Analysis of Motivations for Rural Tourism

Analysis of Motivations for Rural Tourism Chapter1. Introduction Travel motives and attempted to understand what motive affect tourists travel decision making process and when. Both the leisure and tourism literature have recognised that when people are motivated, they are more likely to participate in leisure travel and encourage tourists to engage in pleasure trip. None of studies have shown meaningful way of findings on ‘what type of motives occur and ‘how tourists are influenced by motivational factors with respect to the travel decision making process. Countryside background of the researchers is also, one of the inspired to choose rural tourism. Along with the researchers holiday experience in New Forest National Park become a motivation to examine the types of visitors and reason of the visiting New Forest National Park as a rural tourism. It was necessary to find out who are the rural tourists in the park In order to study for rural tourism in the park. After that the New Forest National Park would able to find a problems, improvement or enhancement for participants as well as non participants as a rural tourism. In addition, if there is anything to learn or find out the researcher would like to adapt to home countrys rural tourism development. This study was designed to investigate the motivation of rural tourism and identify the visitors in New Forest National Park. Rural tourists were identified and profiled and then rural tourists were investigated based on motivations for participating in rural tourism. 1.1 Background of New National Forest Park The New Forest was originally Woodland, but parts were cleared for cultivation from the Stone Age and into the Bronze Age. The poor quality of the soil in the New Forest meant that the cleared areas turned into heathland waste. The New Forest was created as a royal forest by William the conqueror for the hunting of deer. As of 2005, roughly ninety percent of the New Forest is still owned by the Crown, the Crown lands have been managed by the Forest Commission since 1923. Around half of the Crown lands fall inside the new National Park. New Forest National Park is an area that remains mostly undeveloped, unspoiled and has a high scenic. The New Forest national park Authority is an independent organisation. The park is operating in a local government framework which is funded by central UK government. The New Forest National Park is the smallest national park in south coast of England and the park has become a national park since 2005. There are more than 20 members who have overall responsibility for making decisions, for setting policies and priorities and for making sure that resources are used properly and they are supported by 70 other staffs who expertise across a range of disciplines including planning, conservation, recreation, education, finance and communication. 1.2 Overview of rural tourism in UK Tourism is becoming increasingly important to the UK economy, environmental, culture. The importance of tourism to local economies varies across the UK. Some place like London has an enormous investment in the tourist industry, while others lag far behind. Nevertheless, the future of tourism is full of potential for small business. With the increases in security concerns for international travel and travel to large major areas, many rural tourist companies are moving in with their own offerings. Many of these low-risk rural areas may be able to rely on tourism as an important part of their economy. Cloke (1992) cites privatisation in the UK as a major process stimulating this form of rural production focused on rural recreation and tourism. The new political economy influencing agriculture in the EC has also facilitated farm diversification into new form of tourism accommodation and attractions. A variety of tourist opportunities exist throughout rural area in UK and tend to continue to grow as increasing numbers of local entrepreneurs identify new way to market previously untapped local resources and attractions, and bring tourists into their areas. Moreover, the nature of tourism is especially well – suited to small-scale rural enterprises such as farm inn. Many remote areas are ideal locations for nature-based activities like walking, hunting and fishing, or ecotourism activities such hiking and rafting. Travelers interested in local cultures as well as the heritage of places they visit find an added benefit in having the towns local history buff lead a tour through the battlefield. For instance, Agriculture tourism invites tourists to experience working ranches, hay rides, corn mazes, and pumpkin patches etc†¦ At a time of change and uncertainty in the countryside, when many traditional rural industries are in decline or needing to adapt to stay in business, tourism represents an opportunity to stablise and support businesses and services. In carefully introduced and managed, and appropriate in scale and activity, tourism can help revitalise declining community facilities and services to the benefit of businesses, residents and the local economy. Rural tourism represents a merging of perhaps two of the most influential yet contradictory features of modern life. Not only are the forces of economic, social, cultural, environmental and political change working to redefine rural spaces the world over, but also, broad global transformations in consumption and transportation patterns are reshaping leisure behavior and travel. For these concerned with the nature of change in rural areas and tourism development, the dynamics and impacts of integrating these two dramatic shifts are not well know but yet are becoming increasingly provocative discourses for study.   