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RESOURCES: PAPERS & PRESENTATIONS

Author : Sara Currie & Lindsay Turner
School/Work Place : Victoria University, Australia
Contact : lindsay.turner@vu.edu.au
Year : 2014

Since Timor-Leste gained its independence in 2002, tourism has been promoted by both government and NGOs as a means to create jobs, build businesses, create income for national and local economics and improve regional economic imbalances (Timor-Leste Government, 2011). Further, there are few options outside tourism for the young, oil-dependent nation to diversity its economy, and Timor-Leste is fortunate to be blessed with the natural, cultural and historic assets that make it an ideal candidate for tourism. However, since independence, progress has been slow. Data for tourism arrivals is scarce and in many cases contradictory, while poor infrastructure, inflated prices and limited choice with regard to accommodation and restaurants continue to impede development.

Further, due to its tumultuous history, Timor-Leste also struggles from a negative international perception. Despite a decade of relative peace and safety, the perception persists that Timor-Leste is dangerous and unstable (Carlos & Carlos, 2011). While tourists are reluctant to visit countries they believe to be prone to political strife and perceived internal problems (Ryan & Silvanto, 2010) in some cases, this perception is based on stereotypes in the media or past political unrest (Vitic & Ringer, 2008). In the case of Timor-Leste, it could be argued the country’s ‘image’ of instability is taking longer to repair than the instability itself and having a detrimental effect on tourist numbers.

Since independence, the Timor-Leste government has promoted sustainable tourism as an important means to diversify the young nation’s economy and create much needed employment, particularly outside the capital of Dili (Cabasset-Semedo 2009; Timor-Leste-Government 2011). Thus marketing the destination as ready for tourism will be as crucial as tourism planning itself.

Unfortunately, there is still an absence of marketing literature from a supply-side perspective. While a considerable amount of research has been undertaken into the desires, motivations and behaviours of tourists, host perspectives still remain largely overlooked (Brickell, 2012). A lack of supply-side perspective leaves us ‘somewhat in the dark’ and is problematic given the representation of one’s culture evokes emotions in many societies and cultures (Konecnik & Go, 2008). Therefore, this paper seeks to better understand the current tourism environment of Timor-Leste from an internal stakeholder perspective. In doing so, it aims to enhance stakeholder collaboration to develop cohesive and effective marketing ideas for the development of tourism in Timor-Leste.


List of Articles
No. Subject Viewssort Date
24 Think Tank V An Economic Explanation of the Net Benefits of Tourism... file 2767 Oct 13, 2013

International tourism is increasingly viewed as one of the best opportunities for a sustainable economic and social development of developing countries. There is also an increasing concern from public policy makers as to whether mass tourism...

Author: Mondher Sahli & Jean-Jacques Nowak 

Year: 2005 

23 Think Tank XV Perceptions of local communities participation in rura... file 2831 Jul 27, 2015

In order to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs, rural communities should be able to participate actively in all aspects of tourism, including planning and management. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the local communit...

Author: Limpho Lekaota & Jarkko Saarined 

Year: 2015 

» Think Tank XIV Stakeholder Collaboration and Contestation in Tourism ... file 3348 Jun 26, 2014

Since Timor-Leste gained its independence in 2002, tourism has been promoted by both government and NGOs as a means to create jobs, build businesses, create income for national and local economics and improve regional economic imbalances (Ti...

Author: Sara Currie & Lindsay Turner 

Year: 2014 

21 Think Tank IX Using Social and Political Values to Assess Host Commu... file 3921 Oct 13, 2013

Tourism, like any other endeavour, operates within the social and political domains of a community, and it is therefore likely that residents with different social and political values would hold different representations of tourism. In the ...

Author: Margaret Deery, Leo Jago & Liz Fredline 

Year: 2009 

20 Think Tank IV Cultural Tourism as a Means for Sustainability in a Ma... file 4169 Oct 13, 2013

Tourism has become for many islands a means of social, economic and cultural development through the creation of jobs, raising standards of living and through the development of local resources for culture and heritage. Thus, many of these d...

Author: Chryso Panayidou 

Year: 2004 

19 Think Tank XIII Local Residents' Involvement in Rural Tourism: The Cas... file 4545 Nov 06, 2013

Community involvement is regarded as a significant factor for the development of rural tourism. In Malaysia, cooperatives are used as a catalyst to achieve community development through community involvement. This paper focuses on the involv...

Author: Uma Thevi Munikrishnan, Sushila Devi Rajaratnam, Paolo Mura & Vikneswaran Nair 

Year: 2013 

18 Think Tank XIII Resident Perceptions of the Impacts of Tourism in Majo... file 4715 Nov 06, 2013

Despite the importance of cities and tourism flows to cities, the literature which explores the effect of tourism on host communities tends to focus on non-urban locations. As different types of tourists place different demands upon the reso...

