Repurchase Intention in the Hospitality

¶ … Repurchase Intention in the Hospitality Sector in Vancouver, British Columbia

The Background To Tourism

Tourism is a major industry in almost all parts of the globe. Many developing nations exact the lion's share of their income from foreign guests, while in developed countries, like Canada, tourism can be an equally lucrative source of revenue. In a post-industrial nation, tourism adds to the economic mix, diversifying array of service sector jobs. The Island of Vancouver, in British Columbia, is already a high growth area that attracts large numbers of new residents each year, and is a magnet for business investment and development. Tourists, too, find the region immensely appealing. This year alone, tourism on Vancouver Island is expected to generate at least ten billion dollars in revenue. (Southcott, et al.; 2006) Over eighteen thousand of Vancouver's employers provide jobs to more than one hundred seventeen thousand individuals in tourism-related fields. (Southcott, et al.; 2006)

Providing something for every taste, the area is especially suited to the further development of the tourism industry. A vibrant commercial and cultural center, the city of Vancouver offers all the attractions of a major metropolitan area. Nearby Vancouver Island is a place of stunning natural beauty with an appeal to the eco-traveler and outdoor enthusiast. The region possesses an extensive range of accommodations to suit every budget. In the competitive world of the hospitality industry, success is based on building the best experience possible. Satisfied customers are repeat customers. An array of factors influences consumers' intent to repurchase the Vancouver area's travel and hospitality offerings. Quality hotels, restaurants, and attractions; brand name recognition, and super customer service will create a high level of visitor satisfaction. An understanding of the dynamics behind the building of positive customer relationships ensures the continued growth of all enterprises directly and indirectly related to the tourism and hospitality industry.

The tourism and hospitality industry of the City of Vancouver, Vancouver Island, and the surrounding region, did not grow up overnight. The development of this sector of the area's economy has been the result of a long process of investment, construction, and experiment. Tourism has been one of the major growth industries of the past one hundred years. (Elliott, 1997, p. 30) At one time, few possessed the financial resources, or the time, to undertake long journeys solely for the sake of amusement or pleasure. Even a business trip would have been out of the ordinary for most late Nineteenth Century individuals. It is the incredible developments in transportation technology that have made possible the modern tourism industry on anything like its present scale. (Jafari, 2000, p. 2)

As John Benson points out in his study of the development of the consumer society, the growth of tourism went hand in hand with the development of an increasingly urban society. (Benson, 1994, p. 90) No doubt, the extreme crowding of the modern city, combined with the dreariness of the industrial working environment, encouraged many to "escape" - if only for a time - from their usual surroundings. Observed Benson of the situation in the United Kingdom (the world's first industrial society):

The association between urbanisation and tourism may not be immediately apparent. Of course, it would be difficult to overlook the fact that the demand for tourism -- like that for most other forms of consumption -- emanated primarily from urban areas.... Moreover, it is generally acknowledged that the pressures of urban living -- together with reductions in working hours -- meant that this economic power was used very often to participate in some form of tourism. It is striking, for example, that travel agents -like building societies -- appeared only in towns and suburbs above a certain size; indeed, by the end of the period [the 1930s] the London area, with fewer than one-fifth of the country's population, housed practically one-third of its travel agents. (Benson, 1994, p. 90)

Initially, "travel" meant largely travel to local destinations. Particular communities became well-known for their almost, "anti-urban" atmosphere. The Nineteenth Century, especially, prized romantic settings; settings that were believed to be inspirational in a philosophical or artistic sense. A veritable cult of "wild nature" developed, that was in turn responsible for the growth of many early tourist sites.

Appreciation for nature took many forms, both of which further stimulated the development of tourist communities. In America, during the Late Nineteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries, there grew up a number of so-called "art colonies." These were places believed to possess a special natural beauty that would somehow prove inspirational to artists. Numerous avant-garde spirits gathered at these places, contributing much to their future growth.

Shipp, 1996, p. ix) A number of cities in the United States that would now be considered part of suburbia began their lives as artists' colonies. The thirst for pristine nature ultimately led many, more adventurous, souls to the Canadian West:

Between 1890 and World War One, western Canadians advertised their region as the last wildlife stronghold in North America.... Westerners used wildlife symbolically to advertise abundance, to make statements about western urbanism, and even to build up local and provincial identities.... More than this, they used wildlife symbolism for these purposes at a key moment in the history of changing environmental attitudes, a time when many Americans and eastern Canadians were initiating conservation and preservation policies.... local conditions significantly changed the imported conservation message. Motivated by a spirit of boosterism and the realities of a hinterland economy, western residents drew on the rising conservation ethic as a means to promote their region. (Colpitts, 1998)

British Columbia was then, as now, the farthest one could possible travel from the original population centers on the Eastern edge of the continent. Having experienced significant European settlement only recently, places like Vancouver Island offered the tourist a wild and rugged atmosphere that was fast disappearing in the vicinities of major Eastern cities.