1.3 Aims of the study 1.3.1 Aims It is important note that to identify the rural tourism visitors and their motivation of the trip in order to increase the number of the visitors as well as manages the rural destination without damages.  This proposed study is comprised of three parts. The first part of the study and dissertation will identify and profile the rural tourism tourists in New Forest National Park. This will involve profiles of rural tourism participants at the destination. The next part will identify motivational factor of the visitors in New Forest National Park rural tourism. This will involve identify the reason of the rural tourism trip.  The next park will determine the factors that affect rural tourism participation decisions. This will identify determine the factors that affect rural to tourism participation decisions. The aim is broad to allow for other discussion which after reviewing the literature reviews. It will be appear relevant to the paper. 1.3.2 Objectives Three objectives are formulated for this study. Research question are also related to each objective are described. The purpose of this dissertation thus is to examine the type of travel motivations that affecting tourists decision making behaviour in rural tourism. The first of the study will identify and profile the rural tourism in New Forest National Park. Second of the study will examine the motivational factor which underlies their initial stage of travel decision. Finally, the study will investigate factors that affect tourists decision about participation in rural tourism in New Forest National Park. 1.3.3 Research questions The first of the research question is simply identified of the New Forest National Park rural tourists are? This question will identify the characteristic of the visitors such as travelling individual or family, single, male, old, young people? Do New Forest National Park tourists have a particular profile such as higher income or sex? The second research question is doing New Forest National Park rural tourists have a difference in terms of visitors motivational factor? This question will identify the any particular reasons of the rural trip in New Forest National Park. In order to answer the question the study will focus on reason of the visiting in New Forest National Park as a rural tourism. The tourists pay participation in different type of tourism such as camping, farm experience. Third question is what factors may affect to decision to participate in rural tourism in this National park. Are they participating because of seeking for particular interest? Or just want to be in rural area. This question need to identify what it the items that tourist thinks most important such as safety, transportation, scenery or distance†¦ Will be surveyed with like scale 1 to 5. Also, satisfaction of the travel will be collected. What factors affect to decisions to participate in rural tourism in New Forest National Park? What factors then affect the participation? Maybe perception of rural resources will affect the decision of whether to participate in rural tourism. 1.4 Definition of terms There are continuing common theme within the tourism literature indicating that people intend to take a rural area trip because they are motivated by variety of different forces such as escaping from daily life routine, seeking adventure, rewarding and attractive destination attributes (Cha, McCleary, and Uysal. 1995) The motivational factors are believed to play a vital role in the tourist decision making process (Crompton and Ankomah. 1993). Rural tourism includes both those who intend to staying away from home for one night or more and those out for the day in the countryside for instance, visiting attractions, walking, cycling or enjoying a whole different range of countryside activities. These people are spends money in village shops, pubs, and restaurants and in market towns. They provide a market for local produce and create and opportunities for local entrepreneurship those staying overnight will do so in hotels or inns, bed breakfast establishments or self-catering accommodation, on the farm, on caravan parks or campsites, or with friends and relatives. Those out for the day may be from within the region or from further afield, and may include those on holiday in nearby seaside resorts or on day trips out of London. They may be visiting for a specific event or to see a particular attraction. They may have a particular interest in sports, arts, museums or heritage, or seek educational outlets for their children. They may also be on business, for a meeting or small conference, or to look for commercial contracts and business opportunities. A proportion of those staying or visiting will be from overseas, including those from the near continent. The underlying dimension of motivational attributes in travel decision behaviour is worthy to note in order to understand the factors that influence travel decisions. Travel motivation might explain not only tourists initial decision of whether or not to take a trip. But also, may contribute to explaining tourists final travel decision behaviours (Fodness. 