable – anything from cold and rainy to hot and humid. This doesn’t say much for the global warming effects on this area of the world, considering I think this is a pretty typical expectation for weather in the UK.



Here is a pretty typical day in London – gloomy but not extreme, with either rain or sun around the corner! This is what I’ve come to expect after reading the blog discussions, at least.
Although, while the weather seems rather stagnant considering the global concern for climate chance, London is experiencing a loss of wildlife species and insects that even the local bloggers are noticing. One writer quotes an article stating that as of 2008, the lesser wasp moth, the Kingston plover, the Eastcheap dove, the ossory, the grey beetle and the open-faced otter are all extinct in this area. But then it is debated as to whether or not this is really a result of global warming. One reader rants that everything negative these days is being tagged as a result of global warming, but there are many other factors that could lead to the extinction of certain species. I was surprised that this discussion thread was not carried on (Tripadvisor.com closed the thread due to inactivity), because this ‘global warming tag’ is really an interesting thought. Are we being too quick to judge that radical changes are a result of global warming/climate change?
The Lesser Wasp:


Another interesting thread I found began by discussing the appallingly hot weather in December, but quickly turned into a rant about the government ceasing grants for solar panel installation in 2011. I don’t know much about solar panels, but you’d think that with increasing power costs and the condition of our planet that the government of a country that others look up to would continue to create incentive for such green initiatives. Are there any UK students here on Innotour who have any local insight/perspective on this situation?




Here is the distribution of solar panel watt-peak per person in the UK, which gives a rough idea of how many people have adopted the efficient energy method.
Click here for an article that discusses this issue in a little more detail.
All in all, it was very interesting reading about these issues from the perspective of just regular people. We are so accustom to reading about these topics from the viewpoint of professionals in research papers and newspaper articles, but rarely assigned to summarize the findings of an informal online discussion forum. I thought this was really insightful.

Links to threads discussion: London species extinction. What’s the weather like in the UK? Government ceased solar panel grants

Re-visualizing the Ljubljana and outskirts project

Carina Ren — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:37:55 +0000

In order to complete the task – boosting the tourism of Ljubljana and its outskirts – the aim of our work has been defined as creating a new experience for the tourists through developing synergy between the capital and the town called Kamnik that we visited during our stay in Slovenia.

Accordingly, our report will be focusing on two main ideas; creating package deals for the visitors of Slovenia and using blogging as a promotional tool.

As we believe that the current marketing strategy of Ljubljana and Kamnik is rather poor, we are planning to do further researches to explore possible ways to implement an innovative blogging strategy; we might even consider involving the students in Ljubljana to succeed in developing this new concept.

As mentioned previously, the package deals will be made to develop the synergy between the capital and Kamnik. One of the biggest attractions of Kamnik is the former ski resort Velika Planina, which might provide an opening to some entirely new activities, including cultural and social activities. In the mountains, there are some typical local folkloristic huts, which we might use to create a “survival camp package” for both business and leisure tourism.

Important to note that our team is still very open-minded hence the following ideas are being taken into consideration; attracting local families with children by offering children camp and other activities in the mountains, co-developing some of the already existing products by for example making a theme package for sport activities.

Last but not least, we also got a more exotic / extraordinary idea; opening an open-air cinema in the mountains however further researches are needed to classify the pros and cons.

Reflections on the Kranj project

Carina Ren — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:35:45 +0000

After our visit to the city of Kranj, we have spent some time reflecting on the many impressions. In this process, we have been able to identify issues that can be related to the learned theory at the university. We have made many considerations as to how we can meet the wishes of our contractor in Kranj, the Tourism Board of Kranj. They mainly wanted us to focus on the cultural heritage of Kranj and how Kranj could brand itself based on its cultural heritage.

The creative workshop was a starting point for our creative ideas – focusing on the possibilities of Kranj instead of the limitations. We have come up with some great ideas that can meet the expectations. These ideas are innovative but also highly related to the focus on heritage. We are creating something new on the basis of something old, so to say.

We will spend the next month doing research and developing our ideas, herein we will do research on cases that are similar to Kranj and draw comparisons. Since we have now come up with the ideas, the next step is to consider how to develop them and make them work in practise.

It will all result in a executive summary and a presentation for Slovenian representatives in mid April 2012.

