In recent years, the concept of developing themed touring routes or self-drive
trails has been given much attention. Consequently many have been developed,
particularly in Australia and the USA. Themed touring routes have been advocated
as opportunities to link regional communities together, form partnerships,
encourage tourism development along commonly travelled routes, provide a more
satisfactory tourism experience and maximise economic benefits to local business
people by encouraging longer stays and greater spending in the region.
Ultimately, touring routes can develop into tourist icons, such as the Cascade
Loop in Washington State and the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail in the USA.
This paper uses these two case studies to determine the key factors for the
successful development of touring routes. It proposes that there are ten,
including community involvement, an understanding of the drive tourist, the
development of attractions, effective interpretation and signage and infrastructure.
Scott, N.
(2002) ‘Product market perspective of self-drive
tourism’, in
Carson, D.
,
Waller, I.
and
Scott, N.
(eds) ‘Drive Tourism: Up the Wall and Around the
Bend’,
Common Ground Publishing, Melbourne
, pp. 81-90.
2.
Ibid.
3.
Prideaux, B.
,
Wei, S.
and
Ruys, H.
(2001)
‘The senior drive tour market in Australia’
, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol. 7, No.
3, pp.
209-219
.
4.
Olsen, M.
(2002) ‘Keeping track of the self drive
market’, in
Carson, D.
,
Waller, I.
and
Scott, N.
(eds) ‘Drive Tourism: Up the Wall and Around the
Bend’,
Common Ground Publishing, Melbourne
, pp. 11-24 at p. 18.
5.
Scott, ref. 1 above.
6.
Carson, D.
and
Waller, I.
(2002) ‘The nature of drive tourism in
Australia’, in
Carson, D.
,
Waller, I.
and
Scott, N.
(eds) ‘Drive Tourism: Up the Wall and Around the
Bend’,
Common Ground Publishing, Melbourne
, pp. 1-10.
7.
Bureau of Tourism Research
(2000) ‘Bureau of Tourism Research National
Visitors Survey’,
BTR, Canberra
.
8.
Derrett, R.
(2002) ‘Drive tourism and special interest
tourism’, in
Carson, D.
,
Waller, I.
and
Scott, N.
(eds) ‘Drive Tourism: Up the Wall and Around the Bend’Common Ground Publishing, Melbourne
, pp. 25-32.
9.
US Department of Commerce, Office of Travel and Tourism Industries
(2002) ‘Profile of overseas visitors to the
US’, cited 17th July, 2003, available at www.tinet.ita.doc.gov.
10.
Olsen, ref. 4 above.
11.
Prideaux, B.
(2000)
‘The role of the transport system in destination development’
, Tourism Management, Vol. 21, pp.
53-63
.
12.
Scott, ref. 1 above.
13.
Prideaux et al., ref. 3 above.
14.
Prideaux, B.
(2002) ‘Senior drive tourism in
Australia’, in
Carson, D.
,
Waller, I.
and
Scott, N.
(eds) ‘Drive Tourism: Up the Wall and Around the
Bend’,
Common Ground Publishing, Melbourne
, pp. 33-40.
15.
Muller, T. E.
and
O’ Cass, A.
(2001)
‘Targeting the young at heart: Seeing senior vacationers the way
they see themselves’
, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol. 7, No.
4, pp.
285-301
.
16.
Prideaux et al., ref. 3 above.
17.
Prideaux, ref. 14 above.
18.
Ibid.
19.
Ibid.
20.
Olsen, ref. 4 above.
21.
Ibid.
22.
Derrett, ref. 8 above.
23.
Olsen, ref. 4 above.
24.
Ibid.
25.
Carson and Waller, ref. 6 above, p. 8.
26.
Murray, M.
and
Graham, B.
(1997)
‘Exploring the dialectics of route-based tourism: The Camino de Santiago’
, Tourism Management, Vol. 18, No. 8, p.
514
.
27.
Ibid.
28.
Carson and Waller, ref. 6 above.