1992) 1.5 Structure of the dissertation Chapter 1 provides overview of the rural tourism and background of New Forest National Park. Also presented is a description of the research problems which is limitation of the research and study aim, objectives and research questions. Chapter 2 conducted a literature review in which discussed various aspects of rural tourism and visitors characteristic, motivation of the rural trip and visitors decision making factors. Chapter 3 describes and discusses the methods used to collect the data that was needed including the survey method and data for analysis. Chapter 4 follow on by analysis the introduction of the study and offers a range of discussion of findings. Chapter 5 completes of the study with a brief summary and se of conclusions. Limitations of the study and recommendation also discussed. The study was designed to accomplish three objectives: first identify and profile the rural tourism tourists in New Forest National Park second objective was examine the motivational factors that visitors seeking rural tourism and last objective was identify the relative travel motives decision making to reach to take a rural tourism. Chapter2. Literature reviews 2.1 Rural tourism Lane (1992) noted that a third phase in tourism is taking place – the rise of cultural tourism. In this phase rural tourism offers more jobs, a pluri-activity of work patterns, a more diversified employment structure for rural areas and a means of sustaining services, farming and forestry. Rural tourism produces pressure to enhance conservation measures, while it provides a stimulus for arts and crafts and helps sustain small communities. Keane et al.s (1992) innovative, but little-known study on rural tourism offers a number of insights into the definition of rural tourism, acknowledging that there is a variety of term used to describe tourism activity in rural areas: agri-tourism, farm tourism, rural tourism, soft tourism, alternative tourism and many others which have different meanings from one country to another. Keane also points out that it is difficult to avoid some of this confusion in relation to labels and definitions because the term ‘rural tourism has been adapted by the European Community to refer to the entire tourism activity in a rural area (Deane et al. 1992) http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=kolr=id=Axc_zw_AO0QCoi=fndpg=PR8dq=what+is+rural+tourismots=rpw1C_DgA9sig=VMW2zUvYT828-jykKDpgnLZ742Y#v=onepageq=f=false To a certain extent, undifferentiated or mass tourism exists in rural areas, but this phenomenon is usually manifested in large scale developments and at some point cases to be ‘rural in nature ; mass and rural tourism are essentially incompatible and development of the former lessen the availability of the latter. Although it would be logical to assume that everyone is a potential rural tourist at some time. The range of rural tourism products and experiences is too great for generalisations. What matters, therefore is gaining knowledge of the existing and potential rural tourists motives, preferences and behaviour regarding the various niche markets that exist; specifically, who can be attracted to a given rural tourism product? This is research task complicated by the fact that many domestic and international visitors experience urban, rural and resort attractions on the same trip.(Stephen page Donald Getz 1997) Lane (1994) recommended research into price sensitivity, the importance of particular types of land-scape, heritage and interpretive facilities, and on demand for certain types of accommodation. Better understanding of perceptions, motivators and consumption patterns (such as repeat visit) is also important. Rural tourism development attracted increasing interest in the 1990s and a growing literature has contributed to our understanding of it as an evolving phenomenon. According to long and lane (2000), rural tourism has moved into its second phase of development, its first having been characterised by growth in participation, product and business development, and partnership. Its second is predicted to be more complex, and is likely to be, given the questions that remain regarding its place in policy, its integration in practice. What is rural? There is no one commonly accepted definition for ‘rural (Willits Beatler, Timbers, 1990). In Websters dictionary, ‘rural is defined as â€Å"rural is defined as â€Å"of or pertaining of the country, as distinguished from a city or town; living in the country; and farming/agricultural (Websters Revised Unabridged Dictionary.1998). ‘Rural applies to sparsely settled or agricultural country. The definition of ‘rural in the Korean dictionary is â€Å"a village or area where people make a living by farming, including raising stock, sericulture, horticulture, forestry, and fruit-growing (Yahoo Korea Dictionary, 2004) Lane (1994) suggests that ‘rural tourism exists as a concept, and reflects the differing and