Bohinj Eco Park Hotel

Carina Ren — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:59:19 +0000

Current Status

Our group is working on the case of Bohinj Eco Park Hotel and right now we have many ideas regarding the whole innovation process in the hotel and the area where it is situated. During the innovation camp and the research that was conducted at the Bohinj Eco Park Hotel, the Tourism Board and some of the local private stakeholders we encountered that there is a difficulty in cooperation and negotiation between the private and public stakeholders in that area. We have collected some data from the Park Hotel and the Tourism Board and we found out that they have interest to work in cooperation with the National Park in order to attract more international tourists and guests. According to the hotel and the tourism board cooperation between them and the National Park is almost impossible and hard to achieve. Our team’s next step is to try to conduct a Skype meeting with the National Park in order to hear their perspective and from there we could decide whether we are going to focus on possible innovative process within the cooperation between the Park Hotel and The National Park or we are going to continue with another alternative ideas that we have.

Short summing up

Bohinj Eco Park Hotel is a hotel situated in the one and only National Park in Slovenia-Triglav National Park and at the same time the hotel is trying to brand itself as a sustainable one that complies with all the requirements and standards. Implementing co-branding of The Eco Park Hotel together with the National Park would be very appropriate way and good strategy for using the resources in more sustainable way. The strong brand will create better world recognition and at the same time attract more international tourists and more profit, which could be used for better preservation of the National Park. If the interview with the National Park fails, we have decided to focus on internal innovation process within the hotel. We are looking in the possibilities of implementing some added values such as traditional cooking classes or even more exotic innovation as electronic car rally to Vienna or some special packages for people over 40 with different ways of relaxation and recreation.

To justify our choice/focus

The resources and the area around the Eco Park Hotel is very favorable and appropriate to develop a strong Co- Brand of the hotel with the Nationa Park, so that is why we will try to elaborate on that, by trying to reach the National Park and show some other great examples of successful cooperation of public and private stakeholders and the good results from this cooperation. If we meet some difficulties we will try to offer some examples of possible added values in the hotel that would keep the guests in the hotel even in low seasons such as the special packages for relaxation for people who look for more exclusive experience.

Hotel Celica – rebranding the Worlds hippest hostel

Carina Ren — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:37:39 +0000

After five days of impressions and hands on learning, we find ourselves in the a process of trying to comprehend the challenge of the Hostel Celica and how we should approach it.

Currently awarded “No. 1 Hippest Hostel” by Lonely Planet and part of the list of “25 Ultimate Places to stay” by Rough Guides, Hostel Celica is a well know and recognised hostel both by Slovenia and the rest of the world. Hostel Celica is an old Military Prison that has been converted into a hostel featuring 20 cells that all are unique and decorated by different artists. The hostel thus offers the basics as any other, but also a cultural experience.

After meetings with the manager and marketing manager of the hostel, we were presented with the challenge of how to strengthen the environmental-friendly side of the business without lowering the current accommodation standards and service level. A further challenge was recognised by our group as the Celica is extending the main building with a new wing offering a higher level of accommodation equal to a 3 star hotel as well as a concert and event hall, convention rooms and pools.

We are therefore currently at the point where we wish to research two main challenges (The description of the challenges so far is a product of our impressions and brainstorm and may therefore be changed as the course moves further):

Strengthening of eco-friendly solutions

The main challenge exist in the combination of being eco-friendly while keeping a higher level of accommodation. In working with this challenge, we wish to come up with innovative solutions, research similar cases by desk work as well as look into the possibility of including the guests and creating a network of eco-friendly hostels.

Incorporating the new wing in the current brand.

Currently the brand seems to be about the storytelling of how an old prison has been transformed into a hostel as well as the possibility of staying in a cell. The main challenge thus exist in finding a brand identity that can incorporate both the current hostel Celica and the new wing. For inspiration we will look into similar cases. In determining the brand identity of the hostel, we will research the current selling point of the hostel and figure out how this advantage can be carried through in the new brand. In order to do this, we will also examine the consumer behaviour of the main target group currently using the hostel as well as possible target groups for the new wing. In combination with our identified challenge 1, we will examine if the eco aspect of the hostel can be incorporated in the brand.

We have chosen to focus on these challenges as we feel that it is areas where we can use the knowledge obtain in our master degree so far. It is areas that will allow us to be innovative and at the same time meet the wants and needs of hostel Celica.

