This podcast is part one of my audio diary of a recent trip to Tunisia.  In this podcast I talk about two trips that I made to the Tunis Medina.  This is the old market area next to downtown Tunis, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  I also talk about the conference that I attended near the Tunis suburb of Carthage.A Powerpoint slideshow of the Tunis Medina can be found here.

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This podcast is a series of four audio postcards that I made in May 2008 when I went diving at the Lembeh Strait near the city of Manado on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.  This is near the center of the Coral Triangle of Southeast Asia. They were originally published on my travelography 2.0 podcast.  Here, I have combined them into a single podcast.Photos from the trip described here can be found on my Flickr.com site. The homepage for this podcast is at TravelGeography.infoabout 45 minutes long

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This is a soundseeing (sst) tour from  the World Travel and Tourism Council Summit in Dubai (20-22 April 2008) that I attended.  It includes three elements: About 5 minutes from an Intro to Dubai city tour, A short and interesting segment of a presentation from the conference, and A segment of the Gala Dinner, which closes with my visit to a fortune teller (entertainment for the dinner guests). The whole presentation is about 20 minutes due to my introduction section.  The actual Dubai part is 14 minutes.

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Defining Place Authenticity: My Heritage Can Beat Up Your HistoryThis is a recording of a classroom presentation made by me in April 2008.  The entire podcast is 50+ minutes long.The powerpoint slides can be found here:http://www.slideshare.net/alew/slideshows

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Travel Geography Podcast #61The December Travel Geography Podcast is a compilation of mini Utterz.com podcasts that I posted during my trip to Finland and Sweden.  The trip was from November 28 to December 10.  Utterz.com is a free podcasting service on which you can post unlimited mini-podcasts -- sort of like an audio Twitter.  The Utterz episodes that I have have compiled here include:My first impressions of being in a place with only 4 hours of sunliteA noon time walk on the University of Oulu campus to find the sunReport on our post-conference field trip to Santa Claus Land at the Arctic Circle and to the World Cup Ski competition at the Ruka Ski Resort near the Russian borderA report on my job as a Ph.D. "Opponent" and the party that followedSome thoughts while in transit back to the US, and my jetlag after returning to Arizona, andA weather report update and news story about a new tourist attraction in Sweden

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Today's podcast is the last of my recordings from the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, held in San Francisco, CA in April 2007.   I also talk about changing the name of the Geography for Travelers Podcast to the Travel Geography Podcast.And I talk about my new Travelography 2.0 Podcast for NaPodPoMo on Utterz.com.Length: 36min 03secAbstract Title from the AAG.org website: Tourism Geographies: a Renaissance in the 21st Centurytrave Author: D'Arcy J. Dornan, Ph.D. - Central Connecticut State University Abstract: Geography departments are seemingly well positioned to take advantage of the growth in the popularity of tourism as a field of study. The ever-growing international reputation of the journal Tourism Geographies is a good case in point if we can use this journal's success as an indicator of this trend. This paper aims to evaluate and discuss the impacts of academic managerialism and capitalism and related processes to the development of programs, both academic and professional, relating to the geography of tourism, the geography of tourism and hospitality, and to the professional development of tourism. Concrete and recent examples of the aforementioned program types will be drawn from program development efforts in both California and Connecticut. These 'case studies' will be examined and used to illustrate their significant impacts on the growth of this field within geography. Additional comments and conclusions will be taken from one of last year's panel discussions on a different but related topic entitled: 'Tourism geography: lost realities and prospective opportunities,' which sought to assess the current situation and future trends in the academic tourism geographer community in its ability to meet the needs and challenges of the tourism and hospitality industry and of academia. Keywords: tourism, geography, impacts, California, Connecticut

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Today's podcast is a presentation that I gave at the NAU eLearning Institute in May, 2007.  I gave a 1 hour presentation on how I used social media, especially blogs, podcasts and wikis, to teach an online class in Spring 2007.  The class was titled "Planning for Sustainable Tourism."Total Length: 54m 48secHere are some links related to this presentation:- Course outline posted on Web20Teach blog- Elluminate.com- InnerToob.com- My Slideshare.net page - Powerpoint slides and forthcoming Slidecast for this podcast--- Slides for this presentation--- Bicycle Touring slidecast (from the 30 June 2007 G4T podcast)- My Twitter

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This is the discussion that followed Professor David Fennell's presentation on Tourism and Ethics at the AAG Annual Meeting in April 2007.  To hear the presentation, go to show #57 at http://TravelGeography.info - where you can find the full show notes for Geography for Travellers.AND to both Hear and See his presentation as a Slidecast, go to http://Slideshare.net/alew

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Today's Geography for Travelers Podcast is a recording of a presentation by Prof. David Fennell of Brock University at the annual meeting of the Assocaiation of American Geographers, 17-22 April 2007.  The title of his presentation is:Ethics: We're Stuck With It [in Tourism]...Whether We Like It Or Not! This was a 45 minute plenary presentation sponsored by my journal, Tourism Geographies, and funded by the journal's publisher, Routledge/Taylor and Francis, Ltd.Part 1 of this podcast is the actual presentation.  Part 2 of this podcast will is the questions and answers that followed the presentation.  I will post that in about 1 to 2 weeks as a separate podcast.ALSO - This podcast will be linked to David's Powerpoint slides on Slideshare.net in what they call a Slidecast.  You can find this Slidecast at: http://www.slideshare.net/alew.Here is ht abstract of David Fennell's presentation from the conference program:Trivers' (1971) theory of reciprocal altruism, emerging from animal behaviour studies, is premised on the belief that human social behaviour is said to have evolved in relatively small, stable communities where groups of people had opportunities to forge cooperative relationships over time through repeated interaction. The more time we have to engage in altruistic actsâacts that are returned in kindâ the better chance for individuals and groups to set up longer term cooperative relationships. Cooperation of this sort can be challenged in tourism because of limited interactions based on restricted periods of time, with implications at the micro scale (tourist-host interactions) and at the macro scale (collective interactions within the region as a whole). Despite these challenges, ethics and trust have emerged from reciprocal altruism as mechanisms that induce both short-term and long-term cooperative relationships for mutual benefit. Implications of these relationships are discussed in the context of generating ways to improve cooperation for the tourism industry as a whole.Keywords: ethics, reciprocal altruism, cooperation Original Show Notes for this podcast are at: http://TravelGeography.info