complex pattern of rural environment, economy, history and location. ‘Rural tourism is directly related to the particular characteristics of rural area, and it is assumed that the principal motivation for visiting the countryside is to experience its reality. This motivation justifies the definition of ‘rural tourism as an identifiable type of tourism, with rural tourism being an end onto itself – to experience the countryside. Lane (1994) discusses the historical continuity in the development of rural tourism and examines some of the key issues which combine to make rural tourism distinctive. Bramwell (1994:3) suggests that, despite the problems of defining the concept of ‘rural, ‘it may be a mistake to deny our commonsense thoughts that rural areas can have distinctive characteristics or the countryside. The views and perceptions people hold of the countryside are different from those they have of urban areas, which is an important starting point for establishing the distinctiveness of rural tourism. Lane (1994) actually lists the subtle differences between urban and rural tourism, in which individual social representations of the countryside are critical component of the ways in which people interact with rural areas. In fact Squires (1993) acknowledges that both social representations and personal images of the countryside condition whether people wish to visit rural areas for tourism, and what they see and do during their visit Lane (1994) also highlights the impact of change in rural tourism since the 1970s, with far greater numbers of recreationalists and tourists now visiting rural areas. As Patmores (1983) seminal study on recreation and leisure acknowledges, the impact of car ownership has led to a geographical dispersion of recreationalists and tourists beyond existing fixed modes of transport. Consequently, tourism has moved away from a traditional emphasis on resorts, small towns and villages to become truly rural, with all but the most inaccessible wilderness areas awaiting the impact of the more mobile tourist. Despite this strong growth in the demand for rural tourism Land(1994) acknowledges the absence of any systematic sources of data on rural tourism, since neither the world Considering the demand and supply of rural tourism, it can be defined more specifically; Demand-side rural tourism is based on the nature of the visitor and is defined as â€Å"a visit by a person to any place other than his or her usual work or home environment and that is outside a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (Greffe,1994,p23). On the other hand, supply-side rural tourism is more focused on a visitors place of stay. Rural tourism is also associated with a particular from of accommodation that offers tourism opportunities to participate in farm-related activities, such as vegetable gardening or caring for farm animals. ‘Agricultural tourism is specified by the act of visiting a working farm or any agricultural horticultural or agribusiness operation for the purpose of enjoyment, education, or active involvement in the activities of the farm or operation (Lobo, 2001; Buck, 2004). It includes taking part in a board range of farm-based activities, including farmers markets, petting farms, roadside stands, and ‘pick-your-own operations; engaging in overnight farm or ranch stays and other farm visits; and visiting agriculture-related festivals, museums, and other such attractions. Agricultural tourism operations provide a bridge between urban and rural dwellers. Agricultural tourism, or agri-tourism, is one alternative for improving the incomes and potential economic viability of small farms and rural communities. Farm to tourism is defined as a subset of rural tourism and is in many ways an incarnations of the traits typical to rural enterprises; small-scale, with local roots, and anchored in local traditions. It also seems to be the oldest form of rural tourism (Nilsson, 2002). The concept of rural tourism has evolved substantially in recent years. One aspect of the change is reflected in the vocabulary used to describe various types of rural tourism activities. For instance, some studies refer to outdoor-based tourism as ‘ecotourism, while other publications use the term ‘nature based tourism or ‘green tourism (Stancliffe, 1992). Although these two terms are not technically synonymous; the term ‘ecotourism suggests activities that promote conservation of nature, while nature based tourism is evocative of a broader spectrum of outdoor based recreation including hunting, fishing, camping, and the use of recreational vehicles. These new terms reflect new perspectives in the tourism industry. Green tourism – although in some countries the term ‘ green tourism refers specifically to tourism in the countryside(i.e. tourism in green areas), it is more commonly used to describe forms of tourism that are considered to be more environmentally friendly than traditional, mass tourism. Variously called ‘alternative, responsible, soft, good'(Wood and House 1991) or ‘new (Poon 1993) tourism, green tourism is an approach to tourism development which seeks to develop a symbiotic relationship(Budowski 1976) with the physical and social environment on which it depends. In other words, increasing concern about the harmful effects