Research Seminar 

No. 5

Examining the Golden Opportunities for the Development
of Tourism and Trade Opportunities between Brazil and Fiji

Speaker: Nick Cooper 

Owner of Ocean Charters (Fiji) Limited

Date: Tuesday 3rd November 2015

Time: 5.00pm

Venue: STHM Tutorial room (FBE annex)

Abstract

This paper is very detailed in its direction and scope, comprising of a discussion on taking advantage of one specific event to launch what could be a potentially lucrative long-term outbound tourist market for Fiji. The event, The Rio 2016 Olympics Rugby, is running for the first time at the Olympics since 1923, and involving the Fiji Sevens rugby team. With many countries, including Fiji’s neighbours New Zealand and Australia, vying for a piece of the potentially lucrative South American travel market, together with airlines introducing new routes and increasing traffic on existing ones, opportunities flourish. Fiji needs to mirror its current promotional efforts in existing markets in South America, such as awareness campaigns and educational trips, as well as to address the need for conducive visa regulations strategies and airline access routes. The presentation also focuses on examining the importance of sport tourism development in relation to a mega event such as the Olympics. This is not the only sector in South America that has development potential, other sectors include educational tourism, eco-tourism, business tourism, conference and event tourism, wedding tourism, adventure tourism, spa and health tourism. As indicated, infrastructural airline access needs (and concerns) between Fiji and Brazil are critically observed, as well as looking at marketing approaches; indicating ways in which strategies can be developed to strengthen the relationship between ‘Destination Fiji’ and ‘Destination Brazil’. Taking a holistic approach to promoting Fiji and its links with Brazil is essential, not only acknowledging Fiji as a tourism destination but as producer and exporter-with products such as Fiji Water and Pure Fiji, under the umbrella of “Brand Fiji”.

Biography

Nick has lived in Fiji for 11 years and has owned a boat charter business for the past five years: Ocean Charters Fiji Limited. He has 25 years of experience in the tourism and hospitality industry, both private and public sectors – from industrial catering in the Middle East to Club Med in the Caribbean. He also worked for the Australian Federal Government as a tourism policy analyst in the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources and was part of the team that authored the ‘Platinum Ten Year Plan for Tourism’. Nick has an Ordinary National Diploma in Hotel Management from Scarborough College, a Higher National Diploma in Hotel Management from Blackpool and Fylde College, an MBA from James Cook University and a Masters of Tourism Management from Canberra University. He is looking at commencing with a PhD and exploring possible research avenues, including tourism policy and its ramifications on small island states and developing nations.

The School of Tourism and Hospitality Management 

The University of The South Pacific 

Research Seminar Series

No. 4

Speaker: Sera Vada-Pareti 

Assistant Lecturer

School of Tourism and Hospitality Management

University of the South Pacific

Date: Tuesday 13th October 2015

Time: 5.00pm

Venue: STHM Tutorial room (FBE annex)

Abstract

Many tourism destinations are diversifying to new markets and specifically to the Chinese outbound market in order to sustain their tourism industry.  For Fiji’s tourism industry, China represents one of the most important emerging markets, alongside India and Russia.  This study is of particular importance for the tourism industry in Fiji, as there is presently a paucity of evident research to determine whether the option for Fiji to diversify to the Chinese outbound market is wise, viable and promising. This study sought to develop an understanding of the perceptions and expectations of Chinese tourists to Fiji, identified and discussed conditions, opportunities and constraints of diversifying to the Chinese market, and how these implicate private industry practices and public policy. It is anticipated that the findings and recommendations outlined in this study will assist key tourism stakeholders and destination marketers in Fiji to recognize and appreciate the importance of the Chinese outbound market to Fiji in terms of its ability to sustain Fiji’s tourism industry in the event of downfalls experienced in traditional markets due to exogenous shocks. It is further anticipated that the findings from this study will also provide tourism practitioners with the realization and acknowledgement of the evident need to regulate the Chinese inbound market to Fiji.  This study also addresses future research implications in terms of expanding stakeholder representation in such areas as retail shopping outlets, restaurants, tour operators and excursions, especially to obtain additional insight and stakeholder perceptions concerning Fiji’s Chinese tourist market.

Sera is an Assistant Lecturer with the School of Tourism & Hospitality Management at USP.  She has an undergraduate degree in International Hotel Management and Tourism from the University of Queensland, Australia and gained her Masters in Development Studies from the University of the South Pacific. Sera has 10 years of experience in event management, tourism and destination marketing and project management whilst working for various organizations which include the World Health Organization, Tourism Fiji and the University of the South Pacific. Sera’s research interests include destination marketing and diversification of tourist markets, tourism and small states with specific interest on tourism development challenges in the Pacific, sustainable tourism for small islands and states, and the Chinese outbound market with a focus on cultural aspects and behaviour of Chinese tourists.

