‘Inhabited Solitudes’

Resisting a standard reading of William Gilpin as ‘appropriating’ Scottish landscape from a privileged metropolitan perspective, I discover a more radical and environmentally sensitive potential in Gilpin’s texts on the picturesque, developed in the writings of John Stoddart, and empowering for women tourists like Sarah Murray and Dorothy Wordsworth. As the literary masterpiece of all the texts studied here, Dorothy Wordsworth’s Recollections of a Tour in Scotland made a decisive break with the Pennantian tour as a ‘knowledge genre’ by developing a gendered version of her brother’s poetics of ‘emotion recollected in tranquility’. Her gift for natural description is linked to the picturesque tradition, and briefly compared with Coleridge’s extraordinary Highland Tour notebooks. Read in tandem with her less ambitious second Highland tour of 1822, Recollections also presents a lively and sympathetic account of a plebeian Gaelic world in a moment of historical crisis.

Profile of female tourists visiting Porto and North of Portugal

Purpose This paper aims to characterize the profile of non-resident female tourists visiting Porto and North of Portugal (PNP) and highlights the importance and evolution of the women travel market and its segmentation. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents and discusses trends and segmentation in women travel market and the results of a survey on the profile of international female tourists to PNP. Findings This study identifies the key differences of male and female travelers to PNP and confirms that segments that have been highlighted as emerging markets in the literature such as businesswomen, solo travelling and girlfriend getaway are all present in this market. It also presents and discusses the profile of female tourists to PNP. Practical implications This study provides knowledge about the women travel market to PNP, thus enabling decision makers to better tailor their marketing strategies to this segment. Originality/value This paper seeks to illustrate the importance of the female travel market and characterize the profile of non-resident women tourists visiting PNP.

Spatial Distribution of Natural Tourism Potentials and Rural Development of Host Communities in Some Selected Areas of Ekiti State, Nigeria

This study examined the spatial distribution of natural tourism potentials and rural development of host communities in some selected Areas of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Natural tourism potentials gives the tourism industry great respect among other industries in Ekiti State, as well as a major concern to business men and women, tourists, government officials, and the general public. Data for this study were collected from personal survey and the random administration of one hundred and fifty (150) questionnaires on respondents in the study area. Results from this study showed that tourists vary frequently, visit the tourists’ potential sites, due to a large number of tourists’ attraction sites in the area. This study recommended that, there is need for improvement of tourists’ potential sites in the study area. This study will be of great help to tourists, environmentalists’, researchers, planners and policy makers in the tourism industry, as well as boost the economy of Ekiti State and in-turn impact positively on the development of the State.

Risk Perceptions of International Female Tourists in India

In tourism industry perceptions are major influencing factors of visiting a destination. Tourism products cannot be pre tested prior to purchase. Therefore tourists rely a lot on perceptions and images of a destination. India is generally known for its myriad of culture, spirituality, climate and diversity. Image of India has suffered a tremendous jolt overseas after a few incidents of rapes and crimes have surfaced against women. Keeping this in mind this paper is an attempt to find out the risk perceptions of foreign women travelers to India and whether they consider India a safe destination for women. They were administered questionnaires taking the parameters that Gunn, 1972 had introduced. A sample of 100 international women tourists was selected randomly and on judgement basis. General perception of women tourists about India on safety and security of women was not positive. It was concluded through the survey that though women travelers had security and safety issues in India yet they found the country worth visiting again.