Vail, a ski area in Colorado established in 1962, has undergone many changes since its inception. How to explain the growth of an ever expanding urban corridor （“Vail Valley”） in the Colorado High Country, with co...Vail, a ski area in Colorado established in 1962, has undergone many changes since its inception. How to explain the growth of an ever expanding urban corridor （“Vail Valley”） in the Colorado High Country, with considerable implications for the social and built-up environment and the surrounding wilderness？ It is argued here that Steinbeck’s writings – as laid out, for instance, in Cannery Row - could offer a strategy to reconstruct the events and developments that transformed the Vail ski resort destination over the past decades. Eight chapters lay out major themes of the Vail Story, from “Vail before Vail” to “Vail after Vail.” Quotations from Steinbeck’s novels and from other writers in the analysis of his works introduce a given theme. The discussion of the beginnings of the ski area and the town, the staging of Vail mega sports events like three world alpine ski championships and the changing directions and policies of the ski corporation result in a narrative closely aligned with the style of Steinbeck’s realistic prose.展开更多
This article seeks to develop a fuller understanding of the social and attraction motives of domestic tourists who visit the Changbai Mountain Biosphere Reserve(CMBR) in Northeastern China. To do so, ecotourists are c...This article seeks to develop a fuller understanding of the social and attraction motives of domestic tourists who visit the Changbai Mountain Biosphere Reserve(CMBR) in Northeastern China. To do so, ecotourists are compared to general travelers visiting this area. A questionnaire was employed to collect data on visitor characteristics and motivations, responses to which were then analyzed via descriptive statistics, T-tests and principal component factor analysis. Results showed that 16% of the visitors to this area were classified as ecotourists, while the remainder general travelers. Five motivations displayed significant differences(P<0.05) between these two types of tourists. Three social motives – boosting self-confidence, feeling at home away from home and being together with family – and two attraction motives – indoor sports and viewing unique landscapes of the CMBR(crater lake, waterfall, gorge and hot spring) – were significantly more important for general travelers(P<0.05); while two social motives of experiencing the tranquility of the natural setting and the natural beauty of the landscape were relatively more important for ecotourists(P<0.1). Results suggest that ecotourists have distinct and complicated attraction and social motives compared to general travelers visiting the CMBR. Results have useful implications for researchers interested in tourist motivations and behavior, as well as for managers who wish to focus their marketing strategies more effectively. National Park of South Africa. Uysal et al.(1994) assessed the travel motives of Australian tourists to U.S. national parks and nature areas and formed five groupings including ‘relaxation/hobbies', ‘novelty', ‘enhancement of kinship relationship', ‘escape', and ‘prestige'. Tao et al.(2004) analyzed motivations of Asian tourists travelling to Taiwan's Taroko National Park using a self-defined approach and found that the most significant benefits sought by self-defined ecotourists are ‘learning about nature' and ‘participating in recreation activities'. Beh and Bruyere(2007) analyzed visitor motivations in three Kenyan national reserves, identifying the three most prominent kinds of tourists as escapers, learners and spiritualists. Pan and Ryan(2007) used factor analysis to reveal five motivational dimensions –‘relaxation', ‘social needs', ‘a sense of belonging', ‘mastery skills', and ‘intellectual needs' – of visitors to the Pirongia Forest Park in New Zealand. Kruger and Saayman(2010) did a comparative study on travel motivations of tourists to Kruger and Tsitsikamma National Parks in South Africa and found that common motives of tourists were ‘escape and relaxation' as well as ‘knowledge seeking', ‘nostalgia' and ‘park attributes'. Despite these efforts, on an overall basis past literature on why visitors travel to national parks and nature areas is still rather limited. In China, a number of empirical studies on tourist motivations have been conducted since the early 1990s(Chen and Miao 2006; Dong 2011; Huang et al. 2011; Jeffrey and Xie 1994; Lu 1997; Ma et al. 2013; Zhang 2012). Some