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Danxiashan is a sandstone mountain region adjacent to the city of Shaoguan in northern Guangdong Province in China (north of Hong Kong).  The landform is similar to the sandstone regions of northern Arizona (Sedona) and southern Utah, but in a subtropical vegetation zone. I was at the Danxiashan World Geopark last week and recorded this week's Geography for Travelers Podcast while hiking around on the top of one of the more visited peaks.My photos of Danxiashan and the surrounding area can be found here:- http://flickr.com/photos/alew/tags/danxiashan/The Geography for Travelers Podcast is found at http://travelgeography.info

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This is another presentation from the Association of American Geographers annual meeting in San Francisco, California, April 12-21, 2007. Here is the abstract from the AAG.org website:Author: Michael W. Pesses - California State University, NorthridgeAbstract: In the past thirty years, bicycle touring has become a legitimate form of tourism. This paper serves as an attempt to examine bicycle touring as an "authentic" form of tourism as well as to examine how the trip affects the bicycle tourist's sense of identity. Through a qualitative analysis of the journals of bicycle tourists, this paper will look into how authentic space and authentic experiences affect the individual's concept of identity and self. The authenticity of the toured space is in constant tension with existential authenticity; one cannot exist without the other in bicycle touring. To find meaning in one's travels, and consequently in one's life, both forms of authenticity are constantly being challenged by the experience and the landscape.

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Three NAU students podcast on Maui, New York's Hudson Valley, Tourism News, and and Yosemite National Park.Show notes at http://TravelGeography.infoLength: 25min 57sec

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Today's Geography for Travelers Podcast is a recording of a presentation made at April's Association of American Geographers Conference in San Francisco.  Dr. Braden points out the pressures to develop ecotourism for economic purposes, challenges of corruption, and concern over policies of international organizations such as WWF.  Below is the abstract from her paper as posted in the conference program.(Length: 26min 33sec)The Impact of Nature Tourism on Biodiversity Change in the Russian Federationscheduled on Tuesday, 4/17/07 at 16:00 PM. Author: Kathleen E. Braden, Ph.D. Geography - Seattle Pacific University Abstract: With more than twelve percent of the earth's land area, the Russian Federation's situation for species conservation will inevitably impact the biodiversity of the planet. Since the devolution of the Soviet state, biodiversity has been poorly maintained in Russia, with an increasing number of species under threat of extinction. The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources, international environmental NGOs, the United Nations Development Programme, and the World Bank Global Environmental Facility have all earmarked the tourism sector to provide alternative incomes and alleviate some of the stress on biological resources. These plans are examined, particularly related to nature tourism, the Russian system of zapovedniki (reserves), the ability of the Russian state to attract foreign tourists, and the role of the wealthy tourist class emerging within the Russian elite. Keywords: tourism, Russia, biodiversity, nature reserve FYI - I state in the podcast that it is Tuesday, May 15th, which is when I planned to post this.  Life got in the way, however, and so it is actually May 17th that this is going up. COMMENT - To leave comments on this podcast, please go to: http://TravelGeography.infoCheers, Alan

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Today's Geography for Travelers podcast is a recording that I made a few days ago when I was driving back to Arizona after the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers in San Francisco.  My two travel companions were Prof. Victor Teye and Prof. Dallen Timothy, both of who are geographers who teach tourism classes at Arizona State University.  The three of us discuss how we personally perceive the relationship between Tourism and the discipline of Geography.  I removed some of the background noise using Soundsoap, and while not perfect, it is listenable.Length: 35min, 05secFull show notes are at http://TravelGeography.infoReleased under a Creative Commons non-commercial, attribution, share-alike Copyright.

