Ringer, Greg

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/2063

Greg Ringer, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor

International Studies Program

University of Oregon

Eugene, OR 97403 USA

tel: +1 541 346-5051
fax: +1 541 346-5041

email: gringer@uoregon.edu

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Now showing 1 - 15 of 15

Open Access
Bikes Without Borders: Transboundary Tourism, Collaboration, and Rural Development in Montenegro
(Routledge, 2020) Ringer, Greg; Vitić - Ćetković, Andriela
The end of the international embargo on Serbia and Montenegro in 2006 created growing visitor interest in the West Balkan region, and its natural and cultural heritage. Yet, political instability and lingering ethnic/religious strife limit tourism development in some inland and trans-boundary locations. Furthermore, the industry has been slow to create sufficient jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for economically deprived populations, while the governments of Croatia, Montenegro, and Albania prioritize mass development along the Adriatic coast instead. In response, this paper employs a strategic management approach to identify Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for successful, sustainable, and supportive bike tourism in Montenegro’s rural and cross-border communities. The goal is to ascertain whether bicycle tourism is a model for sustainable development in Montenegro and the West Balkan region (Lumsdon, 2000). Our initial analysis is informed by qualitative and quantitative data from bicycle tourists and regional proponents, and an assessment of existing tourism management practices and political processes. Collectively, the CSF provides prescriptive frameworks for efficient and affordable community-based bike tourism in Montenegro, and a blueprint to enhance the visitor experience for domestic and international tourists. A baseline is also established on which to measure and mitigate impacts as bike tourism evolves socially and spatially across the country. This knowledge is essential if Montenegro is to succeed as a bike tourism leader both regionally and globally.
Open Access
Beyond the cruise: Navigating sustainable policy and practice in Alaska's Inland Passage (Chapter 13)
(London: Earthscan Ltd., 2010) Ringer, Greg
In the middle of a global economic recession, cruise tourism continues to be one of the major growth engines of international travel. With “average annual increases in passenger numbers of 8.2% over the last two decades”, and sustained “growth in cruise capacity averaging 7.6% annually,” the resilience of the industry is clearly displayed in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, one of the fastest growing cruise destinations in the world. In ports from San Francisco to Seward, passengers are enticed aboard ships with onboard credits and free upgrades to “[e]xplore breathtaking landscapes and come face to face with the people and wildlife [who inhabit] the stunning alpine meadows and glacial wonders of Denali and the Talkeetna Mountains . . . This is the perfect non-camping itinerary for those looking for comfort in the natural wonderland of Alaska.” For residents, however, the experience of cruise tourism is often less well described:, inundated by summer passengers and s, carrying the and the costs of funding and maintaining community infrastructure for a seasonal industry that is known to relocate vessels to competing ports whenever financial incentives warrant.
Open Access
Social media travel in Caribbean island destinations
(Paris: L'Harmattan, 2016) Ringer, Greg
Tourism fundamentals are changing worldwide as visitor knowledge evolves. Already, mobile technology has reshaped the way we communicate and travel, and easy access to online resources is now elevating the authority of fellow travelers, who are deemed more credible than official agencies. But, many global destinations, including several Caribbean island nations, have yet to respond effectively to these evolving trends or to capitalize on the shift in user demographics and preferred information sources. This deficiency is especially notable in regions where tourism, leisure, and recreation are significant contributors to the local economy, such as the Caribbean. Collectively, tourism jobs provide more than 15% of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP), and employment for nearly 20% of the available workforce. Caribbean tourism proponents are, therefore, strongly urged to consider the growing effects of social media on destination marketing. If overlooked or disregarded, only a few negative guest comments may outweigh any positive remarks, even if more numerous and correct in their depiction of a place and its people. Done right however, promotions shared through personalized fan pages, bookmarks, and destination profiles can effectively counter such (mis)information and thereby, stimulate greater awareness and visitor interest. The challenge for many travel providers and operators is how to do so affordably and successfully, given the financial and human costs to first ascertain which marketing tools and venues are cost-effective and trusted by their targeted audience, and to then maintain the relevancy and accuracy of the selected options over time. To assist in this endeavor, this paper evaluated multiple online sources to assess social media’s role in shaping travel choices to the Caribbean, including the websites and personal blogs most utilized by prospective and past visitors. Dominant trends are also highlighted to document the increasing dependence on mobile technology by travelers. With this data, the author’s intent is to enable tourism leaders to effectively capitalize on the region’s strengths, while recognizing and thereby, remedying features rated unsatisfactory by Caribbean guests.
