Travel behaviour influenced by projected climate change

See Travel behaviour substitution for a white-water canoe race influenced by climate induced stream flow.

L’Organisation mondiale du tourisme, le Programme des Nations unies pour l’environnement et l’Organisation météorologique mondiale ont identifié qu’une des conséquences du changement climatique est la modification du régime des précipitations. Cette étude analyse les variations dans les habitudes de déplacement des participants et des spectateurs d’une course annuelle de canoë, telle qu’influencée par la variation du débit de la rivière. Comme le débit de rivière varie selon les saisons, on peut anticiper un déclin ou un déplacement des loisirs aquatiques, advenant une réduction permanente du débit. À partir de données recueillies lors de deux éditions de la Annual Westfield River Wildwater Races, des entretiens ont été réalisés dans la zone de préparation tandis que les participants étaient dans la file d’attente. Des spectateurs de la course ont aussi été interrogés. Les deux échantillons annuels correspondent à une saison de faible débit et à une saison de débit normal et l’échantillon total est constitué de 142 éléments. Au cours d’une année de faible débit, qui devrait devenir la norme selon les modèles sur le changement climatique, les experts pagayeurs se sont déplacés sur de grandes distances, ce qui est caractéristique de la caractéristique de substitution de la destination, tandis que les spectateurs ont réduit leur distance de déplacement, ce qui suggère une baisse d’intérêt pour l’observation des courses.

or....

The World Tourism Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization have identified one of the consequences of climate change is an interference of normal precipitation. This research investigates the changes in travel patterns by participants and spectators at an annual canoe race as influenced by variable stream flow. Given that stream flow varies seasonally, one might hypothesize that should a permanent reduction of water flow take place in the future, a decline or shift in water-based recreation might be expected. Using data collected over two years at the Annual Westfield River Wildwater Races, interviews were conducted at the staging area as participants waited in the queue. Observers of the race were also interviewed. The two sampling years represent a low flow season and a normal flow season and yield a sample of 142 parties. During the low flow season, one that is projected to become the norm under climate change models, expert paddlers travelled a greater distance characteristic of destination substitutability while spectators decreased travel distance and this suggests a reduction of interest in observing the race.

United States projected to lose $1.3 billion in travel-related expenditures in 2017

Well, that is what is reported here.

"Using first quarter ticketing data from the Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC), publicly available travel data and GBTA’s economic research and models, GBTA developed an ‘uncertainty forecast’ for 2017 showing the impact this mounting geopolitical uncertainty is having on the economy. There is no question that uncertainty is bad for business travel and bad for the global economy. - See more at: https://www.traveldailynews.com/post/united-states-projected-to-lose-13-billion-in-travel-related-expenditures-in-2017#sthash.OXI7MNHH.dpuf"

Time will tell so you might want to check out the info from Global Business Travel Association GBTA.

OPPONENTS OF TRUMP'S TRAVEL BAN LOOK TO SCORE ANOTHER WIN

What a great headline from AP!  Let's Keep America Home of the Free.

This of course follows this headline "Time to boycott vacations to the U.S." from an OpEd piece from the Toronto Star.  "Canadians can protest U.S. President Donald Trump's policies by staying away from America, writes Mark Bulgutch. "It’s not a terrible sacrifice. Wait four years. We can hope the Trump presidency will then be over. The Grand Canyon will still be there. The Golden Gate Bridge. Mount Rushmore. Disney World. They’ll all be there. And with any luck, the Statue of Liberty will still be there too."  (SUSAN WALSH / AP) "

US Travel Bans

Welcome to America.....not.

What will be the impacts from Trump's travel bans?  World leaders and prominent figures have blasted US President Donald Trump's temporary ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States as divisive, illegal, insulting and discriminatory.

For a quick summary of the world's opinion, see CNN.

Our own travel.state.gov site states "Urgent Notice: Under the Executive Order on Protecting the Nation from Terrorist Attacks by Foreign Nationals signed on January 27, 2017, visa issuance to nationals of the countries of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen has been suspended effective immediately until further notification. We will announce any other changes affecting travelers to the United States as soon as that information is available."

I guess we will not be able to see our friends and relatives anymore?

Travel Behavior for Medical Tourists

Hi, here is the research presentation I gave at the (click here:

The Changing World of Coastal, Island and Tropical Tourism Conference

Martinique, French West Indies

27 - 29 January 2011

Sea, sun, sand and ... Selecting Surgery, an exploration of Medical Tourist Travel Behavior

Keywords: medical tourism, travel choice behavior, sustainable tourism

A challenge for marketing coastal and island destinations is the recognition of the spatial choice behavior of tourists. Mass tourism facilities depend on repeat visitors as well as attracting new first time tourists. As these traditional sun and sand holiday destinations mature, tourism promoters are expanding opportunities to attract a different kind of tourist. Since many of these resorts are all-inclusive facilities including a Spa, one potential expansion may be to market to health, wellness or medical tourists.

One primary goal of travel research is to understand what factors might influence the decision-making process. In this manner, tourism planners can identify the determinants of patronage patterns in order to estimate the returns on investments. Travel occurs because people seek alternatives in space where participation in some activity takes place. Like any travel, medical travel is where an individual seeks to meet some desired objective by selecting among alternative hospital destinations and choosing one.

Geographic research in travel and tourism has found that individuals either repeat visits to the same destination or diversify their choices. Since medical tourists are facing travel for a sensitive personal issue, awareness of their travel behavior is important for island and coastal destinations electing to market medical tourism.

For example, in Costa Rica, the Medical Tourism Development Project is proposing the construction of a private hospital, a Robert Trent Jones golf course and complementary support and living facilities. This 1000 hectare property is minutes from the Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport in Liberia and thirty minutes from the beaches of the Guanacaste Province. Will this facility attract individuals who have vacationed in Costa Rica before or will it attract new tourists?

This presentation highlights the finding of an survey that gathered the travel patterns and motivations, preferences of sustainable tourism management practices and socio-demographics of medical tourists. Medical tourists considered several different destinations prior to their treatment. The data suggests that repeat visitors are more likely to have a level of comfort in their chosen destination. On the other hand, those who exhibited diversified travel behavior were more likely to want their hospital choice to be affiliated with an American Hospital and accredited. There were no differences for preference of sustainable management practices between the repeat and diversified travelers.

Abstracts available for Changing World of Coastal, Island and Tropical Tourism

We now have the abstracts posted for the Changing World of Coastal, Island and Tropical Tourism conference to be held in Martinique, French West Indies on 27-29 January 2011. The main website for the conference is found at:
http://www.geog.nau.edu/igust/fwi/index.html and from there you can find the abstracts. Our paper is titled:
"Sea, sun, sand and ... Selecting Surgery, an exploration of Medical Tourist Travel Behavior".

While the call for papers has passed, I can't think of a better place to be in January, this statement written as I look out my home office window at the freezing rain.