The potentially paradoxical concept of "slow adventure" is offered here as having a particularly North European potential and a peculiarly Nordic orientation towards outdoor tourism activity. An overview of the relationship between the slow movements and the frenetically paced, technologically wired lived experience of hypermodernity is considered in the light of the rise of the adventure tourism "industry". We contrast the slow movement principles with mainstream, risk managed and rationalised "fast" adventure tourism products, which focus predominantly on thrill and rush. The concept of slow adventure, as distinct from slow tourism or slow travel per se is then further developed to include time, passage, comfort and nature, aligned with Scandinavian concepts of friluftsliv, as determining elements in what have become highly regarded tourist experiences. We conclude that there cannot be an essentialist separation of "slow" and "fast" adventure (or travel, or tourism, or food . . . ) per se. Rather, that these qualitative aspects of self-supported adventurous journeys illustrate significant, and hitherto largely ignored aspects in the analysis of adventure tourism, and point toward opportunities for well-trained outdoor professionals who can make the most of the Nordic great outdoors for small numbers of clients, enabling inclusive, environmentally responsible, high-value, place-specific experiences, all year round.

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine university applicants' choice processes using Kotler's five stage consumer buying process with a particular emphasis on the final stage of the process namely that of the purchase decision. Design/methodology/approach -Based on four focus groups with 22 students at one university in North-west England, post-enrolment. Findings -Applicants' choice processes are complex and not evenly supported by university departments. Using concepts from the field of services marketing, the student choice process as candidates progress through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service system is critically interrogated. "Moments of truth" are seen to be critical in many students' decision to choose a specific university course. University personnel need to be mindful that the decision process is two way and takes place over an extended period of time.Research limitations/implications -This research has been conducted with respondents drawn from just one university and at one point in time. Practical implications -It is suggested that universities should refine and target their communications efforts, and pay close attention to the quality of the interactions with potential students throughout their relationship. In order to do this it is suggested that universities adopt a services marketing framework. Originality/value -Key themes from services marketing concepts are suggested to inform the analysis of what is and what could be done to maintain and enhance the university-applicant relationship as it progresses.

Recent discussions from the journal of tourism management call for more critical deconstructions of the political and economic structures that shape policy and planning. The present paper takes up this call, using a post-structualist framework to examine Scotland's food tourism landscape. Utilising Foucauldian discourse analysis to deconstruct 2,312 media sources collected through a Factiva database search, we illustrate how policy discourses privilege middle class cultural symbols through official food tourism promotion, marginalising particular foods positioned as working class. We find that this is particularly evident through the example of the deep fried mars bar; where, despite touristic desires, classed media discourses constructed it as global, bad and disgusting, and therefore an embarrassment to official tourism bodies. We conclude by discussing the broader importance of attending to the marginalising and silencing effects tourism policy exerts when the power values and interests involved in its formation are not critically appraised

Hospitality in wild places. Abstract We contribute to the hospitality work research agenda by reconsidering the role of outdoor adventure guides as agents of hospitality, set against a conceptual backdrop of deepening ontological insecurity in industrialised societies. We argue that the concepts of dwelling, communitas and hygge have much to offer in the delivery of outdoor hospitality in general, and in outdoor adventure tourism scenarios in particular. Although originating from the Danes and their ideas of 'cosy indoor life', the concept of hygge has recently gained global attention in the debates around creating comfortable atmospheres at home, and in fostering people's emotional well-being on holiday. Moving the concept along, we suggest the stimulation of hygge in the outdoors, along with provision of the space to dwell and the stage management of the communal effervescence of communitas as part of the crucial skill set for the outdoor guide.We opine that such conceptualisation can greatly inform our understanding of both the role of the outdoor guide and of the dynamics of deliverable hospitable experience more generally.

Purpose Food tourism and events are often prefaced as tools for sustainability within national and intra-national food and agricultural policy contexts. Yet, the realities of enhancing sustainability through food tourism and events are problematic. Sustainability itself is often conceived broadly within policy proclaiming the benefits of food tourism and events, with a need for further deconstruction of the ways each dimension of sustainability – economic, environmental, social and cultural – independently enhances sustainability. The lack of clarity concerning the conceptual utilisation of sustainability works to compromise its value and utilisation for the development of food tourism and events in peripheral areas. In recognition, this paper aims to turn attention to social sustainability within the context of a local food festival, to ask the following: in what ways is social sustainability enhanced through a local food festival, who benefits from this sustainability, and how? Design/methodology/approach The paper examines the development of a local food festival in a rural coastal community on Scotland’s west coast. The concept of social capital is used to examine the unfolding power relations between committee members, as well as the committee and other social groups. Observant participation undertaken over a 10-month period, between December 2015 and September 2016, renders insights into the ways event planning processes were dependent on the pre-existing accruement of social capital by certain individuals and groups. Findings Local food festivals have the potential to enhance social sustainability, in offering opportunity to bridge relations across certain diverse groups and foster an environment conducive to cohabitation. Bridging, however, is dependent on preconceived social capital and power relations, which somewhat inhibits social integration for all members of a community. The temporally confined characteristics of events generates difficulties in overcoming the uneven enhancement of social sustainability. Care, thus, needs to be upheld in resolutely claiming enhancement of social sustainability through local food events. Further, broad conceptualisations of “community” need to be challenged during event planning processes; for it is difficult to develop a socially inclusive approach that ensures integration for diverse segments without recognising what constitutes a specific “community”. Originality/value This paper is situated within the context of a peripheral yet growing body of literature exploring the potential of events to develop social sustainability. In extending work examining events and social sustainaility the paper turns attention to the gastronomic – examining the extent to which social sustainability is enhanced through a local food festival, for a rural coastal community – Mallaig, on Scotland’s west coast.

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