Wilderness and wild areas began to assume a more favourable impression under the influence of the romantic and transcendentalist movements which favoured wild nature as an antidote to an increasingly industrialised and technocratic society. (Hall & Page, 2002, p. 249)

The Western communities, therefore, could advertise themselves as places where one could enjoy the benefits of civilization while at the same time being close to nature. The wealthy, most of all, were attracted to out of the way places, and unusual, natural environments. (Dakin, 2003)

The recognition of precisely what constitutes a "natural landscape," and what must be done to preserve it has been of notable importance in the Canadian tourist trade. With access to the technologies of the Twentieth century, British Columbia actually undertook a project to "map" out the contours of this facet of its tourism industry. British Columbia's Visual Forest Inventory has, since its beginnings in the 1980s, taken a close look at the Province's wilderness areas in an attempt to catalog those locales that are valuable from a nature, or eco-tourism, point-of-view:

The inventory 'identifies, classifies and records (maps) the visual conditions, characteristics and sensitivity to alteration of areas and travel corridors throughout the province', providing visual-resource information for decision makers and forest licensees to use in forest-development planning. Procedures and standards are outlined in the Visual Landscape Inventory Procedures and Standards Manual, referred to as 'the Manual'. Besides providing information for forestry planning, the inventory is part of the Recreation Resources Inventory (RRI), establishing the aesthetic dimension of landscape as primarily a recreation resource. (Dakin, 2003)

By classifying areas as either "Visually Sensitive" (VSA's), or "Non-Visually Sensitive Areas" (NVSA's), the government of British Columbia is recognizing that while all of nature may be of importance to the ecologist or biologist, the nature that is appreciated by the tourist possesses relatively narrow characteristics. (Fennell, 1999, p. 14) These characteristics are, of course, not necessarily always the same - they vary according to the site, but they must be understood if an area is to promote tourism as a major part of its income. At the Globe '90 Conference which was held in the Province, eco-tourism experts from around the world discussed the need to create sustainable natural environments. (Fennell, 1999, p. 14) The approach is to hold onto the "beauty" of a locale while concentrating also on making the linkages between biology and economy. Increasingly, the idea is that the eco-tourist can play some sort of role in the general conservation of the natural world; that a balance can be struck between a very human need for recreation, and a need to "save the Earth." The Globe '90 Conference resolved that,

Sustainable tourism development is aimed at protecting and enhancing the environment, meeting basic human needs, promoting current and intergenerational equity and improving the quality of life of all people...." "[Sustainable tourism Development must be seen as] meeting the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future...." "[So] we can fulfil economic, social and aesthetic needs while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems." (Laws, Faulkner & Moscardo, 1998, p. 206)

It was likely no accident that Vancouver was chosen as the site of the Globe '90 Conference. The enunciation of such bold guiding principles should of necessity take place in the heart of a region well-known for its environmental treasures. British Columbia's offerings accord with statements of previous tourism conferences in other places. The 1989 conference at The Hague could have had Vancouver Area Tourism in mind when it proclaimed that an, "unspoilt natural, cultural and human environment [was] a fundamental condition for the development of tourism." (Laws, Faulkner & Moscardo, 1998, p. 206)

In British Columbia, eco-tourism is seen as away of bringing together competing interests, not only human and natural, but also human vs. human. Of interest to many visitors to the Vancouver Area are the many Aboriginal communities to be found amid the natural landscape. Tourists, who are attracted by the idea of visiting Native villages, watching Native performances, and viewing and purchasing Native handicrafts and works of art, hopefully contribute to the resolution of an old problem in Canada - finding a way to accommodate the Native Heritage in modern-day Canadian society. In an article in the Journal of the Community Development Society, Edward Jackson describes a program called, Community Economic Development Technical Assistance Program, or CEDTAP, that works toward the goal of using eco-tourism as means of improving local economies - in particular, the Aboriginal economies of the Region. CEDTAP shows how a tourism initiative can work both ways, playing on the attractions that draw tourists to the Vancouver region, while at the same time benefiting the Area socially and economically. (Jackson, 2004, p. 65) In 2002, CEDTAP financed a study tour of the Region during which members were able to observe the contributions of eco-tourism to the Aboriginal communities. The Aboriginal Groups jointly manage the area's forests in connection with environmental and civic groups, the tourist trade thus helping to generate jobs, preserve natural resources, and introduce new technologies into these and other similar rural areas. (Jackson, 2004, p. 65) A program such as this reveals the significance of communicating a "purpose" to would-be tourists. Rather than visit the area solely for the purposes of personal enjoyment, or recreation, the eco-tourism market imparts to the casual visitor the sense that she or he is part of a larger success story. This holistic approach to tourism can be sold as a reason to visit Vancouver and the surrounding area, and would certainly enhance the area's reputation in the eyes of at least a certain category of visitor.