The School of Tourism and Hospitality Management 

The University of The South Pacific

Research Seminar Series

No. 3

Service Quality in Island Destinations: cultural perspectives from the frontline

Speaker: Lynn Beckles

PhD Candidate

Department of Management Studies

University of the West Indies,

Cave Hill Campus, Barbados

Visiting Researcher CARPIMS

School of Tourism and Hospitality Management

The University of the South Pacific

Date: Tuesday 6th October, 2015

Time: 5.15pm

Venue: STHM Tutorial room (FBE annex)

Abstract

The service encounter represents the touch points in the customer experience, created by the enterprise where quality value propositions are presented and consumed as financial transactions. In addition to the multiple pressures and the dyadic nature of the encounter itself, several stakeholders contribute to its creation, presentation and consumption. For value in the highly experiential service offerings of the tourism industry, it is purported that human resources be used to create unique and memorable service experiences. Realising this potential comparative and competitive advantage is however challenged by the increasing cultural diversity, evident in the demands of the travelling public and in the availability of labour to the industry. As global travel continues to grow, the impact of cultural schemas on the perceptions the service provider and the expectations of the service receiver provides additional complexities to be considered in the design and delivery of a quality service experience. This research will investigate the perspectives of frontline employees in a locally owned hotel chain in the Fiji Islands. The study first frames the service encounter within a suggested ecosystem for the delivery of the tourism services, identifying positions and roles of select stakeholders relative to the encounter. Within that framework, the study then proposes a model to analyse the perspectives of service quality from the frontline employee – a Phenomenological Hermeneutic Perspective model based on Schultz’s theorizing of common sense knowledge. The research hopes to contribute to the development of a culturally bounded construct of service quality and the service encounter.

Biography 

The School of Tourism and Hospitality Management

The University of The South Pacific

Research Seminar No. 2

People-First Tourism: Collaborative Research and Technology
to Engage Micro-Entrepreneurs in Tourism Development

Speaker:  Dr. Gene L. Brothers

Associate Professor

North Carolina State University

Date: Thursday 16 April 2015

Time: 5.15pm

Venue: STHM Tutorial room (FBE annex)

Abstract

Tourism has become increasingly important to many countries around the world. Visitors bring much needed income to communities but often with some problems including unequal distribution of income, changes in social and cultural health of communities and the potential for environmental degradation. In many destination settings the formal tourism sector interacts with under-resourced rural host communities in neo-colonial ways; creating representations of the destinations infused with Orientalist biases. In doing so, the industry appropriates local natural and cultural heritages for economic or preservation goals for what is seen as desirable experiences. In contrast, People-First Tourism supports an informal sector of tourism businesses. The goal is to fuel a counter movement through engagement of local hosts in producing unscripted cultural experiences that speak more of what story the locals want to tell rather than of what the industry thinks tourists desire. The foundation of People-First Tourism is built upon theories of self-determination, the subaltern voice, and social capital. Collaborative research has engaged micro-entrepreneurs in defining what unscripted stories they want tourists to hear, and has identified cooperative linkages among entrepreneurs within networks which define tourists’ experiences. Utilisation of innovative web-to-cell technology provides micro-entrepreneurs with access to markets and tourists with unique interactive experiences. Discussion of application to the South Pacific and specifically Fiji Islands will follow. This work has been developed in collaboration with colleagues at NCSU: Dr. Duarte Morais, Dr. Tim Wallace and John Bass.

Biography

Gene Brothers is an academic who specialises in tourism destination planning and management. Current research interests are: recreation and tourism resource analysis and planning, survey research design and implementation, assessment of natural resources, level of service assessment, public participation in the planning process, and determination of limits of acceptable change in destination community development. Recent and ongoing research efforts include Economic Impact analysis of the US Open Golf Tournaments, Pinehurst, NC and analytics for People-First Tourism. Gene has had extensive experience in domestic and international tourism research and planning which has included an administrative sabbatical position at The University of the South Pacific, Fiji Islands (1999), a teaching sabbatical at CERAM Business School, Sophia-Antipolis, France and University of Innsbruck, Austria (2008), as well as research project work in numerous US states, the European Alps, Fiji, Mexico, Belize, Dominica, and Moldova.