Open Access
Healthy spaces, healing places - sharing experiences of wellness tourism in Oregon, USA
(2007) Ringer, Greg
This paper presents an overview of the evolving trends in spa, health, and medical tourism in Montenegro and the United States and more specifically, the State of Oregon. The language and practices of â wellness tourismâ which prevail in Oregon differ significantly from those widely applied in Europe, where the concept is firmly established, both legally and culturally. Consequently, the ideas highlighted in this paper are intended to support further discussion of the critical benefits of health-related tourism for Montenegro. In addition, the visitor experiences and data from Oregon may encourage further consideration of alternative resources and preventive therapeutic treatments that would complement existing curative facilities, and provide meaningful opportunities for small- and medium-sized hotels and tour operators in Crna Gora (Montenegro).
Open Access
Cruising North to Alaska: the new 'gold rush'
(CABI Publishing/Butterworth-Heinemann, 2006) Ringer, Greg
More than six thousand years after humans reputedly first reached the North America continent by land, Vitus Bering led a Russian expedition aboard two ships to explore Alaska in 1741. Four decades later, Captain James Cook arrived by boat to map Alaska’s extensive coastline for Great Britain. Soon thereafter, intrepid Russian colonialists sailed from Siberia to establish the first European settlement on Kodiak Island, and almost 30,000 adventurous goldseekers disembarked from steamships in 1897 in transit to the Yukon and Klondike mines. Today, almost one million visitors reach Alaska by boat each year during the brief summer season (May-September). Though many come aboard ferries of the state’s famed Alaska Marine Highway System, most sail on one of 32 vessels owned by twelve cruise lines that now ply the inland waters of Alaska and the Canadian Pacific – and their popularity is growing almost exponentially.
Open Access
Branding post-conflict destinations: recreating Montenegro after the disintegration of Yugoslavia
(The Haworth Press, 2007) Ringer, Greg; Vitić - Ćetković, Andriela
This paper examines the challenges and opportunities of promoting Montenegro as a destination for sustainable tourism in the post-civil war era of the former Yugoslavia, given the country’s unique status as the world’s only self-proclaimed “ecological state.” There is no denying the recent history of ethnic violence and turmoil that divided the Balkans in the 1990s. Consequently, the incremental return of foreign and domestic visitors to Montenegro, as well as Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, represents a significant return to stability almost ten years after the fighting stopped. And the particular interest of many tourists in the biology and cultural geography of the region makes clear the potential usefulness of “green” branding for Montenegro to distinguish itself from its competitors in the Mediterranean, and to resurrect the country’s political image and visitor appeal through targeted environmental practices and promotions. The ability to embellish its “eco” credentials and image through complementary partnerships and policies that sustain both tourism and the nation’s economy would allow Montenegro to strategically and successfully position itself in the Adriatic travel market over the long term. Collaborative management and branding of World Heritage sites and transboundary parks for sustainable tourism will also enable Montenegro, and its former allies and foes, to restore the social and biological integrity and connectivity of a shared landscape severely degraded by a decade of war. In this manner, tourism can be a critical catalyst in overcoming the negative imagery and distrust which still impedes the Balkan’s ability to achieve greater political integration and prosperity in an increasingly unified Europe.
Open Access
Gender posed: the people behind the postcards
(CABI International, 2007) Ringer, Greg
As the world’s largest service industry, tourism is increasingly perceived by proponents as a socioeconomic panacea for indigenous communities. A central tenet of this argument presumes that tourism can help ensure environmental conservation and simultaneously, both employ and empower women and ethnic minorities. Yet, the selling of local people and their practices as tourist “attractions” too often transfigures the social history and culturally-constructed landscapes of the destination by mediating the formation of identities long defined through gender, behavior, and belief. This chapter, therefore, highlights the evolving roles of women and men in the globalization of tourism, as they decipher and interpret their history and “place” as visitors and denizens of locations increasingly (re)defined by the images and discourse of travel marketing. More specifically, it examines the interplay between gender and tourism by drawing attention to the 1) manner by