of mass tourism has led to calls for more sustainable forms of tourism development such as approach is, of course, of particular relevance to rural tourism given the environmental fragility of many rural areas. Heritage tourism is also often included within the scope of rural tourism and refers to leisure travel that has as its primary purpose the experiencing of places and activities that represent the past. The principal concerns of heritage tourism are historical authenticity and the long term sustainability of attractions (Gartner 2004) Ecotourism is a form of tourism development which ‘offers unique opportunities for integrating rural development, tourism, resource management, and protected area management in many sites around the world (Hvenegaard 1994). More specifically, it is a form of nature tourism which actively promotes environmental conservation, is directly beneficial to local societies and cultures, and which provides tourists with a positive, educative experience. It is, in effect, a form of alternative, sustainable tourism (Cater and Lowman 1994: 3), but one which, implicitly, depends on a rural environment. Hence, ecotourism is a subset of rural tourism, but not all rural tourism is necessarily ecotourism. When studying rural tourism, it is essential to first define exactly what is involved in rural tourism, because a lack of clarity in terms of definition can influence data collection, resulting in partial information on rural tourism with regard to both scope and scale (SharpleyRoberts, 2004) The roots of rural tourism are very similar throughout the world, no matter when it comes into practice (Fleischer Pizam, 1997). In the early days, rural tourism was developed and encouraged primarily for the purpose of revitalization and diversification of rural areas. A decline in the ability of farming and related agricultural support businesses limited the ability of farmers and rural residents to generate sufficient income causing many farmers to seek new sources of income and to diversify their farms. Also, a systematic and substantial decrease in the rural populations, the aging of these populations, now characterizes many rural areas (Fleischer Pizam, 1997; Ribeiro Marques, 2002) Tourism has long been suggested as a strategy of revitalizing rural economies. rural tourism can add income to farms and other households, provides job alternatives, diversifies the rural economy, and makes the provision of certain infrastructure possible(Oppermann,1996). Therefore, many rural communities turned to tourism to stimulate new economic development (Blaine, Mohammad, Var, 1993) Lane (1994) offers some tourism market trends that will accelerate the growth of rural tourism in the future. He points to growing interest in rural life, including heritage and tradition, an increasing health consciousness giving a positive appeal to rural lifestyles and values, market interest in high performance outdoor equipment, search for solitude and relaxation in a quiet natural place, and an aging but active population retiring earlier but living and travelling far into old age. As increasing attention has been paid to rural tourism as a specific form of tourism development, so too has the scope of research into tourism in rural areas become more diverse. Rural tourism is not new however; interest in rural tourism has increased rapidly during the past several years. The recent surge in rural tourism has come from the demand-side, due in part to increased disposable incomes improved lifestyles, increased health awareness, a mature travel market, changing tastes and preferences, and increases in automobile and weekend travel (Hill, 193; Alexander Mckenna, 1998) Opportunities for rural tourism development include general tourism growth, increased family vacationing, environmental interest, the recent dispersion of travel through growing auto travel, a mature travel market, changing tastes and preferences, urbanization, and growing weekend travel. On the other hand, there are also obstacles to rural tourism development, which include weak drawing power, dispersion of attractions and services, meagre secondary economic impacts, internal community conflicts, and destination life cycle. Hill (1993) made several suggestions for capitalizing on rural tourism opportunities and overcoming various obstacles. The major challenges he identifies are developing attractions, encouraging entrepreneurship, informing markets, reacting to changing tastes, providing quality service and preserving attractions and attractiveness. It is important to stress that a number of different tourism products or types of tourism development fall under the heading of rural tourism. However, they do not necessarily equate with it. For example, farm tourism refer to ‘all forms of tourism that are directly connected with a farm (Jansen-Verbeke and Nijmegen 1990) and includes staying on a farm, either in rooms or camping, educational visits, meals, recreational activities, and the sales of farm produce or handicrafts. Tourism has been considered as a vehicle for economic regeneration and employment creation in the UK, too. A number of local authorities have sought to capture the potential economic benefits afforded by tourism and a number of studies have investigated the