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In today's podcast I give an overview of the 115 (updated number) tourism-related presentations that will be part of the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, 17-21 April 2007, in San Francisco.- Regular show notes can be found at http://TravelGeography.info- Email Me at: TravelGeographer @ gmail.com- Blubbery Jam for Cystic Fibrosis - Please Donate- Checkout the IndieTravelPodcast.com25min, 27 secCreative Commons Copyright: non-commercial, attribution, share-alikePAPER TITLES WITH THE KEYWORDS: TOUR, TOURIST & TOURISM - at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, 17-21 April 2007Regional Development Through Tourism in the Republic of GeorgiaViewing Historical Sites through the Gaze of the "Other"Locating Queer Key West: Between the Closet, the Resort, and the BridgeMoose head guaranteed: 'Indian' guides, white tourists, and the politics of race and nature in Temagami, OntarioThe Impact of Nature Tourism on Biodiversity Change in the Russian FederationAn Economic Analysis of Florida Beach TourismCommerce and Cruises: a comparative study of Caribbean waterfront transformationsOut of Globalizing Taipei: Cultural Imagination, Local Identity, and the Case of The Festival of Austronesian Cultures in TaitungJust wasting away on vacation: using environmental justice theory to frame ecotourism-related waste management crisesFish, Floatboats and Feds: "Directions and disparities in policy surrounding the Endangered Species Act and listed Snake River Chinook salmon on the Sawtooth National Recreation Area."The Visual Landscape in British West Indies Travel Narratives, 1815-1914Local effects of ecotourism: a case study of the Nono-Mindo Road in EcuadorSpillover Effects of Recreation-Led Growth in Rural AmericaAre We "Natural" Enough? The Ecological Tourism and Social Development in Taroko National Park Area and San-Chan Tribe, TaiwanAu Bon Endroit: surrealism, creative play and passionAccommodating Green?: Overcoming Barriers to Sustainability in China's Tourism Industry.Do we really need more tourism in Jamaica? Exploring the highs and lows of merging tourism with agriculture in the bid to create alternative livelihoodsManagement of Protected Areas in MexicoSeeking Shangri-La: Domestic Tourism in Yunnan, ChinaWeaving stories in Taiwan: Japanese colonialism and Atayal cultureSpacial Patterns of Touring Circuses Within EuropeSpring Mill Pioneer Village as Symbolic LandscapeDeveloping a fall foliage observation route through New England during peak seasonThe Battle of Richmond Re-enactment: An Examination of an Emerging Living History tourist destination in Madison Co., KentuckyEnvironmentalism in Jiangxi's Tourism DevelopmentDo we need them Clustered? Competition, Cooperation and Innovation between Tourist attractionsLandscapes of Silk Road Tourism: on the Road to SamarkandDelivering urban renaissance through the revitalization of ethnic neighborhoods as places of leisure and consumptionThe Largest Industry! Myths and Realities about the Tourist IndustryTracing Irish Ancestors within Diverse Tourism Spaces: A Proactive Approach to Developing New Models of Genealogical Tourism Promotion and ManagementGender of Work: A regional study of employees' perceptions of ecotourism jobsDeveloping America's Playgrounds: National Parks and the Evolving Vision of Outdoor Recreation 1916-1939Many homes for tourism: engaging with embodied spaces and virtual places within second home mobilitiesOn Surfari: Surf Tourism Flows from CaliforniaCompeting carrying capacities and sustainabilities: Setting the limits of growth in tourismSpatial Analysis of Tourism versus Mining in Yunnan, China: Comparing economic and environmental impactsThe Shophouse Hotel: Vernacular Heritage in Creative SingaporeGood-bye Humboldt, welcome McKinsey - Tourism and Leisure Geography in Germany in the context of current educational policy changes and the complex challenge of globalised educational structuresForging New Linkages in a Changing Global Economy? The Case of Cooperatives and their Link with the Negril Tourism Industry, Jamaica.Displacing Destinations, Becoming TouristsAn Evaluation of the Potential and Limitations of Ecotourism as a Vehicle for Conservation and Sustainable Development in IndiaA Defense Against Tourism: The formation of a cooperative system in Smangus, TaiwanAuthentic Spaces of Bicycle TourismSetting the Stage: Guanajuato's Historic CenterEcotourism in Protected Areas: The Case of Kakum National Park in GhanaCanada's emerging wine culture and conflicts in the new countrysideIs domestic tourism a domestic phenomenon? Development, the state, and global connections in the mountains of Western Sichuan, China."Going Global: Ecotourism and globalization in the Niti Valley, Garhwal Himalaya, India"Actor-Oriented Management of Protected Areas and Tourism in MexicoTourism in Austria - Growing Tourism Centers and Suffering PeripheriesWelcome to Paradise! Domestic Tourism and the Myth of the Frontier in ChinaReturning the Gaze: Exploring the Possibility for a Dialogical TourismMyths of Beirut: The Politics of History and the Seeds of MemoryOrganics-Aesthetics: Authenticity as a Regional Development InstrumentImage, Advertising and Medical Tourism in IndiaBoating on the Sea of Grass: Western Development, Tourism, Resistance, and Local EmpowermentEyes Wide Open: Post-Jacobean Infrastructure ProjectsConstructing Alterity? The Walt Disney Company and urban landscapes in the Paris BasinThe Geography of Medical TourismTourism in Chinaâan industry undertaking capitalism and individualismBaltoro glacier - a victim of high mountain mass-tourism?Black Rocks and the Big Bend - Energy Production, Wilderness, and Development on the U.S.-Mexican BorderSustainable tourism on commonages as an alternative to traditional agricultural-based land reform in Namaqualand, South AfricaMountain Shepherds Inaugural Women's Trek: Evaluation of a community initiated and operated tourism project in the Uttarakhand HimalayasConserving tropical rainforest: a role for ecological education?Driven to the margins: neoliberalism, taxi drivers, and tourism in the CaribbeanAn Interactive Information System as a Tourism Marketing Tool - The Example of Two Austrian CommunitiesCruise Ships and Regional Development in Coastal Alaska: A Political Ecology ApproachD-Day Tourism: Sites and Paths of Memory"Gay Camp": Analysis of Outdoor Recreation in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Culture and the Economic Impacts in the Ozarks.Journey to the west: tourist traps, Tibet and the independent tourist in contemporary ChinaNeighborhood Revitalization in the Historic District of San Felipe de Neri, PanamaSafari Tourism, Technology, and Local Resistance: The Socio-ecological Significance of CB Radios and Mini-vans in an East African ParkReconstructing Disaster Areas through Development Aid: The case of Phang Nga, ThailandCommunity-based ecotourism in Ghana"Get Back to Where You Once Belonged": Okinawa's Pursuit of Increased Substate Autonomy through Return-Visit TourismCommodity Chains and the Mobility Turn in TourismTourism and the Mormon Culture Region Periphery: Heritage Tourism and the LDS Colonies of MexicoNature based tourism - some economic linkages revisitedDestinations and places seen as part of an innovation systemThe relevance or irrelevance of environmental ethics? Do they matter in tourismReviving Tourism in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India: a Challenge for the Crisis and Disaster Management PlannersTourism development in the national periphery: Discourses of the Finnish-Russian border in the process of region-buildingIsoepa: Polynesian Heritage Site in the Utah DesertIntegrating GIS with Database Systems to Identify and Analyze Feeder Market Places of Second-Home Based TourismThe Early Development of Cover Design of Foldout-MapsConsumption of Place: Exploring the Sociospatial Implications of the Coffee Trail and Agrotourism in North Central NicaraguaThe New Space Tourism: The Privatization of Space TravelEnvironmental Regionalism as Discipline: The Northern Forest of New England and New YorkProcesses and tendencies of the residential tourism in the Balearic Islands (Spain): Â Immigrants of luxury or tourists of long stay?Medical tourism in India; who benefits and who paysTourism and Recreation in the Emirate of DubaiGendered Aspects of EcotourismRepresentations of Waikiki: An analysis of tourism through hotel brochuresThe Marketable Identities of Major American CitiesTourism and Portering Labour in Shimshal, Northern Areas, Pakistan'Workers' paradise' or entrepreneur's dream? Communist heritage tourism in Nowa Huta, PolandWhere you want to go to get away from it all: Theoretical Models of Cruise Tourist BehaviorEconomic and Ecological Factors Influencing Tourism Operations in Southern Africa's KAZA RegionIntroducing National Park Reserves into Rural Tourism Industries: Assessing the potentials for integrated, sustainable tourism in the South Okanagan and Lower Similkameen areas, British Columbia, Canada.A New Map to Promote Tourism in Virginia's Wine RegionIsland Ecotourism - Iriomote Island Case StudiesWE Riders of Oakland: Urban Geography as Performance ArtStaying Afloat: State agencies, local communities, and international involvement in marine protected area management in Zanzibar, Tanzania"Tubin and Groovin along a Texas River: Contested Spaces and Conflict over the Comal River in New Braunfels, Texas"International Involvement in Tourism Development in a Peripheral Region: Lessons from GhanaWeb 2.0 Virtual Travel-escapesEvaluating tourism geographies in the United Kingdom: will moving the goal posts make any difference?Cartography, GIS, and Teaching the Geography of WineTourism Geographies: a Renaissance in the 21st CenturyIdentity Shift in a Post-Military Society: A Case Study of QuemoyMuch Ado About Nothing: A Geographical Analysis of Industrial ClustersTourism, power, culture and the creative industries in the core's peripheryTourism User Fees: A Tool for Protected Area ManagementDevelopment of Tourist Information System Based on 3-D Satellite Image Maps

