Celebrating Heritage, Promoting Tourism, and Relocating Svāmī Vivekānanda: A Study of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial

Svāmī Vivekānanda’s (1863–1902) relationship with his guru Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa (ca. 1836–1886), and his role in the creation of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission in the final decade of the nineteenth century, has attracted far more scholarly attention than the meanings invested in Vivekānanda after his death by devotees and admirers beyond the Math and Mission and by the various organizations that have disseminated these meanings. To redress this imbalance, this article examines the message embodied in, and projected by, the Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanniyakumari. It explores the Memorial’s contribution to Kanniyakumari’s expanding role as a tourist destination and the problematic nature of the story that has provided the rationale for the Memorial’s location. It shows how evolving versions of this story have fed the different understandings of Vivekānanda’s mission now institutionalized respectively in the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission and the Vivekananda Kendra, which manages the Memorial. It argues that the creation of the Memorial has directed attention away from Kolkata (Calcutta), the scene of Vivekānanda’s interaction with his guru Rāmakṛṣṇa, and thus away from that seminal relationship. The Memorial presents, instead, Vivekānanda’s experience at Kanniyakumari as the defining moment in his evolving mission as a “spiritual nationalist.” The article concludes by noting implications of this shift for the critical understanding of Vivekānanda, emphasizing the importance of the Rock Memorial’s function as an increasingly popular portal to “Vivekānanda of Kanniyakumari.”

Collaboration and Learning Processes in Value Co-Creation: A Destination Perspective

Value co-creation has emerged as an important competitive strategy leading to value innovation. In tourist destinations co-creation results from the participation of multiple actors synchronously and contextually in value realization. Yet value co-creation remains highly theoretical and lacks empirical operationalization, especially in destination contexts. Are tourism destinations able and sufficiently mobilized to exploit the potential offered by co-creation theory? This paper operationalizes two fundamental dimensions of the value co-creation process, collaboration and learning, by developing and testing a measurement scale to evaluate the perceived impact of these dimensions on the market performance of actors at a tourist destination. Contributions to the literature on value co-creation and learning as well as managerial implications are discussed and suggestions for further research are made.

Social Media's Influence on Destination Image

Social media have become key tools for promoting and spreading the image of a tourist destination. In particular, these communication channels are critical for heritage destinations looking to boost awareness and attract a greater number of visitors. However, the tourism marketing literature has devoted limited attention to how these destinations project their image on social media. In order to cover this gap, this chapter focuses on analyzing the image projected by a specific heritage destination—Cuenca, a World Heritage City—on Facebook and Instagram. To this end, the chapter analyzes the posts, comments, and hashtags that have been published on the different tourism pages about Cuenca. The results of the analysis underscore the growing importance of the image projected by destinations on social networks. That said, there is a need to deepen our knowledge about the communication potential of these channels.

Proposed Strategy for the Development of a Local Geopark at Mui Ne Red Sand Dunes, Phan Thiet, Vietnam - based on Tourist Perceptions and Experience from Taiwan

Vietnam attracts many tourists owing to its unique and diverse geological landscapes. The Vietnam tourism development strategy until 2030 sets a target to make tourism a more sustainable economic sector, in which the advantages of natural resources and development of a variety of tourism products are promoted. Binh Thuan province in central-south Vietnam, hosts many high potential geosites including Mui Ne Red Dunes. Although this is a popular tourist destination, there is no clear tourism strategy for this site and local communities now regulate tourism in an unsustainable way. Online comments from review databases (TripAdvisor and Google reviews) are analysed to find themes in tourism perceptions after a visit to the Red Sand Dunes. Main themes are found that negatively affect tourist perceptions, such as the extended pollution of the dunes, theft reports and disturbance by jeeps, ATV’s and motorbikes. Many tourists recommend that this site should be better managed. To conserve this area in the future, the development of an all-inclusive local geopark is suggested, based on the tourism perceptions and previous studies assessing this landscape. This strategy is adapted from the UNESCO geopark framework and an example of a recently established local sand dune geopark in Taiwan is discussed. Implementing a local geopark, following the steps described in this study, can be beneficial for sustainable development and local communities in this area, while also promoting environmental education and enhancing disaster risk reduction.

Fluvial Resources and Recreational and Sports Activities

This research aims to reflect on the importance of inland surface waters for the development of local communities and their potential to foster tourism and leisure activities, promoting differentiated tourism products that project this inland tourist destination. It seeks to inquire into new business opportunities, while simultaneously reflecting on ways of controlling uses and issues of preservation and environmental sustainability. The study is developed in the Serra da Estrela territory, framing the destination and establishing an approach to the evolution of recreational fishing and its contributions to the strengthening of tourism and leisure, given the exceptional conditions of water mass supply and its environmental value for an activity that has an intense relationship with nature. The purpose is also to establish lines of research to be followed and methodologies to be implemented for a better knowledge of this activity and identify action strategies for the future.