which our spatial and cognitive experiences as hosts and visitors – and the resultant choice of destinations and leisure activities for either enjoyment or employment – are shaped by cultural constructions, perceptual images, and social practices of gender and sexuality, including prescribed clothing and physical appearances, ritualized behavior, and notions of work and equity; and 2) venues where tourism, as an industry and a socioeconomic sphere of human activity, might engender positive change at the local and international levels in existing social, environmental, and financial conditions. In so doing, the following research is intended to encourage both critical – and creative – appreciation and further discussion of the direction and discourse of tourism development and marketing in the magnification and marginalization of cultural traditions and local heritage.
Open Access
Con Dao National Park Ecotourism Management and Environmental Education Proposal
(World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature-Indochina Programme & Viet Nam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, 1999-11) Ringer, Greg; Robinson, Alan
This management proposal is intended to establish guidelines for the design, development, management, and marketing of ecotourism and environmental education activities, attractions, and facilities in Con Dao National Park and Con Dao District, in southern Viet Nam. As such, it provides specific recommendations and policies for developing and managing ecotourism and environmental education as tools for sustainable biodiversity conservation in the marine and terrestrial areas of CDNP, and for sustainable community development for the people of Con Dao island and by extension, the Greater Mekong Subregion. The major objective of this Ecotourism and Environmental Education Management Proposal is to create a flexible framework in which ecotourism and environmental education are viewed as part of a comprehensive planning and management process for Con Dao District and the National Park.
Open Access
Montenegro sustainable tourism assessment
(Institute for Strategic Studies and Prognoses & Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, 2004-10) Ringer, Greg
This report briefly outlines the concerns and recommendations of a rapid assessment project undertaken in April 2004, with the support of the Montenegro Business Alliance and the U.S. Consulate in Podgorica. While admittedly limited in scope, due to both time and financial constraints, the ideas presented are intended to reflect the current and potential status of tourism development and marketing in Montenegro.
Open Access
Sustainable communities & ecotourism in Uganda: the Katonga Wetlands Conservation Project
(1998-06) Ringer, Greg
Perhaps more than any other region of the world, Africa’s dependence on natural resources makes it especially vulnerable to environmental change. To confront the growing social and natural problems, many sub-Saharan countries are now turning to ecotourism, with governments and residents alike attracted by suggestions that ecotourism can simultaneously sustain communities and the natural environments which surround them. Indeed, the success of nature-based tourism in Uganda — now the fastest growing sector in the country — makes clear its potential for economic development. Such windfalls do not come without social costs, however, and the manner in which ecotourism develops directly affects the sustainability of local areas. Yet, tourism proponents throughout East Africa continue to stress upscale facilities and the desires of affluent international visitors over the quality of choice afforded indigenous people in conserving their natural heritage and traditional practices. The challenges and opportunities of such an approach are highlighted in this examination of sustainable tourism and wildlife protection in Uganda's newest protected area and former game preserve, Katonga.
Open Access
Geographies of tourism and place in Micronesia: the 'sleeping lady' awakes
(University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji, 2004-04) Ringer, Greg
Tourism has grown to become the dominant service industry in the world in the 21st Century and a common prescription for funding sustainable community development throughout the East Asia-Pacific region. Certainly, there can be no denial of tourism’s potential to provide meaningful economic alternatives for indigenous residents. However, the marketing of rural communities and island nations as tourist attractions may also transfigure the dynamic historically and socially-constructed landscapes of the destination through the reformation of local identities and cultural patterns of behaviour. To encourage a proactive approach to tourism, planning must therefore be sensitive to the social morphology of the destination community and the intersect with tourist activities. To encourage such a process, this paper adopts a geographic perspective to examine the qualitative effects of ecotourism on the Micronesian island of Kosrae as it moves from a subsistence-based, conservative, patriarchal society to a tourism destination in the global economy. In this manner, the cognitive perceptions and practised lifestyles of residents and visitors and the recreational space of the destination are distinguished from the inhabited place of local people, and the social structure, meaning, and cohesion of Kosraean culture more meaningfully clarified.