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This month's podcast is one of the interviews from our recent trip to Nepal.  We administered the inteview to Ben Ayers, the founder of Porter's Progress, an NGO devoted to supporting the porter who carry heavy loads on their backs up the Khumbu Valley of Nepal.  Today he works for the dZi Foundation, a community development NGO that works throughout the Himalaya region.Please support these worthwhile organizations:Porter's ProgressdZi Foundation

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Today's podcast talks about my activities since arriving in Nepal on January 1, 2007.  It is basically divided into three parts:Part 1 - I discuss the administration of our photograph survey in Nepal and some of he challenges and adjustments made in doing thatPart 2 - I talk about trekking in the Khumbu (Everest) region of Nepal, where about half of the interviews took placePart 3 - There is a short soundseeing clip from the Durba (Castle) Square of Patan, a city just south of KathmanduFull travel blog entries that cover what I have been up to and how our research project is evolving can be found at:http://SEAsiaTourism.blogspot.comAs susuall, show notes for this podcast are also found at:http://TravelGeography.infoEnjoy....Alan

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Today's podcast is part two of my discussion of a research project that I am undertaking in Nepal.  This first podcast in this series discussed the "problem statement" -- the environmental and social change issues and how we framed them.  In today's podcast I discuss our research methodology and the theoretical rational for the methodology.  We will be using photographs to elicit responses from residents Kathmandu and the Khumbu region.  Theoretically, the methodology is focussed on Social Exchange Theory.  Full show notes are also found at: http://travelgeography.blogspot.com/2006/12/environmental-social-change-in-nepal_28.html

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In today's podcast I discuss a research project that I will be undertaking in Nepal.  This is the first in a series of podcasts that will take you through my experience in initiating and doing this field research.  This first podcast discusses the "problem statement" -- the issues and how we framed them.It is based on a proposal that I wrote with two colleagues this past summer to the US National Science Foundation.  The proposed research was to examine the perceptions of Nepalis in the Khumbu region of Nepal (near Mt Everest) of environmental and social changes over the past 40 years.  As a major trekking region, tourism is one of the key elements that we identify as affecting change in the Khumbu.Links to items cited in this podcast:InnerToob.comTourism, Recreation, And Climate Change, edited by C. Michael Hall and James E. S. Higham PL376 - Planning for Sustainable Tourism - Northern Arizona University

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Jewel Cave National Monument is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, not far from Mount Rushmore.  It is currently considered the second largest cave in the world (after Mammoth Cave in Kentucky), but only a small portion of it has actually been mapped, so it may be the largest cave system in the world. (Click Here for more information.) I did the 1.5 hour tour of Jewel Cave last July and recorded the whole thing.  I have edited it down to about 11 minutes, which I hope will wet your appetite to visit the cave in person.  My visit was not a true spelunking experience, which they do offer, but which I don't think I could personally do.  Multi-day spelunking trips require that you crawl through 7 inch spaces and carry out all of your personal wastes!Special thanks to the great Ranger guide who took us on our walk through Jewel Cave! [OOPS! The original file I uploaded was saved at a rate of 24000Hz, instead of my usual 22050Hz.  This probably caused problems for most listeners.  sorry about that.  I have uploaded a new file that is correct.]

