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Issues of sustainability, resilience, and risk management are linked to how the tourism industry and researchers respond to future ICT risk, known as “the year 2038 problem” (Y2K38). The tourism industry coped with similar but smaller risk, the Y2K “millennium bug” but lessons have not been learned. The paper presents an account of the lack of preparedness to ICT bugs and concludes that a cycle of ICT risk management does not always lead to policy actions. The work suggests a proactive approach for addressing potential ICT risks and presents the main steps for coping with Y2K38 and potentially other risks.

Camping is a recreational activity that links people with their physical surroundings and the environment. Hence, efforts in promoting camping activities may help promote sustainable and accessible recreation and tourism. This research focuses on preferences and barriers for camping in Israel as perceived by frequent, occasional, and noncampers. The findings of an online study with 665 respondents show that focusing only on current campers may create self-selection bias and overlook the barriers that prevent people from camping. While noncampers shared some barriers with campers, they also experienced more barriers regarding information gaps (location of campsites) and camping equipment. All participants had a similar preference for solitude and lack of crowding. These findings create a dilemma for camping managers and marketing campaigns: to reduce the barriers that prevent low frequency campers and noncampers from camping or to keep the situation as is and minimize overcrowding in campsites.

Accommodation businesses are increasingly dependent on a limited number of reservation platforms. A significant feature of these platforms is guest evaluations, which are transformed into ratings and rankings. As the positioning of the business in comparison to competitors determines customer demand, accommodation managers have considerable interest in maintaining or improving their online reputation. One response may be to engage in manipulation strategies. This paper presents the results of a survey including 270 hotel managers in five countries, Germany, Israel, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Managers confirm growing competition as a result of ratings and rankings, and they report that guests are increasingly aware of the importance of reviews. To avert negative online feedback impacts, managers intervene strategically. The paper discusses new market pressures, emergent consumer judgement culture and consumer citizenship, opportunities for legal redress and the emerging importance of reputation management strategies.

Walking is an important part of the tourist experience and a significant element of sustainable mobility. Although the concept of walkability has substantial health, social, economic and environmental dimensions for permanent residents, little attention has been given to the concept of walkability from a tourist perspective. This study examines the relationships between walkability and indicators of successful tourism as measured by visitor numbers and TripAdvisor reviews for leading English visitor attractions. Walkability is measured by using the Walk Score (R) index that assesses the walking potential of an origin point through a combination of the shortest distance to a group of preselected destination points, the block length and the intersection density around the origin. The Walk Score algorithm includes built environment characteristics but not route characteristics. The study found only weak relationships between walkability and visitor numbers and walkability and number of TripAdvisor ratings for the top 330 visitor attractions in England. No significant relationships were found for London's attractions although a weak relationship was noted between walkability and TripAdvisor ranking. It is concluded that tourism-specific assessments of walkability and transport choice are required if visitors are to be encouraged to engage in active transport at destinations.

The Walk Score (R) index has become increasingly applied in studies of walking and walkability. The index assesses the "walking potential" of a place through a combination of three elements: the shortest distance to a group of preselected destinations, the block length, and the intersection density around the origin. The Index links a gravity-based measure (distance accessibility), with topological accessibility (street connectivity) measured by two complementary indicators that act as penalties in the final score (R) (linearly expanded in the range 0-100). A systematic review of Scopus (R) and Web of Science was conducted with 42 journal articles eventually being evaluated. Research was primarily undertaken in North American urban geographies. Analysis of walk ability using Walk Score (R) is inconsistent. Twenty-nine papers do not exclusively relying on Walk Score (R) as a single measurement of walkability and add further estimates to better capture the multiple dimensions of walkability. In 33 studies the Walk Score (R) was used as an independent variable, and only once as a mediating-moderating variable. In eight papers (18%) the Walk Score (R) was a part of a bivariate correlation model. On no occasion was it used as a dependent variable. Results tend to only partly support the validity of Walk Score (R). The paper concludes that the Index is best understood as a surrogate measure of the density of the built environment of a specific neighborhood that indicates utilitarian walking potential. Implications for, and potential areas of, future research are discussed.

Walkable places are often considered as an attraction for locals, visitors and tourists and as a measure of urban quality. This chapter explores the extent to which there is a link between the walkability of an urban tourism destination and: likability of places, as perceived by tourists; the number of visitors to tourist attractions. The VisitBritain/VisitEngland agency, a public body funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, publishes an annual report regarding the number of visitors to English attractions. This database provides an opportunity to learn about the popularity of attractions, both free and paid. Tourists will visit places that are considered to be less attractive if they are accessible, producing a U-curve pattern when addressing the relations between walkability and TripAdvisor ranking. The Walk Score measurement aims to describe the positive walking attributes of a location from the perspective of a permanent resident, including daily errands as a key factor in determining walkability.

Walking is an essentially human activity. From a basic means of transport and opportunity for leisure through to being a religious act, walking has served as a significant philosophical, literary and historical subject. Thoreau’s 1851 lecture on Walking or the Romantic walks of the Wordsworths at Grasmere in the early 19th Century, for example, helped create a philosophical foundation for the importance of the act of walking as an act of engagement with nature. Similarly, and sometimes inseparable from secular appreciation, pilgrimage trails provide opportunities for finding self and others in the travails of the walk. More recently, walking has been embraced as a means of encouraging greater health and well-being, community improvement and more sustainable means of travel. Yet despite the significance of the subject of walking there is as yet no integrated treatment of the subject in the social science literature. This handbook therefore brings together a number of the main themes on the study of walking from different disciplines and literatures into a single volume that can be accessed from across the social sciences. It is divided into five main sections: culture, society and historical context; social practices, perceptions and behaviours; hiking trails and pilgrimage routes; health, well-being and psychology; and method, planning and design. Each of these highlights current approaches and major themes in research on walking in a range of different environments. This handbook carves out a unique niche in the study of walking. The international and cross-disciplinary nature of the contributions of the book are expected to be of interest to numerous academic fields in the social and health sciences, as well as to urban and regional planners and those in charge of the management of outdoor recreation and tourism globally.

This paper reviews some of the actual and potential effects of climate change on cultural heritage and its management with special reference to heritage tourism. This analysis will help to identify knowledge gaps and issues in relation to different types of heritage, management strategies and policy-making, as well as enabling an understanding of the potential significance of climate change impacts in a regional, national and international setting. The analysis is also relevant to understanding the broader pressures of environmental and global change on the management of heritage tourism sites, and cultural heritage in particular, in the Anthropocene.

A lexical analysis is conducted of the five intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) assessments reports undertaken between 1990 and 2014. The analysis indicates that the term heritage is little used in the reports, although it has become more widely used over time in different chapters. In contrast, reference to indigenous culture and heritage has greatly increased. The implications are discussed especially for the way in which the IPCC frames culture and heritage. Implications for research communication are briefly discussed.