1、 外文翻译 原文 Conference and Exhibition Tourism in the Developing World:The South African Experience Material Source: Urban Forum,Vol.16,Nos.2-3 ,April-September 2005. Author: Christian M.Rogerson writings on business tourism in general and on conference and exhibition tourism in particular. The second s
2、ection turns attention to analyse business tourism in South Africa, the growing local supply of conference and exhibition facilities, and to highlight the increasing competition that is emerging between SouthAfricas leading cities for dominance of the lucrative market of conference and exhibition to
3、urism. Over the past quarter-century, strong growth was recorded in flows of business tourism, both domestically and internationally, and tourism scholars have accorded the phenomenon increased research significance (Cooper, 1979; Lawson, 1982; Hughes, 1988; Owen, 1992; Davidson, 1993; Bradley et al
4、., 2002; Kulendran and Witt, 2002). Nevertheless, business travel and tourism is one of most diverse and fragmented themes in tourism scholarship. Indeed, the topic of business tourism has been divided into at least fifteen different categories of travel, including individual general business trips,
5、 training courses, product launches, and corporate hospitality and incentive travel (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2001). The most important elements of business tourism are acknowledged to be the hosting of meetings, conferences or exhibitions (Law, 1987, 1993; Oppermann and Chon, 1997). Often these are c
6、ombined with incentive travel into discussions of the category of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) tourism. For destination planners, the benefits of attracting business tourism are several.At international level, these include, inter alia, contributions to employment and inc
7、ome, increased foreign exchange earnings, the generation of investment in tourism infrastructure, the facilitation of opportunities for access to new technology and ideas, and the establishment of business contacts (Dwyer and Mistilis,1997). At local level, the attractions of business tourism involv
8、e the sheer size and expansion of this market, the relatively higher daily expenditures recorded by business travellers as opposed to leisure orVFR tourists, the tendency of business travel to occur outside peak periods for leisure travel, and the multiple local spin-offs for an array of local small
9、 businesses, including photographers, printers and florists (Braun and Rungeling, 1992; Oppermann, 1997; Wootton and Stevens, 1995; Bradley et al., 2002; Solberg et al., 2002; Suh and McAvoy, 2005). On the whole, the market for meetings tourism has grown substantially and seems destined to continue
10、at a rate of growth above that recorded even for most European national economies (Bradley et al., 2002). Despite its global expansion and acknowledged importance, a recent introductory text on business tourism by Swarbrooke and Horner (2001: xiii) could bemoan the fact that “there is relatively lit
11、tle literature on any aspect of the subject“. In common with most areas of tourism scholarship, the available fragmented literature concerning business tourism is dominated by research on the developed world. A number of studies have appeared which document various dimensions of international or dom
12、estic business tourism in Europe (Law, 1987;Wootton and Stevens, 1995; Bradley et al., 2002; Dorfler, 2002; Weber and Chon, 2002; World Tourism Organisation, 2003) and North America (Zelinsky, 1994; Hiller, 1995; Weber and Chon, 2002; Weber and Ladkin, 2003), which are the two leading international
13、foci for business travel and business tourism. Increased research interest is evident also in the expanding markets of Australia and Pacific Rim Asia (see Cooper, 1979; Dwyer and Mistilis, 1997; Oppermann, 1997; Go and Govers, 1999; Lew and Chang, 1999; Qu et al., 2000; Pyo and Koo, 2002; Kim et al.
