The Role of Millennial Tourists in Promoting Responsible Tourism: A Case in Singapore

The tourism industry has emerged as one of the main contributors of gross domestic product (GDP) in many countries, including Singapore. Though the direct benefits associated with the growth of tourism industry is promising, the social-culturally and environmental problems that arisen simultaneously must not be overlooked. This paper presents five hypotheses for understanding the inter-relationship between millennial tourists’ evaluation on tourism experience, their attitude towards the tourism experience, attitude towards the destination as well as their responsible tourism intention by using the consumption value theory, the halo effects and the theory of planned behavior as guiding frameworks. The paper proposes that the perceived value of millennial tourists is made up of six distinctive dimensions, which will have a positive effect on their attitude towards the tourism experience. Their positive attitude arisen from tourism experience will, then, affect their attitude towards the destination and thus their intention to engage in responsible tourism behavior. This paper offers opportunities to refine concepts and build on existing theories.

A Better Brew: COVID-19 and Sustainable Outcomes for Coffee Tourism in Ali Mountain, Taiwan

COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the global economy in an unprecedented manner, which includes the coffee industry. This paper seeks to provide insights as to how coffee farmers on Ali Mountain, Taiwan transitioned to sustainable futures as an outcome of the pandemic. A case study approach is adopted to explore how COVID-19 influences the coffee business and corresponding tourism implications, along with crisis management strategies for a post-pandemic era. Through a case study approach, the study revealed that the current pandemic has conditioned the perception of risk towards all actors of the coffee estate and thereby causing a shift in consumer preference. Despite the adaptive strategies employed by the business to establish some form of normality, the coffee estate operation in Ali Mountain remains reactive to crises and disaster in the absence of a strategic and holistic plan to deal with situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Theoretical and practical suggestions are provided to inspire coffee farm owners in terms of disaster management scenarios, sustainable anti-pandemic strategies, as well as the desire and quest for industry resuscitation and activation.

Liwetan, The Boardroom for Managing Horizontal Conflicts in Tourism Village Sustainability

In the tourism development and sustainability literature, conflicts among local communities, i.e. horizontal conflicts, about community-based tourism have been found to be detrimental to the sustainability of their village. This qualitative study aims to counter that perception. In-depth interviews were conducted with the village’s communities, including local community group members and local authorities. The findings revealed that the ‘responsible manner of local communities’ is the best practice to mitigate horizontal conflicts. Specifically, we discovered that local community groups in the tourism village are aware that their collaborations may potentially lead to conflicts; therefore, they preemptively prepared themselves with a platform that enables them to discuss intrapersonal, intragroup, and intergroup matters in a manner that avoids and minimizes horizontal conflicts. This platform emerged through their ancestral tradition called liwetan. Although liwetan is not a new concept, using it in the management of tourism villages is not a common practice. We thus suggest that the approach discussed in this study be replicated and applied in other tourism villages all over Indonesia, given that the liwetan tradition can be found in many villages, albeit with different names.