ways to maximize the benefits. Thomas and Long (2001) presented the development of employee skills as a key issue for effective tourism development. They examined the link between employee skills development and the contribution of tourism to regeneration in rural areas. Wilson et al (2001) addressed the importance of the community context and rural tourism â€Å"entrepreneurs role in tourism development and promotion in rural areas. According to Wilson, the ten most important conditions for successful tourism development in rural areas include a complete tourism package, good community leadership, support and participation of local government, sufficient funds for tourism development, strategic planning, coordination and cooperation between rural tourism entrepreneurs, information and technical assistance for tourism development and promotions, good convention and visitors bureaus, and widespread community support for tourism. Cooperation of all elements of the industry and the community has also been emphasized by Hunt (1992). Additionally, he has suggests a broad-based program that details development, marketing and management as a strategy for successful development of rural tourism. Tourism has been considered as a vehicle for economic regeneration and employment creation in the UK, too. A number of local authorities have sought to capture the potential economic benefits afforded by tourism and a number of studies have investigated the ways to maximize the benefits. Thomas and Long (2001) presented the development of employee skills as a key issue for effective tourism development. They examined the link between employee skills development and the contribution of tourism to regeneration in rural areas. Oppermann (1996) found a surprising fact in a study of farm based tourism in southern Germany: operators thought a ‘calm relaxing environment was the chief motivator of tourists, but to visitors the actual farm environment was only a backdrop. And although the environmental wisdom in Germany is that rural tourists are mostly middle-aged couples with children Oppermann(1995) found a bimodal distribution defined by couples and groups of four. Families were much more likely to stay on farms. Identifying and segmenting the rural tourism market is probably the lease researched and understood process in the rural tourism system. There are few studies that focus on the rural tourist, although one could assemble market facts from diverse sources and aggregate them into a comprehensive rural tourism market evaluation. 2.2 Rural tourism issues However, rural tourism development may not always be the best strategy for solving rural problems. The successful development of rural tourism depends upon planning and the existence of infrastructure, attractions, essential services, management, maintenance, and an accessible market. In the absence of any one of these elements, a rural region may find that tourism is not a cost-effective option, or that other development tools, such as investment in infrastructure and education, must precede the development of rural tourist attraction and services ( Edgell Carwright, 1990). Only when proper conditions prevail, can tourism be a contributor to rural economic development in the areas. Sandell argue about the tourism access issues. Rural tourism is, simply, about people. It is about tourists who visit and enjoy the countryside and who, in order to do so, must be able to travel to and within rural areas. In other words, for rural tourism to exist and, by implication, for it to benefit local communities, people must have access to the countryside. As tourism is increasingly developed in rural areas and as the demand for rural tourism grows, so too will there be a greater need other demands on the countryside but also with the longer term protection or conservation of the rural resources. As more tourists demand access and as rural planners and managers, eager to jump on the rural tourism industry, should be limited to Swedish citizens as a result of concern over the misuse of theses rights by overseas tourists (Sandell 1995) Ray Williams discussed problems as the division and opposition of city country, industry and agriculture, in their modern forms, are the critical culmination of the division and specialisation of about which, though it did not begin with capitalism, was developed under it to an extraordinary and transforming degree. Other forms of the same fundamental division are the separation between mental and manual labour, between administration and operation, between politics and social life. The symptoms of this division can be found at every point in what is now our common life; in the idea and practice of social classes; in conventional definitions of work, the year, the lifetime. Much of the creative thinking of our time is an attempt to re-examine each of these concepts and practices. It is based on the conviction that the system which generates and is composed by them is intolerable and will not survive. On new forms of decision-making, new kinds of education, new definitions and practic es of work, new kinds of settlement and land-use (William, 1975) Williams (1984) also argue that traditional forms of rural planning were related to development control by designating landscap