Open Access
Wilderness images of tourism and community
(Elsevier, 1996) Ringer, Greg
International tourism is now the dominant force in the world economy and consequently, is heavily promoted as a source of funding sustainable community development. Developing and marketing communities as tourist destinations rarely comes without human costs, however, including a transfiguration of the inhabitants' social history and the dynamics of their place. As a result, there exists tremendous need for additional research on the long-term effects of tourism on emergent destination communities. In response, this study presents the preliminary findings of research among residents and visitors to the twin Alaska "ghost" towns of Kennicott and McCarthy and the implications for a new direction in tourism studies, one that recognizes a socially-defined landscape often overlooked in the traditional literature of tourism and outdoor recreation in protected areas in Alaska and worldwide.
Open Access
Tourism in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar: from terrorism to tourism?
(Butterworth-Heinemann, 2000) Ringer, Greg; Hall, C. Michael
The emerging Southeast Asian nations of Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar (Burma) are undergoing substantial change. Desperately seeking economic growth, these impoverished nations have been ravaged by decades of civil war from which they are now only beginning to recover. Tourism is a significant component of economic development which also has important political overtones in terms of the degree to which tourism is seen to give legitimacy to government, particularly with respect to Myanmar in which people have reported to have been forcibly used as labour for tourism-related developments. This chapter briefly outlines some of the key development issues associated with each country and the role that tourism plays in the economic and political life of residents and visitors.
Open Access
Gorilla tourism: Uganda uses tourism to recover from decades of violent conflict
(Environmental Studies Association of Canada, 2002) Ringer, Greg
Only a few years after the murder of eight foreign tourists in 1999, kidnaped while on an Abercrombie & Kent tour of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in southwest Uganda, the country is finally, albeit slowly and rather tenuously, experiencing a rebound in international travelers. Where only recently, “adventure tourism” referred to the possibility of abduction and death for foreign tourists, the term once again suggests the possibilities offered by a country whose national parks and protected areas remain among the world’s most significant, culturally and ecologically. Like much of sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda has endured decades of ethnic violence, institutional mismanagement and international neglect, poverty, and disease. Yet, recent increases in disposable income and leisure time, improved political stability and openness, and aggressive tourism campaigns have fueled the boom in tourism both locally and intra-regionally. As a result, tourism – and more specifically, culture- and nature-based ecotourism – is now one of the most important sectors in the regional economy, and governments throughout East Africa are busy (re)positioning themselves as international destinations. Certainly, not every country or community in Africa will succeed as an attraction, and those that do may discover the economic benefits less consequential than the social costs, as governments become more intrusive and traditional practices are rendered inauthentic for tourists’ consumption. Nonetheless, ecotourism may play a critical and formative role in reuniting countries and a continent long fragmented by genocide and politics.
Open Access
Convicts & Conservation: Con Dao National Park, Vietnam
(Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002) Ringer, Greg
The phenomenal growth of tourism experienced by the East Asia-Pacific region in the 1990s, nearly double the world average, has played a formative role in reuniting and empowering countries long fragmented by conflict and genocide. Stimulated by an increase in disposable income and leisure time, greater political stability and openness, and aggressive promotional campaigns, tourism is further credited by proponents with discouraging unsustainable practices in environmentally sensitive areas, while simultaneously creating greater opportunities for women and ethnic minorities to participate in the development process. As a result, governments throughout the region are now busy (re)positioning their countries as “authentic” destinations for visitors interested in local culture and nature. However, not every country or community in Asia will succeed as a tourist attraction, and those that do may discover the economic benefits less consequential than the social costs, as residents find their governments more intrusive and traditional practices rendered inauthentic for tourists’ consumption. The challenges of balancing such development with environmental conservation – and the possibilities offered by tourism in reconnecting an area long defined by its history of conflict, through expanded networks of travel and communication – are the focal points of this case study on Con Dao National Park in southern Vietnam.

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