Further bolstering the claim that eco-tourism can be a way for tourists to help Native peoples is a 2002 field study conducted by Sanjay M. Nepal of Texas A&M University. Nepal surveyed members of the Tl'atz'en Nation to obtain their views of eco-tourism, and how eco-tourists benefit their people. The Tl'atz'en live in the lush forests of central British Columbia - an area that is very appealing for the typical eco-tourist. Nepal obtained the following results in regard to the Tl'atz'en's own definitions of what constituted eco-tourism, and how such eco-tourism would benefit their nation:

Table 1.

A frequency of responses; percentages are calculated from total number of responses

Table 2. (Nepal, 2003)

Not all visitors to the Vancouver area's "Great Outdoors," are eco-tourists, of course. The region has long drawn huge numbers intent on fishing, hunting, hiking, and camping. There is water everywhere, from rushing streams, to rolling ocean, making Vancouver a jumping off point for all kinds of water-centered activities. Any tourist program must naturally capitalize on British Columbia's reputation as a sportsman's paradise. According to 1999 provincial statistics quoted in a 2004 edition of the Canadian Journal of Regional Science, tourists in British Columbia are split roughly fifty-fifty between British Columbian residents, and outsiders. (Munro, 2004) The area has a long association with the outdoors. Back in the 1960's, National Geographic ran numerous articles that featured the joys of daily life in Canada. A photograph of youngsters playing in the water in the town of Windermere sent residents of the United States the message that British Columbians lived in close contact with nature. (Beaudreau, 2002) It was breathtaking scenery that first gave birth to a true tourism industry in the Province. As far back as the late Nineteenth Century, the Canadian Pacific Railway discovered that it could use huge tourist hotels as a means of covering the cost of laying its tracks across thousands of miles of difficult terrain. In the Selkirk Mountains, a luxury hotel - the Glacier House - rivaled the resort at Banff - also built by the Canadian Pacific Railway. (Squire, 1998, p. 86) The idea was to, quite literally, "manufacture a destination." (Squire, 1998, p. 86) At the same time, British Columbian museums and travel brochures featured an abundance of animals - the bounty available in the region's vast forests. (Colpitts, 1998) Taxidermic specimens were shown off in the United States, and were a prominent part of Canada's exhibits at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. (Colpitts, 1998) Specially highlighted were stuffed examples of big game. These were shown at local fairs and expositions all over Canada, and were exhibited on a larger scale at the Dominion Exposition in 1908. (Colpitts, 1998) Clearly, the well-heeled big game hunter was a welcome visitor to the woods of British Columbia. First established at the National Park in Banff, game preserves appeared shortly afterwards within easy reach of Vancouver. (Colpitts, 1998)

Wildlife could be used even to sell the Province's cities. Boosters concocted a whole program that represented Vancouver - indeed all of British Columbia - as a modern day Eden. Taking similar depictions of African abundance as their model,

Promoters attempted to recreate the same Eden, well-populated with wild animals. That garden from which humans had been expelled for sinning awaited in a pristine state... throughout western Canada. This Eden was not the actual garden described in Genesis.... Rather, the image was employed metaphorically and often used as a blunt criticism of urban conditions to be found in the east and outside Canada. Urban criticism appears in Clive Phillipps-Wolley's hunting narrative appropriately titled, A Sportsman's Eden, describing British Columbia after the CPR [Canadian Pacific Railway] opened. His was one of many narratives describing the "Paradise," "Heaven," and "Walhalla" to be found in Canada, far from overcrowded American forests and industrial centers. (Colpitts, 1998)

Several decades before those alluring photographs appeared in National Geographic magazine, British Columbians were already skilled at advertising their cities as somehow different from cities in other parts of Canada and the world. Come to Vancouver, for example, and you could enjoy an urban lifestyle that was, at the same time, natural. The scenery, the activities, and even the pace, were special.

The tourist industry sells "experiences," which are anticipated outcomes of "gazing" and the search for signs. In this manner, tourists become semioticians reading the landscape according to certain preconceived notions or signs derived from travel guides or some other means. Tourist attractions must possess characteristics that distinguish them from what persons normally encounter in everyday life. This division between the mundane and unusual is accomplished by seeing unique objects.... Alternatively, participating in a familiar activity such as shopping or eating can have significance for the tourist when it occurs against a "distinctive visual blackcloth [sic]," while observing ordinary aspects of everyday life undertaken by people in unusual contexts can also have significance for the tourist (Broadway, 1996)

From the beginning, what was special about British Columbia was its wild scenery, and the proximity of its urban centers to that wild scenery.

Soon after the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway linked the city of Vancouver directly with the populous (comparatively) eastern provinces, William C. Van Horne, the Canadian Pacific Railway's General Manager, opened a tourist hotel designed specifically to serve the Railway's passengers. (Broadway, 1996)