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In today's podcast I interview Professor Claudia Jurowski of Northern Arizona University about her involvement with BEST Education Network and her research on different types of tourists to the Grand Canyon National Park, with some focus on the slippery topic of ecotourism and the ecotourist.  Claudia teaches in the NAU School of Hotel and Restaurant Management (not Hotel and Tourism Management, as I stated in the podcast intro -- oops!)To see the Grand Canyon Visitor Study (upon which Prof. Jurowski based her research study), go to the Tourism Library page of NAU's Arizona Hospitality Research and Resource Center.  This site also contains many other tourism studies related to communities around the state of Arizona.Length: 29min, 26 sec

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There are two popular t-shirts that are sold at Ayers Rock/Uluru in the middle of the Outback of Australia.  One says "I climbed Ayers Rock" the other says "I Did Not Climb Uluru".  In today's podcast I talk about recent visit to Ayers Rock last summer, and about the issue of "to climb or not to climb."  As interesting as this issue is, most of the podcast is actually an even more interesting soundseeing tour of the Wala Walk along the base of Uluru. This is part of the podcast is only about a 22+ minute-long editing of the 1.5 hour long ranger-guided walk. You can read more about my family's visit to Ayers Rock/Uluru National Park on either of these two travel blog sites: MyLifeOfTravel VCarious Total Podcast Length: 33min 06sec

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Another Presentation from the Graduate Workshop on Researching Tourism in Asia, sponsored by the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore, and the Dept. of Tourism at the University of Otago, New Zealand.Today's presentation by Prof. C. Michael Hall of the University of Otago, New Zealand (cmhall@business.otago.ac.nz). The title is:Studying the Political in Tourism: Ethics, Issues, Methods and PracticalitiesHere is the original abstract from the workshop:Issues of politics and policy are widely regarded as a significant factor in tourism. However, the number of studies that examine such issues remain small in relation to the supposed importance of tourism policy and politics. The presentation will arguethat this situation exists because of the very nature of what such studies entail, i.e. examining issues of power, and therefore this may create substantial stresses in terms of the relationship of the researcher to their subjects and the institutional environment within which they operate.  The presentation will discuss issues of method in examining tourism policy and politics and examine the practical dimensions of undertaking research that arise from different methods that are adopted and the aims and objectives of studies. Emphasis in placed on the importance of being aware of intended audiences for such research as well as the potential effects of such studies on research subjects, participants and other stakeholders, including the researcher. Key issues include the relative implications of prescriptive and descriptive approaches to policy analysis; describing power; and implications of scale of analysis. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of ethical considerations in conducting research on political issues in tourism and the importance of the development of policy arguments as a practical consequence of such research._______________________________________________________Michael Hall is Professor and Head of the Department of Tourism, University of Otago, Dunedin and Docent, Department of Geography, University of Oulu, Finland. He is the co-editor of Current Issues in Tourism and has published widely on issues of tourism, regional development and environmental history including three bookson tourism policy and politics.Released under a Creative Commons Copyright - noncommercial, attribution, share-alike.

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This week's Geography for Travelers podcast starts a series of recordings that I will be doing that come out of a couple of meetings that I attended in Singapore last week.  The first was a graduate student workshop about doing research in Asia.  I was one of four keynote speakers at that workshop, and today's podcast is an edited recording of my talk.  The title was "Defining and Redefining Modenity in New Asia."  Not exactly tourism, but closely related.  The sound quality of the recording was not ideal, but I think I edited it to a level that can still be listened to.  Let me know if I am wrong.The second meeting was a three-day conference on Asian tourism in Asia.  I hope to put presentations by other people from both meetings up over the next couple of months, along with some soundseeing audio.Both meetings were sponsored by the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore.

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In this week's Geography for Travelers podcast I talk about my recent visit to Melbourne, Australia. We did a lot during outr three full days there, but the highlight for me was the Penguine Parade on Phillip Island, south of Melbourne.  There are a few soundseeing audio clips sprinkled in the podcast that I hope you will find of interest.  You can find photos and a travel diary of my Melbourne visit at both VCarious.com and MyLifeOfTravel.com.This is a long one -- 41min, 40 sec. -- mostly due to the soundseeing clipsAnd what they say about doing soundseeing tours is right -- it sure takes a long time to edit those!!!Visit the the full show notes page for the Geography for Travelers podcast at http://TravelGeography.info

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Something really different this week.  Like last week, this one comes from my recent trip to Australia and the conference I attended in Brisbane.  David Timothy Duval (University of Otago, New Zealand) and I skipped out of a session of papers to sit down and talk about how we use technology in our tourism classes, and in everyday life.  I cut a few things out of our over and hour discussion, but I also inserted a few clarifications.  We cover a lot of territory, from podcasting to blogging to wikis to RSS aggregators to social bookmarking, and more. The result is my longest podcast yet, at 1 hr, 5 min, 44 sec.I recorded this using my binaural microphones, with one mic set on one side of the coffee table and the other on the other side.  The result is mildly stereophonic, though the telephone ringing at the end is very directional -- it sounds like it is on the table across my office everytime I hear it!Hopefully you will find it of interest, as David and I are planning to do this again, via Skype, and probably with a more narrowly defined focus.Blogpage: http://travelgeography.info

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Something new!  I recorded the paper I presented at the conference I just got back from in Brisbane, Australia.  This was at a meeting sponsored by the Tourism Commission of the International Geographical Union.  The title of my paper was: "Travel 2.0: The Emerging Virtual Travelscape."Interestingly, when I asked how many people had heard of the concept of "Web 2.0," only two people in the 30 or so who were in attendance raised their hands.  As a regularly listeners of ITConversations.com, this was a shock to me.  This major (in my opinion) social trend is apparently not getting much play beyond the blog/podosphere!Here are some links related to my talk:- Web 2.0 Travel Tools (this is one my blogs)- IGU Tourism Commission Website (I am the webmaster for this group)- My Australia Trip travel blog (at MyLifeofTravel.com)

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Planning theory is a subject that uban planning students love to hate.  However, most tourism planners have never even heard of it -- at least that is my impression from tourism planning textbooks.  I think planning theory has important lessons for tourism planning, and that is what this rather lengthy (27min 35 sec) podcast is all about.http://travelgeography.info

