Global Opportunities and Challenges for Rural and Mountain Tourism


Book Description

Mountainous and rural areas throughout the world have continually been attributed with several hinderances including poverty, faulty governance, and susceptibility to natural disasters. However, with the recent development of tourism, these provinces have seen a strong rise in visitation. Despite this increase in economic sustainability, planners are still presented with many challenges as they try to balance developmental and ecological considerations. Global Opportunities and Challenges for Rural and Mountain Tourism provides emerging research exploring the integration of mountain tourism development and innovative practices for managing contemporary issues and challenges of tourism in these regions including socio-economic impacts, role of stakeholders, and promotional strategies for sustainable tourism development. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as cultural heritage, marketing strategies, and value chain systems, this book is ideally designed for travel agents, tour directors, tour developers, hotel managers, hospitality and tourism professionals, industry practitioners, researchers, geographical scientists, planners, academicians, and students.




Cities, Culture and Creativity


Book Description

Culture and creativity have untapped potential to deliver social, economic, and spatial benefits for cities and communities. Cultural and creative industries are key drivers of the creative economy and represent important sources of employment, economic growth, and innovation, thus contributing to city competitiveness and sustainability. Through their contribution to urban regeneration and sustainable urban development, cultural and creative industries make cities more attractive places for people to live in and for economic activity to develop. Culture and creativity also contribute to social cohesion at the neighborhood level, enable creative networks to form and advance innovation and growth, and create opportunities for those who are often socially and economically excluded. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a deep impact on the cultural sector, yet it has also revealed the power of cultural and creative industries as a resource for city recovery and resilience. More generally, cities are hubs of the creative economy and have a critical role to play in harnessing the transformative potential of cultural and creative industries through policies and enabling environments at the local level. 'Cities, Culture, and Creativity' (CCC) provides guiding principles and a CCC Framework, developed by UNESCO and the World Bank, to support cities in unlocking the power of cultural and creative industries for sustainable urban development, city competitiveness, and social inclusion. Drawing from global studies and the experiences of nine diverse cities from across the world, the CCC Framework offers concrete guidance for the range of actors -- city, state, and national governments; creative industry and related private-sector organizations; creatives; culture professionals and civil society-- to harness culture and creativity with a view to boosting their local creative economies and building resilient, inclusive, and dynamic cities.




The European Dimension of British Planning


Book Description

The UK government of Tony Blair is committed to fostering a European dimension of planning practice. Significant developments in relation to planning within Europe are occurring. The creation of the European Spatial Development Perspective, the reform of the Structural Funds, and the implementation of programmes to foster trans-national co-operation between governments, will all impact on UK government, and on planning system in particular. Even within the UK, devolution and regionalisation will bring new pressures for overall co-ordination on the issue of European spatial planning. Issues concerning the revisions of the Structural Funds in 2000 and 2006, and funding opportunities for local authorities, are closely connected with the theme of this book. More importantly, it is expected that the link between funding and spatial policy within British planning will become more clearly defined during this period. The European dimension of British planning, as a consequence, may grow significantly over the next few years. The authors tackle four key issues in their discussion of this topic: * British political attitudes to Europeanisation issues * The changing relationships between different arms of the state * The often complex interdependencies between tiers of governance * The rapidly changing definition of British urban and regional planning




Urban Planning in Europe


Book Description

An analysis of the influences on urban planning in Europe. Detailed case studies are used to explore planning policies in a range of European cities, and discuss the social and environmental objectives that influence today's urban planner.




Masterpieces of Swiss Entrepreneurship


Book Description

This open access book focuses on Switzerland-based medium-sized companies with a longstanding export tradition and a proven dominance in global niche markets. Based upon in-depth documentation and analysis of 36 Swiss companies over their entire history, an expert team of authors presents several parallels in the pathways and success factors which allowed these firms to become dominant and operate from a high-cost location such as Switzerland. The book enhances these insights by providing detailed company profiles documenting the company history, development, and how their relevant global niche positions were reached. Readers will benefit from these profiles as they compile a diverse selection of industries, mainly active within the B2B sector, with mostly mature companies (60 years to older than 100 years since founding) and different types of ownership structures including family firms. ‘Masterpieces of Swiss Entrepreneurship’ brings unique learning opportunities to owners and leaders of SMEs in Switzerland and elsewhere. Findings are based on detailed bottom-up research of 36 companies -- without any preconceived notions. The book is both conceptual and practical. It fosters understanding for different choices in development pathways and management practices. Matti Alahuhta, Chairman DevCo Partners, ex-CEO Kone, Board member of several global listed companies, Helsinki, Finland Start-up entrepreneurs need proven models from industry which demonstrate the various paths to success. “Masterpieces of Swiss Entrepreneurship” provides deep insights highlighting these models and the important trade-offs entrepreneurial teams must consider when choosing the path of high growth or of maximum control, as they are often mutually exclusive. Gina Domanig, Managing Partner, Emerald Technology Ventures, Zurich




Collaborative Services


Book Description




Marketing Places


Book Description

Today's headlines report cities going bankrupt, states running large deficits, and nations stuck in high debt and stagnation. Philip Kotler, Donald Haider, and Irving Rein argue that thousands of "places" -- cities, states, and nations -- are in crisis, and can no longer rely on national industrial policies, such as federal matching funds, as a promise of jobs and protection. When trouble strikes, places resort to various palliatives such as chasing grants from state or federal sources, bidding for smokestack industries, or building convention centers and exotic attractions. The authors show instead that places must, like any market-driven business, become attractive "products" by improving their industrial base and communicating their special qualities more effectively to their target markets. From studies of cities and nations throughout the world, Kotler, Haider, and Rein offer a systematic analysis of why so many places have fallen on hard times, and make recommendations on what can be done to revitalize a place's economy. They show how "place wars" -- battles for Japanese factories, government projects, Olympic Games, baseball team franchises, convention business, and other economic prizes -- are often misguided and end in wasted money and effort. The hidden key to vigorous economic development, the authors argue, is strategic marketing of places by rebuilding infrastructure, creating a skilled labor force, stimulating local business entrepreneurship and expansion, developing strong public/private partnerships, identifying and attracting "place compatible" companies and industries, creating distinctive local attractions, building a service-friendly culture, and promoting these advantages effectively. Strategic marketing of places requires a deep understanding of how "place buyers" -- tourists, new residents, factories, corporate headquarters, investors -- make their place decisions. With this understanding, "place sellers" -- economic development agencies, tourist promotion agencies, mayor's offices -- can take the necessary steps to compete aggressively for place buyers. This straightforward guide for effectively marketing places will be the framework for economic development in the 1990s and beyond.