14、, 2003; Suh and McAvoy, 2005). By contrast, the developing world as a whole has been a limited focus for research on business tourism, not least the continent of Africa, which has received no scholarly attention. Notwithstanding academic neglect, Dieke (1998: 39) observes that “one of the most impor
15、tant aspects of travel in Africa is related to business purposes“. Indeed, business travel repre- sents a core driver of the growing phenomenon of regional tourismflows within sub-Saharan Africa as observed during the last decade (Dieke, 1998; Ghimire, 2001; Mustapha, 2001). The objective in this ar
16、ticle is to furnish an introduction to the theme of business tourism in urbanAfrica by examining key issues in the evolution and growth of conference and exhibition tourism within South Africa. As Law (1987: 85) points out: “Conference and exhibition tourism is usually considered part of business to
17、urism“. The discussion is organized into two sets of material. The first section provides a review of key themes in the existing body of international Conferences and exhibitions are usually treated together rather than as two separate activities because “there is an increasing convergence between t
18、hem“ (Law, 1987: 86). Traditionally, many conferences include exhibitions and exhibitions often give rise to conferences. None the less, as Law (1987: 87) observes the “apogee“ of convergence between conferences and exhibitions is the emergence of the multi-purpose convention centre which consists o
19、f several large venues which can be used flexibly either for conference or exhibition purposes. Hiller (1995: 375) argues that conferences and exhibitions are a “special kind of tourism“ as theoretically they represent the propelling factor for attendance rather than the characteristics of the desti
20、nation itself.The meeting, convention or exhibition serves as the primary purpose for travel and the focus is a multi-faceted event of a fixed time duration that involves speakers, seminars, workshops, exhibitions, banquets, association meetings and social events. Accordingly, the conference or exhi
21、bition event is, therefore, interpreted as markedly different from other forms of business travel in which the primary purpose is individual or smallgroup encounters (Hiller, 1995). In practical terms, a commitment to the purpose of the conference or exhibition is not a guarantee of attendance. Issu
22、es relating to accessibility, marketing, investment, infrastructure, human resources and service quality are among a range of variables that can be influential (Weber and Ladkin, 2003). The markets for conference and exhibition tourism at both international and domestic scale of analysis have been s
23、hown to be “extremely competitive“ (Dwyer and Mistilis, 1997: 230) with more and more countries building conference centres “in order to capitalize on this newly emerging tourism sector“ (Oppermann, 1997: 245). Considerable care is taken by meetings or conference organisers in terms of the selection
24、 of locations for the hosting of conferences or exhibitions. Accordingly, a critical research focus in business tourism scholarship is understanding the decision-making processes and destination images as held both by association meeting planners and potential attendees (Zelinsky, 1994; Oppermann, 1
25、996a, 1996b; Oppermann and Chon, 1997; Crouch and Ritchie, 1998; Getz et al., 1998; Oppermann, 1998; Weber, 2001). The results of such research, including the application of choice modelling exercises, are used to improve the competitive positioning and branding of individual destinations for the at
26、traction of business tourism (Var et al., 1985; Oppermann, 1996a; Crouch and Louviere, 2003; Weber and Ladkin, 2003; Hankinson, 2005). Illustratively, much recent attention has been given to the primacy of Singapore over the competition offered from Hong Kong for international conferences in Southea
27、st Asia and more broadly, the Pacific Rim region. The significance of factors such as capacity of facilities, quality of service, accessibility, as well as cost considerations have been put forward to explain the regional competitive dominance of Singapore and correspondingly, to suggest areas for i
28、mprovement for enhancing the position of Hong Kong (Go and Govers, 1999; Lew and Chang, 1999; Qu et al., 2000). At national level, the importance of this segment of business tourism is underscored by the fact that certain countries have prepared national policies or strategies that are designed spec
29、ifically to ensure long-term growth and to maximise the local economic and social impacts of conference and exhibition tourism. In terms of policy development, one of the most pro-active countries is Australia. During the 1990s the national government encouraged the development of a marketing strate
30、gy which is geared, inter alia, to enhance international awareness of the country as a premier conference and exhibition destination; to promote coordinated and cooperative marketing of the industry; to encourage national associations to attract overseas delegates to meetings and exhibitions in Aust
31、ralia, particularly from the Asia-Pacific region; and, to boost the number of delegates attending conferences inAustralia at local, national and international level (Dwyer and Mistilis, 1997). For destinations, the economic impacts of capturing the market of business tourism are potentially consider