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This is another Tourism and Geography in the News episode, with a focus on two topics: Travel/Geographic Literacy and Physical Geography.  In the travel and geographic literacy news stories, both the American Automobile Association and the National Geographic Society held their geography contest these past couple of weeks, and  issued their geographic/travel literacy survey results, which once again showed how dismal  geographic knowledge is among Americans.The physical geography news stories include volcanic activity at Mt Merapi in Indonesia and Mt St. Helens in the US, the May 27th earthquake in Indonesia, flood warnings to recreationists in California, and the world's largest artificial reef off the coast of Florida.I close with a couple of not quite physical geography stories about futuristic proposals for New Orleans and an upcoming UFO Festival in New Mexico.Show Notes at http://travelgeography.infoShow length: 22min, 41sec

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Today is Mother's Day here in the US and I start with a story about the Best and Worst Countries in the world to be a mother today.  Not really tourism, but the list of worst countries turn out to be mostly in Africa, which is also where half of the countries are located that are on the current list of Travel Warnings on the US State Department's website.  Columbia is also on that list, but it is also on the Lonely Planet's list of Hot Destination for 2006.  I then talk about the recently released international arrival statistics for US States and Cities.  The last two items discuss agritourism at the last tea plantation in the US, and Dubai's plan to build the world's larges airport, along with a massive new city.  Finally, I discuss the geography implication of these varied news items.Links to these stories are listed on the show notes page at http://travelgeography.infoLength: 23min, 29secPromo: TravelCommons podcast

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Today's Geography for Travelers podcast is all about my first trip to Rocky Point (aka Puerto Penasco), Mexico.  I also talk about my open water SCUBA dive certification, which was what the trip was mostly about.Length: 23min, 41secShownotes: http://travelgeography.blogspot.comPromo: Amateur Traveler podcast

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Today's podcast starts off with some geography and tourism news items, including plans for a borderless East Africa, the Global Tourism Intervention Forum, 2005 hurricane names being retired, and the April 18, 1906 San Francisco earthquake anniversay.  I then focus the discussion on a review of the newly published A Mis-Guide to Anywhere, which is a guidebook to experiemental tourism.  I finally talk about how experiemental tourism relates to academic tourism studies of how travelers "sense" the places that they visit.Length: 20min, 55secPromo: The Wanderer (PCN)Full show notes: http://travelgeography.blogspot.com/2006/04/sensing-places-through-experiemental.html

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This week's podcast first discusses Newsweek's list of th Seven Most Endangered Wonders of the World (I spend more time on this than I did on the Travelography podcast).  Then I move into the focuson Tourism Policy Planning, which I conclude with a couple of examples from the Cherokee and Hopi Indian Reservations.Show Length: 23min, 58secFull Show Notes at: http://travelgeography.blogspot.comPromo: Home Based Travel Agent

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Today's podcast discusses traditional rsource management approaches that are used the monitor and manage tourism and travel development and impacts, with a special focus on GIS.  Total length: 30min 19sec.  Full show notes are at http://travelgeography.infoThis version fixes the sample rate so the speed is correct for most .mp3 players.

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Spring Break brought me to the old mining town, and now upscale tourist and ski resort of Telluride, Colorado. With my less than trusty recorder in hand, I take you on an early morning walk through downtown Telluride, then up a chair lift to the Mountain Village resort area. I recorded some obervations while skiing down the 4.6 mile Galloping Goose run, and then some observations from my hotel room. Next week I will be back to my "normal" podcasts. Full show notes at: http://travelgeography.blogspot.com Length: 35min, 58sec)

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The news items in this podcast are all about China, including the Great Wall and the "Great Green Wall", which is designed to stem the rapidly expanding Gobi Desert. This is followed by a discussion of projected impacts of global warming on the major tourism regions of the world. Full show notes at: http://travelgeography.blogspot.com Length: 20min 54sec

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No news items for this week. For weekly travel news, please visit my weekly Travelography podcast. Rather than news, I discuss an article from my Tourism Geographies journal on the topic of travel and geographical (actually mapping) knowledge. The main topic then switches to issues of private and public goods, and the justification for government planning and regulation. The goal in this discussion is to define the role of government in planning for tourism in a community -- and the responsibility of the private sector in its reliance on public resources for tourism development. A bit theoretical, but I hope you enjoy it. Cheers - Alan Geography for Travelers blog (Length: 27min 0min)

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Today's podcast focusses on the concept of Sustainable Development as it applies to the Travel and Tourism Industry. The News portion covers some Travel Quotes, Space Travel and the Mekong River Tourism Project. Detailed Show Notes can be found at http://travelgeography.blogspot.com

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Untitled Document Travel & Tourism Numbers and News News items include a new Jetlag advisor website (link below) and a discussion of Turin/Torino, Italy where the Winter Olympic Games just opened last week. I then focus the on tourist arrival and expenditure numbers and impacts, first at the global scale and then at the local scale. [Show Length = 17min, 36sec] Links to websited related to this week's podcast: Scots scientist sheds light on problem of jet-lag misery http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=165952006 Winter Olympics boost Turin tourism http://www.travelwirenews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000075/007591.htm Power of Travel - Travel and Tourism Information http://www.tia.org/marketing/tourism_information.html Did You Know? Fun Facts (TIA) http://www.tia.org/marketing/toolkit_tourism_facts.html Tourism Talking Points: Economic Impact of Travel & Tourism http://www.tia.org/uploads/powertravel/pdf/talkingpoints.pdf Office of Travel & Tourism Industries' Information on Inbound Travel to the U.S. http://www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/outreachpages/index.html WTO Tourism Highlights, Edition 2005 http://www.world-tourism.org/facts/menu.html    

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Tourism has played more of a role in the historical development of 'sustainable development' than you probably thought. Also discussed are Breakback Mountain movie tourism to Wyoming and Bali's slow tourism recovery from terrorist attacks. Shownotes at http://travelgeography.blogspot.com

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I discuss several travel news items, including 2006 being the Year of Study Abroad in the US, and efforts to stop Sex Tourism. Then I discuss issues realted to Sutainable Tourism Development in developing economies, with a focus on modernization. Show notes are at http://travelgeography.blogspot.com.

