Understanding Visitor Perspectives on Volcano Tourism at Mount Pinatubo, Philippines: a Mixed Methods Study
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Understanding Visitor Perspectives on Volcano Tourism at Mount Pinatubo, Philippines: A Mixed Methods Study Richard Aquino A thesis submitted to Auckland University of Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of International Tourism Management (MITM) 2015 Faculty of Culture and Society School of Hospitality and Tourism Primary Supervisor: Dr Heike Schänzel Secondary Supervisor: Assoc Prof Kenneth F Hyde TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF APPENDICES ............................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................... ix ATTESTATION OF AUTHORSHIP ............................................................................ x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... xi ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................xiii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the study ................................................................................. 1 1.2 Volcano tourism in the Philippines.................................................................. 3 1.3 Volcano tourism at Mount Pinatubo ................................................................ 6 1.4 Statement of the problem .............................................................................. 10 1.5 Purpose of the mixed methods study ............................................................. 12 1.6 Significance of the study ............................................................................... 13 1.7 Structure of the thesis.................................................................................... 14 Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW PART ONE Tourism in Volcanic Environments ............................................................................. 16 2.1 Volcanoes and volcano tourism..................................................................... 16 2.2 Volcano tourism as a sub-type of geotourism ................................................ 18 2.3 The relationships between volcano tourism and other forms of tourism ......... 21 2.4 Risk management, interpretation and conservation ........................................ 26 2.5 The volcano tourist ....................................................................................... 29 2.6 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 30 Chapter 3 LITERATURE REVIEW PART TWO Travel Motivations and Tourism Experiences ............................................................. 31 3.1 Theories of travel motivation ........................................................................ 31 3.2 Motivations for visiting volcanic sites ........................................................... 37 3.3 Expectations for a tourism experience ........................................................... 42 ii 3.4 Concepts of the tourist experience ................................................................. 44 3.5 The volcano tourism experience .................................................................... 50 3.6 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 55 Chapter 4 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................ 57 4.1 Research paradigm ........................................................................................ 57 4.2 Mixed methods research ............................................................................... 60 4.3 Phase 1 (pre-tour) methods: Motivations and experience expectations survey 70 4.4 Phase 2 (post-tour) methods: Visitor interviews on actual experiences .......... 90 4.5 Phase 3: Overall interpretation .................................................................... 104 4.6 Ethical considerations ................................................................................. 106 4.7 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 107 Chapter 5 FINDINGS & ANALYSIS: PHASE ONE Motivations and Experience Expectations for Volcano Tourism ................................ 109 5.1 Visitor Motivation Survey – Respondent profile ......................................... 109 5.2 Factor analysis ............................................................................................ 114 5.3 Descriptive statistics and reliability analysis ............................................... 116 5.4 Comparisons for socio-demographic characteristics and prior experience of volcanic sites......................................................................................................... 118 5.5 Comparisons of motivations for domestic versus international visitors ........ 120 5.6 Additional motives for visiting Mount Pinatubo .......................................... 122 5.7 Experience expectations of visitors to Mount Pinatubo ............................... 127 5.8 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 132 Chapter 6 FINDINGS & ANALYSIS: PHASE TWO Experiences of Volcano Tourism at Mount Pinatubo ................................................. 133 6.1 The participants .......................................................................................... 133 6.2 Background of the visitor experiences ......................................................... 135 6.3 Natural dimension ....................................................................................... 137 6.4 Recreational dimension ............................................................................... 143 6.5 Socio-cultural dimension ............................................................................ 148 iii 6.6 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 151 Chapter 7 DISCUSSION & OVERALL INTERPRETATION ............................. 153 7.1 The motivations and experience expectations for volcano tourism at Mount Pinatubo ................................................................................................................ 153 7.2 Volcano tourism experiences at Mount Pinatubo ......................................... 164 7.3 From motivations to actual experiences: An overall interpretation .............. 171 7.4 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 177 Chapter 8 CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS ........ 178 8.1 Research summary and conclusions ............................................................ 178 8.2 Implications of the study ............................................................................. 185 8.3 Limitations of the study .............................................................................. 189 8.4 Recommendations for future research ......................................................... 190 8.5 Final thoughts ............................................................................................. 191 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 192 iv LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A. Correspondence from the Capas Municipal Tourism Office ................. 215 Appendix B. Correspondence from the Majestic Mount Pinatubo Tour & Homestay. 216 Appendix C. Survey questionnaire ............................................................................ 218 Appendix D. Survey PIS ........................................................................................... 221 Appendix E. Ethics approval from AUTEC ............................................................... 223 Appendix F. Amendment approval from AUTEC ..................................................... 224 Appendix G. Confidentiality Agreement form for Research Assistants ...................... 225 Appendix H. Interview guide and questions .............................................................. 226 Appendix I. Interview PIS ......................................................................................... 228 Appendix J. Interview Participant Consent Form ...................................................... 230 Appendix K. Cross-tabulation analysis of domestic visitors’ residence by age group (SPSS Output) .......................................................................................................... 231 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Map showing the location of the Philippines and Mount Pinatubo in the Pacific Ring of Fire ....................................................................................................... 4 Figure 1.2 Map showing the geographical location of Mount Pinatubo and the extent of the physical impacts of the 1991 eruption. ..................................................................... 6 Figure 1.3 Mount Pinatubo crater-lake. ......................................................................... 8 Figure 1.4 Four-wheel drive