studies have focused on motivations of visitors to nature reserves(Li 2007), geological parks(Chen and Qiao 2010), world heritage sites(Su et al. 2005), and seismic memorial sites(Tang 2014). However, most previous research findings on tourist motivations are not comparable, reflecting the fact that visitors to different parks have quite different motives due to the attributes of particular destinations, the geographic locations of these parks, types of available activities, marketing strategies, and the complexity of travel motives(Chen and Qiao 2010; Pan and Ryan 2007). While it is true that certain motivations were shared in varying degrees by most tourists to these places – i.e., ‘appreciating natural landscapes', ‘family and education', ‘social needs', and ‘perceived prestige of visit' – most previous research has not focused on natural settings as destinations. Thus travel motivations of tourists to these areas must be further explored and clarified in relation to impacts on particular natural areas and patterns of market segmentation. As one of the earliest and largest natural reserves established in China, the Changbai Mountain Biosphere Reserve(CMBR) has long been a draw not only for domestic tourists but also for international visitors, and tourism to the area has been growing steadily since 1980. With the number of visitors to the reserve having climbed to 2.44 million in 2010(Statistical Communiqué of the Changbai Mountain Protection and Development Zone of Jilin Province 2011), it has become imperative for local government officials and reserve wardens to understand tourists' desires and interests when identifying tourism development opportunities. However, the existing literature still suffers from a lack of empirical studies that investigate why people travel to the CMBR and whether tourist motives differ between groups such as ecotourists and general travelers. The target population for this study consists of domestic visitors to the CMBR. The goals of this research include:(1) to identify the social and attraction motives of domestic tourists that influence decisions to visit the CMBR;(2) to explore whether there are any differences between the motivations of these two types of tourists; and(3) to provide some useful management implications for local government and tourism marketers.展开更多
To increase customers'satisfaction and promote product's competitiveness,a customized extended warranty(EW)policy is proposed,where the diversities in both the usage rate and purchase date are considered.The m...To increase customers'satisfaction and promote product's competitiveness,a customized extended warranty(EW)policy is proposed,where the diversities in both the usage rate and purchase date are considered.The marginal approach is applied to describe the product's two-dimensional failure in terms of age and usage,respectively.Moreover,minimal repair is adopted to restore the failure,and the virtual age method is applied to depict the effect of preventive maintenance(PM).On this basis,an optimization model is established to minimize the maintenance cost and warranty cost from the manufacturer's view,and multiple factors are taken into account,including the PM's intensity and its period,and EW's interval,etc.A numerical case study is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.The results show that by considering the product's usage rate and the purchasing date of EW,the number of failures as well as the cost of maintenance and warranty can be reduced effectively.展开更多
文摘Vail, a ski area in Colorado established in 1962, has undergone many changes since its inception. How to explain the growth of an ever expanding urban corridor （“Vail Valley”） in the Colorado High Country, with considerable implications for the social and built-up environment and the surrounding wilderness？ It is argued here that Steinbeck’s writings – as laid out, for instance, in Cannery Row - could offer a strategy to reconstruct the events and developments that transformed the Vail ski resort destination over the past decades. Eight chapters lay out major themes of the Vail Story, from “Vail before Vail” to “Vail after Vail.” Quotations from Steinbeck’s novels and from other writers in the analysis of his works introduce a given theme. The discussion of the beginnings of the ski area and the town, the staging of Vail mega sports events like three world alpine ski championships and the changing directions and policies of the ski corporation result in a narrative closely aligned with the style of Steinbeck’s realistic prose.