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News items include the impacts of terrorism on UK residents' travel plans, drought in East Africa, and Bigfoot in Malaysia. Most of the 16min 30secs, however, are devoted to an introduction to Sustainable Tourism Planning. Show notes are at: http://travelgeography.blogspot.com

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In this podcast I discuss atlases for travel, the top travel and tourism news and trends for 2005, and tourism and terrorism in 2005. Total length = 19min, 55sec. Show notes at http://travelgeography.blogspot.com

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This week's podcast discusses America's Playground", the Island of Maui in Hawaii, as well as some comments on owning a timeshare unit, and some sound scene clips from Hawaii. (Total Length: 33 minutes) Show notes can be found at http://www.travelgeography.blogspot.com

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In this podcast I discuss the recent issues related to Chinese tourism to Malaysia. (Total length: 36 min). Show notes at http://travelgeography.blogspot.com

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A short, 12 minute, look at Shah Alam -- the capitol of the state of Selangor in Malaysia. Includes of soundscene of the playground and Blue Mosque on the town lake.

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Total Length: 29 min, 55 sec - Show notes can also be found at:  http://travelgeography.blogspot.com/2005/11/social-impacts-of-travel-and-tourism.htmlIn the podcast I commented on the Responsible Tourism awards, and I quoted a remark made at those awards about the fact that although consumers are more aware of sustainable (social and environmental) issues today, this is not yet seen as a major marketing advantage by tour companies. Related to this, Scott McCabe of the Sheffield Hallam University in the UK posted this interesting item on an email list today:~~~~~~~~~From: McCabe, ScottSent: Monday, November 28, 2005 3:29 AMTo: trinet-l@HAWAII.EDUSubject: RE: Tourism and Local TransportationDear all,just a brief contribution to this debate, i read a brief article in a UK free newspaper the other day that UK consumers are not interested in sustainability issues when thinking about or taking holidays, and that whilst many people do worry about the environment and engage in recycling, energy saving etc in daily life - whilst they are on holiday they want to forget about these issues (i only read it briefly so apologies if i misquote). however - it raises a number of issues pertinent to this discussion:- perhaps consumers see environmental sustainability as an obligation and holidays are still valid as a means to escape everyday duties like these therefore sustainability should be the preserve of governments and industry to implement and it is wrong to assume that consumers will eventually demand sustainable tourism products...- perhaps what is more important is making consumers aware of unfair/unethical/immoral practices - which is much more likely to effect a more responsible attitude from consumers, and then industry and governments alike?~~~~~~~~~Here are the links to sites mentioned in this week's podcast:* Responsible tourism is the way forward (Responsible Tourism Day at the World Travel Market)http://www.travelwirenews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000065/006593.htm* Responsible Travel Forum (online; Feb 21-22, 2006)http://tinyurl.com/7en23* Peace Corp finds renewed passion in volunteerism (full article now requires purchase!)http://localsearch.azcentral.com/sp?keywords=peace+corps+finds+renewed* World Citizens Guidehttp://worldcitizensguide.org/index2.html* Nude act of foreign tourist at holy place angers residents of Pushkarhttp://www.travelwirenews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000062/006275.htm** NEW: Inserted on 8 Dec 2005: Guidelines issued to facilitate foreignersÃÂÃÂÂÃÂÂ stay in Indian holy townhttp://www.travelwirenews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000068/006836.htm* World Tourism Organization - Global Code of Ethicshttp://www.world-tourism.org/code_ethics/eng/global.htmThis version fixes the sampling rate, providing a normal speed on .mp3 players.

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This podcast covers Geographic Literacy, The Great Escape/Scavenger Hunt, Space Tourism, and the Geography of Brazil. (Total Length: 32 min, 30 sec) Show notes are at: http://travelgeography.blogspot.com

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This week's podcast is focussed exclusively on China, including all of the news items. Please visit the show notes at http://travelgeographer.blogspot.com (Total Length = 33 minutes)

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Today's podcast focuses on the natural environment: how tourists relate to the natural environment, the impacts of tourism on the natural environment, and closing with a few words on ecotourism.Ecotourism -- Personally, I prefer to pronounce ecotourism as 'ee-co-tourism' - with a long 'e', which I derive from the world "ecology." Some people (maybe the majority?) prefer to say 'e-co-tourism' - with a short 'e', as in 'elephant'. I assume they are basing this on the word 'ecosystem', which is sometimes (often?) pronounced with a short 'e'. Dictionary.com uses the long 'e' pronunciation, so perhaps I am in the majority.If you have any thoughts on this feel free to leave a comment, or email me at travelgeographer@msn.comHere are the links to items mentioned in today's podcast:* Australia Garners Friendliest Nation in the World Award - Travel News Wire<http://www.travelwirenews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000063/006311.htm>* Grand Canyon to Get Glass Bridge - National Geographic News<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0826_050826_grandcanyon.html>* City OKs Subsidies for Downtown Hotel - Los Angeles Times<http://www.knowledgeplex.org/news/118690.html>* Cruise Ship Repels Somali Pirates - BBC News (also has a link to a video news clip)<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4409662.stm>* The Amateur Traveler Podcast<http://amateurtraveler.com/> (Total Length: 30 minutes, 19 seconds.) Full show notes are at http://travelgeography.blogspot.com/2005/11/travel-tourism-and-environment.html.This version fixes the sampling rate, providing a normal speed on .mp3 players.