Innovating the harbourfront in Koper – Slovenia

Carina Ren — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:36:25 +0000

Returning to Denmark after visiting Slovenia and the city of Koper, we realized that it is a big challenge to develop the city into an attractive tourism destination. Before going there our challenge was to revitalize the port and try to include it in the tourism of the city. Yet, while visiting Koper it soon became clear that this is easier said than done since the port and the municipality are kind of working against each other. Our contact from Luka Koper, the port, made it clear that their primary aim is to improve the image of the port among the locals since they get complaints about pollution even though the port has a sustainable focus. Luka Koper is therefore not very interested in attracting more tourists but rather wants to improve the port’s image among the locals by developing the yearly “Port Day”.

On the other hand the municipality of Koper wants to attract more tourists outside the season, specifically families with children. However, this goal not only contradicts the goal of the port, but also the municipality’s own wish of improving the culture heritage tourism of the city.

We therefore need to look at what we can do to “please” both stakeholders and at the same time make Koper an attractive “winter” destination.

This means that we are going to gather all our impressions and try to find out where to go from here. First of all, it is important to do further research to collect more information about the situation in Koper and to find other successful cases that have faced similar challenges. Moreover, we need to identify the target group(s) that we think Koper should aim at. This will be done in order to figure out which of our innovative ideas we should develop.

We have already been working a little bit on this while being in Slovenia and after arriving home we have also had a small workshop where we presented our ideas to our classmates and got feedback. This was a good exercise since we found out that the innovation groups also shared our concerns about the cooperation between the port and the municipality and their view on the target groups. However, we did not present many concrete ideas at the workshop since we first of all need to identify the target group(s) and from there we will continue to work on figuring out how to help Koper the best way possible.

Netiquette

Janne Liburd — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:00:58 +0000

Please post your suggestions for a code of good, ethical behaviour online (i.e. forms of cooperation, tone, communication, knowledge sharing, respect, deadlines).

Finnish Russians

Auri Junes — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 06:44:49 +0000

We are a group of two. Named A&U or U&A. We are studying Tourism in HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences. We got an assignment to get to know more about Finnish Russians.

Finnish Russians are the biggest immigrant group in Finland. Finland’s Russian speaking minority has been divided into two groups: Those who moved to Finland in the end of 1800 century and beginning of the 1900 century and also those who have been coming to Finland in the last 15 years. There are 48 740 Russian speaking people in Finland (2008) and 26 909 Russian citizens (2008).

Common stereotypes of Finnish Russians are the same that Finnish have from “normal” Russians. Finnish Russians say that the responsibility to change the image of Russians/Finnish Russians is in their hands.

The most common stereotypes that Finnish have from Finnish Russians are:
- They are either rich or poor.
- They are wearing fur or gold.
- They are criminals.
- They are lazy and insubordinate.
- They are gossiping a lot.
- They can’t save money.
- There are a strong man and weak women.
- They are also good hearted.
- Open.
- Beautiful.
- Vodka.
Stereotypes are either negative or positive. There is not a grey area. Usually Finnish get much more positive picture of Finnish Russians when they get to know them.

BR,

Auri J. and Ulla W.

Tourism and Nationalism – Emily Cowell

Emily Cowell — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:12:02 +0000

Hi Everyone,

My name is Emily Cowell and I am studying Tourism Management at Victoria University of Wellington. I am a New Zealander born and raised, although both of my parents emigrated here from England. For this reason we have had many trips back to England to visit family over the years. My most recent trip to England in 2007 had a large impact on me as I was finally old enough to begin placing an importance on my family heritage and began to seek more knowledge around it.

On this particular trip I felt a strong sense of belonging to the places we visited with family. Although I was not born in England I could begin to consider the lives of my ancestors in a way that I could not in New Zealand.

These feelings were even stronger after visiting heritage buildings in Manchester such as the Royal Exchange Theatre that was previously the Corn Exchange Building. This is just one example of many listed heritage buildings in Manchester that I saw. As was mentioned by Dr. Liburd heritage buildings bring out a sense of pride in people because they have survived for so many years. The skill of Englishmen centuries ago is prevalent in the strength and durability of the structures, some even survived the IRA bombing in 1996. Therefore these buildings and the knowledge that can be gained from their history can spark feelings of nationalism, this is one of various reasons why they are worth preserving.