This paper explores the potential of tour guides to contribute to the protection of natural areas by educating their customers through interpretation and modeling environmentally appropriate behaviors. Applying Cohen's (1985) model of the guides' role, modified by Weiler and Davis (1993), as a framework, it examines the potential role that kayak tour guides can play in shaping the experience of visitors to one marine area, the Pacific Rim National Park. It uses two approaches to explore the perceptions of clients about the role of kayak guides using: (1) a pre-and post-trip questionnaire and (2) participant observation. Results indicate that five of the six roles were rated high in importance, but one role, the communication role, was not as important. Comparing performance with importance attached to each role revealed congruence with five roles, but lower levels of performance in relation to importance with the role of "motivator of responsible behavior". Variability within all of the importance and performance measures suggest that for some individuals, performance did not match importance, highlighting the need to consider market segmentation in future studies. These findings are discussed within the ecotourism paradigm, and their implications for protected area management and for visitor behavior modification are considered.

This study evaluates a collaborative wine tourism marketing alliance (Wine Islands Project) consisting of small to medium sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs) and wineries whose alliance forms part of the overall activities of a horizontally integrated wine network. An on-line questionnaire administered to Wine Islands Project partners in December 2006 asked respondents to rate importance and performance measures related to the potential outcomes of the Wine Islands Project. Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) revealed that the partners perceived the majority of measures as important, but underperforming relative to their importance. A segmentation of the sample using business type revealed that wineries rated the performance of the measures more highly than other businesses in the sample. Segmentation by business life stage revealed businesses in Life Stage 2 (6-8 years) and Life Stage 4 (16 plus years) perceived most measures as highly performing and those businesses in Life Stage 1 (0-5 years) and Life Stage 3 (9-15 years) rated most measures as underperforming relative to their importance. Findings suggest that segmenting results by business type and life stage adds valuable insights into understanding variability of perceptions of the performance of this marketing alliance. This should allow alliance and network managers to focus efforts to improve underperforming areas and, more importantly, identify those benefits that may act as incentives for tourism businesses to participate in such cooperative activities. This paper adds to our understanding of wine tourism marketing alliance and network development, and contributes to the SMTE literature by its application of IPA to examine the benefits of participation in a collaborative marketing activity.

This article investigates crowding and encounter norms of 375 kayakers visiting the Broken group Islands in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, Canada. To measure encounter norms, kayakers evaluated photographs showing increasing densities of (a) kayaks on the water, (b) motorboats on the water, and (c) tents at a campsite. Norm curve characteristics helped to define kayaker standards for quality marine tourism and recreation experiences, including minimum acceptable conditions at one time (4.8 kayaks, 2.2 motorboats, 4.7 tents). In addition, significant differences existed between marine (39% felt crowded while on the water) and terrestrial (80% felt crowded while at campsites) perceptions of crowding. Implications for park management include a need to assess the appropriateness of both terrestrial and marine conditions when managing for kayak activity. This may include a consideration of user quotas in marine and terrestrial settings, as well as expanding the number of available campsites.

This study examined knowledge mobilization and collaboration practices of practitioners in a Canadian provincial park agency, BC Parks. Data was collected through four focus groups, an on line survey (N = 125), and a follow up workshop. Results showed that the most important information sources used by the agency were “internal” (e.g., policy and management guidelines), while “external sources” such as academic researchers or journals were rated lower. However, those who collaborated with outside groups, including academics, and those working in a science capacity within the agency, rated external information sources more positively. Barriers and enabling conditions for effective knowledge mobilization were identified.