29.
Olsen, M.
(2002) ‘Tourism Themed Routes’,
presentation delivered to
University of Tasmania and University of Queensland
.
30.
Standards Australia
(2002) ‘Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices -
Part 6: Tourist and service signs for motorists’,
Standards Australia, Sydney
.
31.
National Centre for Tourism
(2001) ‘Overlander’s Way Corridor
Management Plan Field Trip and Audit Report’,
Tourism Queensland, Brisbane
.
32.
Ibid.
33.
Olsen, ref. 29 above.
34.
Standards Australia, ref. 30 above.
35.
Yin, R. K.
(1994) ‘Case Study Research: Design and
Methods’, 2nd edn,
Sage Publications, London
.
36.
Ibid.
37.
National Geographic Traveler, www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler.
38.
Rahm, L.
(2002) author’s personal communication with
Manager,
Cascade Loop Association, Lake Chelan
, July.
39.
www.cascadeloop.com.
40.
Cascade Loop Association
(2002) ‘Travel Inquiry Profile’,
Cascade Loop Association, Washington
.
41.
Ibid.
42.
Rahm, ref. 38 above.
43.
Cascade Loop Association, ref. 40 above.
44.
Eubanks, T.
(2002) author’s personal communication with
Director,
Fermata Consulting, Austin, TX
, July.
45.
Campbell, L.
(2002) author’s personal communication with
nature-based tourism officer,
Texas Parks and Wildlife, Austin, TX
.
46.
Eubanks, ref. 44 above.
47.
www.tpwd.state.tx.us/birdingtrails/.
48.
Ibid.
49.
Eubanks, T. L.
and
Stoll, J. R.
(1999) ‘Avitourism in Texas: Two Studies of Birders
in Texas and their Potential Support for the Proposed World Birding
Centre’,
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Austin, TX
.
50.
Ibid.
51.
Gunn, C.
(1985) ‘Tourism Planning’, 2nd
edn,
Taylor and Francis, New York
.
52.
Pearce, P.
,
Morrison, A.
and
Rutledge, J.
(1998) ‘Tourism: Bridges Across
Continents’,
McGraw Hill, Sydney
.
53.
French, S.
,
Craig-Smith, S.
and
Collier, B.‘Principles of Tourism’,
Pearson Education, Frenchs Forest, Australia
.
54.
Ibid.
55.
Tilden, F.
(1957) ‘Interpreting Our Heritage’,
University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC
.
56.
Ham, S.
(1992) ‘Environmental Interpretation: A Practical
Guide for People with Big Ideas and Small Budgets’,
Fulcrum Publishing, CO.
57.
Sharpe, G. W.
(1982) ‘Interpreting the
Environment’,
John Wiley and Sons, New York
.
58.
Moscardo, G.
(1999) ‘Making Visitors Mindful’,
Sagamore Publishing, IL
.
59.
Freeman, R. E.
(1984) ‘Strategic Management: A Stakeholder
Approach’,
Pitman, Boston, MA
.
60.
Getz, D.
and
Jamal, T. B.
(1994)
‘The environment-community symbiosis: A case for collaborative
tourism planning’
, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Vol. 2, No.
3, pp.
152-173
.
61.
Butler, R. W.
(1999)
‘Sustainable tourism: A state-of-the-art review’
, Tourism Geographies, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.
7-25
.
62.
Sautter, E. T.
and
Leisen, B.
(1999)
‘Managing stakeholders: A tourism planning model’
, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 26, No.
2, pp.
312-328
.
63.
Yuksel, F.
,
Bramwell, B.
and
Yuksel, A.
(1999)
‘Stakeholder interviews and tourism planning at Pamukkale, Turkey’
, Tourism Management, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp.
351-360
.
64.
Sautter and Leisen, ref. 62 above.
65.
Weaver, D.
and
Lawton, L.
(2002) ‘Tourism Management’,
2nd edn,
John Wiley and Sons, Brisbane
.