Author: Tony Griffin & Deborah Edwards 

Year: 2013 

17 Think Tank XIII Building community capacity by developing regional bus... file 5119 Nov 06, 2013

Tourism is often proposed as a strategy for community development, especially in rural or remote regions where traditional industries, such as agriculture, are experiencing an economic downturn and there are limited alternative opportunities...

Author: Anna Blackman 

Year: 2013 

16 Think Tank XIV The Bukit Jalil Legacy: Local Residents' Perceptions o... file 5684 Jun 26, 2014

This paper explores local population’s perceptions of the development of the Bukit Jalil area after the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games. The work on which this study is based is important because it provides a fundamental insight for th...

Author: Rui Qi Chong & Paolo Mura 

Year: 2014 

15 Think Tank X Innovation of and in Informal Actor Network file 6256 Oct 13, 2013

How the informal sectors create and share innovation in gaining competition is very important in tourism development. Commonly, informal sectors are embedded in their routines and lack of innovation capacities. Based on the case of pedicab ...

Author: Maya Damayanti 

Year: 2010 

14 Think Tank XIII Understanding Sense of Place in Tourism Development: T... file 6424 Nov 06, 2013

This paper introduces the rationale for a study which explores the relationship between sense of place and sustainability at Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park (TARP), Sabah. Sense of place encompasses an understanding of the meaning bestowed ...

Author: Paulin Wong Poh Lin & Balvinder Kaur Kler 

Year: 2013 

13 Think Tank XIII Exploring the Relationship between Cultural Capital in... file 6578 Nov 06, 2013

There is substantial literature on the impacts of tourism on culture, both positive and negative, however, there are relatively few articles that explore the relationship between cultural capital and sustainable tourism. This paper will repo...

Author: Laurie Murphy & Andrea Schurmann 

Year: 2013 

12 Think Tank XIII Assessing the Impact of Rural Tourism Development on t... file 6696 Nov 06, 2013

Past literature has posited that tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors and has been signified as an attractive investment proposition. Rural tourism sector has been actively promoted by the Malaysian government and currently, it is c...

Author: May-Chiun Lo, Vikneswaran Nair, Peter Songan & Helen Lee HuiHui 

Year: 2013 

11 Think Tank IX What do sustainable tourism researchers value? An anal... file 7404 Oct 13, 2013

Sustainable Tourism has emerged as a major field of specialisation within tourism and has been so pervasive that some have suggested that the field represents a fifth platform of tourism research, while others have argued that the field has...

Author: Pierre Benckendorff 

Year: 2009 

10 Think Tank VIII Community Actions to Engage Local Residents in Tourism... file 7777 Dec 19, 2013

This paper explores the residents’ knowledge of community actions to engage local members in tourism planning and development in the King Cobra Village of Thailand. The degree of participatory ability which is associated with the public atti...

Author: Kitsada Tungchawal 

Year: 2008 

9 Think Tank IX Sustainable Tourism Development Plan for the Old City ... file 8085 Oct 13, 2013

This research aims to propose a sustainable tourism development plan for the City of Nan. Since the year 2000, Nan civil society leaders, national and international stakeholders have tried to develop Nan into a world heritage destination. I...

Author: Donruetai Kovathanakul 

Year: 2009 

8 Think Tank X Sustainable Tourism Networks file 8105 Oct 13, 2013

This study examines the existing pattern of stakeholder relationships representing major partners of sustainable tourism development. By utilizing a network analysis lens the study also helps us understand the impact of inter relationships ...

Author: Seldjan Timur 

Year: 2010 

7 Think Tank X How Fragile is Tourism Development in West Africa? The... file 10013 Oct 13, 2013

This case study complements recent research on FDI in tourism in African countries conducted by the United National Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). These projects aim to better understand the pro-development effects of tourism...

Author: Lee Davidson & Mondher Sahli 

Year: 2010 

6 Think Tank X The Impact of Climate Change on Alpine Leisure Tourism... file 10312 Oct 13, 2013

This paper presents an interacting multi-agent model as a new method of examining the impact of climate change on Alpine leisure tourism and ski areas in a complex interacting model network. Since tourism varies at a small scale concerning ...

Author: Alexander Dingeldey & Anja Soboll 

Year: 2010 

5 Think Tank XIII Tourism investment and sustainable development: A comp... file 15277 Nov 06, 2013

Despite the growing importance of foreign direct investment (FDI) for tourism in developing countries and its perceived importance for stimulating sustainable development, few empirical studies have examined its impact. This paper explored t...

Author: Lee Davidson & Mondher Sahli 

Year: 2013 

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