32、able. Figure 1 shows the economic impacts of business tourism on localities. It discloses that whilst there are both potential positive and negative impacts, “it is generally accepted that the economic benefits of business tourism are positive in most places“ (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2001: 77). In th
33、e USA, the hosting of conventions and meetings is viewed as highly beneficial in that they can complement the seasonal fluctuations experienced in leisure tourism activities (Braun and Rungeling, 1992). Success in business tourism has been shown to bring also an array of non-financial rewards to loc
34、alities, the most significant associated with image and profile enhancement, the physical upgrading and regeneration of decaying areas, and the generation of civic pride among residents (Law, 1987; Zelinsky, 1994; Bradley et al., 2002). Taken together, given the several potential economic and non-ec
35、onomic impacts of business tourism, it is not surprising that many different kinds of localities have been encouraged to seek a slice of this lucrative market by attracting conferences and exhibitions. Historically, in Western Europe, resort towns recognised earliest the potential benefits of confer
36、ence and exhibition tourism and started to develop specialist conference facilities during the inter-war period (1919-39). Indeed, a long-established feature of seaside resorts in the United Kingdom, such as Blackpool, Brighton or Scarborough, is the hosting of the annual conferences of political pa
37、rties, trade unions and associations in order to attract visitors and extend the length of the tourism season (Douglas, 1979). The market for meeting tourism became more competitive from the early 1980s with the entry of several provincial centres, such as Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, N
38、ottingham and Newcastle. In the majority of these centres, multi-purpose facilities were developed (Law, 1987; Bradley et al., 2002). The major exception was Birmingham, which followed the United States model, developing a planned large downtown convention centre to complement its National Exhibitio
39、n Centre.The meeting tourism market has been aggressively sought after by a large number of former industrial cities in the UK, continental Europe, the USA and Australia, within their strategies of post-industrial regeneration (Law, 1987, 1992, 1993; Bradley et al., 2002). The capital city function
40、also offers opportunities for the development of business tourism as a whole, including for meetings and conferences (Hall, 2002). The factors affecting the competitiveness of individual localities in the USA or Western Europe offer parallels with theAsian experience.The general consensus is that me
41、etings organisers take account of four key attributes when selecting meetings venues (Bradley et al., 2002). In order of importance these relate to the quality of meetings facilities, cost, accessibility and image of potential locations (Law, 1993). The relative importance of these four factors will
42、 vary, however, according to the nature of particular conferences or exhibitions. Considerable debate surrounds the role of image in meetings tourism with Zelinsky (1994) arguing that in the experience of USA, image is a prime pull-factor. In more recent work, the role of image has been re-evaluated
43、; image is viewed as important for meetings organisers, albeit not as important as other factors (Bradley et al., 2002). Overall, Law (1987: 93) asserts that for international conferences, meetings organisers “are attracted to places with good air links, a high standard of facilities and an attracti
44、ve image“ whereas the role of image and the attractiveness of locations is of lesser significance for exhibition venues. Tourism scholarship concerning conferences and exhibitions is dominated by writings concerned with developed countries. An examination of the South African experience, therefore,
45、provides a useful complement to the existing writings and reveals certain parallel themes, particularly concerning issues of local development. Historically, in the apartheid period the market for conference and exhibition tourism was based upon domestic demand. After the democratic transition, howe
46、ver, it is evident that new opportunities were opened for the attraction of international conferences and exhibitions to South Africa. Undoubtedly, a watershed event in the development of South African participation in the global market for conferences was the successful hosting in Johannesburg duri
47、ng 2002 of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The positive local development impacts of the attraction of such conferences have been the essential catalyst for the development and continuous upgrading of three international quality convention centres in the country. These three major conve
48、ntion facilities represent the apex of an estimated 1700 conference and exhibition centres that currently exist across South Africa and serve both domestic and international MICE markets. With heightened levels of competition for the conference and exhibition marketboth domestic and internationalunc
49、ertainty surrounds the long-term prospects of many of these facilities.The task of monitoring the progress, dynamics and changing fortunes of conference and exhibition tourism merits a place on the research agenda of urban tourism studies in South Africa over the next decade. REFERENCES Bradley, A., Hall, T. and Harrison, M., 2002: Selling cities: promoting new images f