基金supported by the National Forestry Public Welfare Program of China (201304216)the National Key Technologies R&D Program of China (2012BAD22B04)the National Key Laboratory Projects (LFSE2015-20)
文摘This article seeks to develop a fuller understanding of the social and attraction motives of domestic tourists who visit the Changbai Mountain Biosphere Reserve(CMBR) in Northeastern China. To do so, ecotourists are compared to general travelers visiting this area. A questionnaire was employed to collect data on visitor characteristics and motivations, responses to which were then analyzed via descriptive statistics, T-tests and principal component factor analysis. Results showed that 16% of the visitors to this area were classified as ecotourists, while the remainder general travelers. Five motivations displayed significant differences(P<0.05) between these two types of tourists. Three social motives – boosting self-confidence, feeling at home away from home and being together with family – and two attraction motives – indoor sports and viewing unique landscapes of the CMBR(crater lake, waterfall, gorge and hot spring) – were significantly more important for general travelers(P<0.05); while two social motives of experiencing the tranquility of the natural setting and the natural beauty of the landscape were relatively more important for ecotourists(P<0.1). Results suggest that ecotourists have distinct and complicated attraction and social motives compared to general travelers visiting the CMBR. Results have useful implications for researchers interested in tourist motivations and behavior, as well as for managers who wish to focus their marketing strategies more effectively. National Park of South Africa. Uysal et al.(1994) assessed the travel motives of Australian tourists to U.S. national parks and nature areas and formed five groupings including ‘relaxation/hobbies', ‘novelty', ‘enhancement of kinship relationship', ‘escape', and ‘prestige'. Tao et al.(2004) analyzed motivations of Asian tourists travelling to Taiwan's Taroko National Park using a self-defined approach and found that the most significant benefits sought by self-defined ecotourists are ‘learning about nature' and ‘participating in recreation activities'. Beh and Bruyere(2007) analyzed visitor motivations in three Kenyan national reserves, identifying the three most prominent kinds of tourists as escapers, learners and spiritualists. Pan and Ryan(2007) used factor analysis to reveal five motivational dimensions –‘relaxation', ‘social needs', ‘a sense of belonging', ‘mastery skills', and ‘intellectual needs' – of visitors to the Pirongia Forest Park in New Zealand. Kruger and Saayman(2010) did a comparative study on travel motivations of tourists to Kruger and Tsitsikamma National Parks in South Africa and found that common motives of tourists were ‘escape and relaxation' as well as ‘knowledge seeking', ‘nostalgia' and ‘park attributes'. Despite these efforts, on an overall basis past literature on why visitors travel to national parks and nature areas is still rather limited. In China, a number of empirical studies on tourist motivations have been conducted since the early 1990s(Chen and Miao 2006; Dong 2011; Huang et al. 2011; Jeffrey and Xie 1994; Lu 1997; Ma et al. 2013; Zhang 2012). Some studies have focused on motivations of visitors to nature reserves(Li 2007), geological parks(Chen and Qiao 2010), world heritage sites(Su et al. 2005), and seismic memorial sites(Tang 2014). However, most previous research findings on tourist motivations are not comparable, reflecting the fact that visitors to different parks have quite different motives due to the attributes of particular destinations, the geographic locations of these parks, types of available activities, marketing strategies, and the complexity of travel motives(Chen and Qiao 2010; Pan and Ryan 2007). While it is true that certain motivations were shared in varying degrees by most tourists to these places – i.e., ‘appreciating natural landscapes', ‘family and education', ‘social needs', and ‘perceived prestige of visit' – most previous research has not focused on natural settings as destinations. Thus travel motivations of tourists to these areas must be further explored and clarified in relation to impacts on particular natural areas and patterns of market segmentation. As one of the earliest and largest natural reserves established in China, the Changbai Mountain Biosphere Reserve(CMBR) has long been a draw not only for domestic tourists but also for international visitors, and tourism to the area has been growing steadily since 1980. With the number of visitors to the reserve having climbed to 2.44 million in 2010(Statistical Communiqué of the Changbai Mountain Protection and Development Zone of Jilin Province 2011), it has become imperative for local government officials and reserve wardens to understand tourists' desires and interests when identifying tourism development opportunities. However, the existing literature still suffers from a lack of empirical studies that investigate why people travel to the CMBR and whether tourist motives differ between groups such as ecotourists and general travelers. The target population for this study consists of domestic visitors to the CMBR. The goals of this research include:(1) to identify the social and attraction motives of domestic tourists that influence decisions to visit the CMBR;(2) to explore whether there are any differences between the motivations of these two types of tourists; and(3) to provide some useful management implications for local government and tourism marketers.
基金The National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.71671035)the Project of 2018 Intelligent Manufacturing Comprehensive Standard of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of Chinathe Open Fund of Jiangsu Wind Power Engineering Technology Center of China(No.ZK19-03-03)。
文摘To increase customers'satisfaction and promote product's competitiveness,a customized extended warranty(EW)policy is proposed,where the diversities in both the usage rate and purchase date are considered.The marginal approach is applied to describe the product's two-dimensional failure in terms of age and usage,respectively.Moreover,minimal repair is adopted to restore the failure,and the virtual age method is applied to depict the effect of preventive maintenance(PM).On this basis,an optimization model is established to minimize the maintenance cost and warranty cost from the manufacturer's view,and multiple factors are taken into account,including the PM's intensity and its period,and EW's interval,etc.A numerical case study is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.The results show that by considering the product's usage rate and the purchasing date of EW,the number of failures as well as the cost of maintenance and warranty can be reduced effectively.