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This is Part 2 of an interview with my sister who was in Cozumel during Hurricane Wilma. In Part 2 we discuss how other visitors survived the hurricane, how the city recovered from the hurricane, and the trials of leaving Cozumel after the hurricane. (SHOW LENGTH: 19min 14sec) Show Note are at http://www.travelgeography.blogspot.com

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This is part 1 of an interview with my sister who was on the island of Cozumel, Mexico when Hurricane Wilma passed over it. Part 1 discusses her experience in living through the worst of the hurricane. (TOTAL LENGTH 24min 30sec)- Show notes are at: http://travelgeography.blogspot.com

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Travel news and a discussion of how social scientists vies tourist attractions. Show notes: http://travelgeography.blogspot.com

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Travel and Tourism News & Comments, and an Intro to the Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa. See Show Notes at htt-://travelgeography.blogspot.com

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My New Promo (45 seconds long)

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Travel and Tourism News, Geography of the Middle East (defined as Central Asia, Southwest Asia, and North Africa). See full show notes at http://travelgeography.blogspot.com

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Today's podcast focuses on the natural environment: how tourists relate to the natural environment, the impacts of tourism on the natural environment, and closing with a few words on ecotourism.Ecotourism -- Personally, I prefer to pronounce ecotourism as 'ee-co-tourism' - with a long 'e', which I derive from the world "ecology." Some people (maybe the majority?) prefer to say 'e-co-tourism' - with a short 'e', as in 'elephant'. I assume they are basing this on the word 'ecosystem', which is sometimes (often?) pronounced with a short 'e'. Dictionary.com uses the long 'e' pronunciation, so perhaps I am in the majority.Total Length: 30 minutes, 19 seconds.  If you have any thoughts on this feel free to leave a comment, or email me at travelgeographer@msn.comHere are the links to items mentioned in today's podcast:* Australia Garners Friendliest Nation in the World Award - Travel News Wire<http://www.travelwirenews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000063/006311.htm>* Grand Canyon to Get Glass Bridge - National Geographic News<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0826_050826_grandcanyon.html>* City OKs Subsidies for Downtown Hotel - Los Angeles Times<http://www.knowledgeplex.org/news/118690.html>* Cruise Ship Repels Somali Pirates - BBC News (also has a link to a video news clip)<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4409662.stm>* The Amateur Traveler Podcast<http://amateurtraveler.com/>

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Please visit my show notes at http://travelgeography.blogspot.com/2005/10/tourist-travel-motivations.html Tourist Motivation is the maint topic of this week's discussion, although I only spend the last 10 minutes on it. These news items were presented to show the importance of people's desire to travel (or perceived inability to not to). The travel public is a major source of income for destinations, and spawns entire sub-industries that employ large numbers of people. Understanding why people travel is important to a tourism destination's success...* Firm Expects outbound Chinese tourists to top 115m [Travel News Wire]* New era in Indian leisure crusing begins [Travel News Wire]* TIAâs Overall Traveler Sentiment Index Remains Weak: Consumers Lack Time not Money for Travel [Travel Industry Association, 27 Sept 05]

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World Tourism Day was September 27th -- I think it was an easy one to miss, unless you were in Quatar where the World Tourism Organization celebrated the event. Some, however, question whether or not tourism is really something that we should be celebrating... * WTO, Qatar celebrate World Tourism Day [Travel News Wire] * Speechby Francesco Frangialli, Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization, on the occasion of the celebration of World Tourism Day 2005 Doha, Qatar - 27 Sept 2005 [World Tourism Organization] * Tourism: a Challenge for the 21st Century (Ecumenical Coalition On Tourism - ECOT, 27 Sept 2005) [Travel News Wire] * Sun, sea and saving the world: Travel snobs have turned holidaymaking into a moral dilemma [Spiked Online, 11 Aug 2005] This podcast is a remix from a longer podcast originally posted on 2 October 2005.  The remix was done for educational purposes (for my classes).

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My Thanks to the group Turban Jones for the use of their song in my podcast. I hope you enjoy their song, Crazy Ways, which I play in its entirety at the end of the podcast. I discuss the Bali Bombing because this is the biggest tourism-related news item of this past week. The potential implications for tourism in Bali, Indonesia, and all of Southeast Asia are enormous... * Tourists Flee Terror-stricken Bali [Travel News Wire] - The number of deaths was up to 26 as of 2 Oct 2005 * Police hunt for Bali bombing masterminds [Reuters, 3 Oct 2005] This podcast is a remix from a longer podcast originally posted on 2 October 2005.  The remix was done for educational purposes (for my classes).

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Discussion of international travel arrivals statistics - which countries get the most visitors! There is some mic noise for about 10 minutes of this 25 minute podcast -- my apolgies. Please visit the full show notes at http://travelgeography.blogspot.com/2005/09/travel-and-tourism-statistics.html My Geography for Travelers Blog is at: http://TravelGeography.info This file was updated and reposted on 24 Sept 2006.

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Today's podcast focused on some general definitions of leisure, and how these give us some insight into the tourist experience. In addition to what I mentioned in the podcast, I wanted to point out that religion is often considered a leisure-form of activity. This is, I think, directly related to the definition of leisure as a state of mind. Furthermore, there is a concept that has gained in popularity in recent years known as work, or volunteer, tourism. It is also know as working holidays, or working vacations. Last year I had students in my class examine web sites that promoted working vacations, and then answer some questions about them. Would you want to go on a working vacation? Isn't that an oxymoron?  

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Information on the The Dark Tourism Forum (http://www.dark-tourism.org.uk/).  This was originally posted as part of a longer podcast on 11 September 2005.  I edited the original file for teaching purposes, and am reposting this segment here. (3min 38sec long)

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A general geography of New Orleans, intended to provide a context to be many news stories following Hurricane Katrina. Please visit the show notes at

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Why Geography and Tourism? - My personal story of being drawn to geography because of the insight it gave me on the places I traveled to. Shownotes page: http://travelgeography.blogspot.com/2005/08/geography-and-tourism.html The Geography for Travelers Blog is at: http://TravelGeography.info This file was updated on 9/24/06.  I have learned a lot about podcasting over the past year, and am starting to revisit, and edit, some of these early postings. Alan

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The First Podcast in the Geography for Travelers blog. Please go to http://travelgeography.blogspot.com for program notes.

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