Master of Arts in Sustainable Leisure Management: Theses

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    Chaos or chance: perceived impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Vancouver Island tourism
    (Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University, 2024) Crew, Elaine
    This study explores the relationship between sustainability and tourism during COVID-19. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic (Cucinotta & Vanelli, 2020). As of April 30th, 2023, there were 775 million confirmed cases worldwide, with seven million confirmed deaths (World Health Organization, 2024). There were 203,000 cases in Canada, with 239 of the confirmed cases being on Vancouver Island, British Columbia when data was collected for this research (BC Center for Disease Control, 2020; World Health Organization, 2024). The COVID-19 virus brought the world and tourism to a halt, thus dramatically changing Vancouver Island which is a hub for tourism. The coronavirus (COVID-19) Global Pandemic affected much of the globe as it began to spread in 2019. This had significant impacts on tourism, one of the most important industries on Vancouver Island and, more generally, British Columbia, making it important to understand the perceived impacts from the tourism operators’ perspective. This research is unique as it asked tourism operators their perspectives during the pandemic rather than after. While tourism and major world events have collided before, there has not been an event to this scale related to a global pandemic and tourism. This study helps to fill the knowledge gap with the experiences of tourism operators. The aim of the study was to inquire what economic, environmental, and socio-cultural impacts were being seen by the tourism operators between waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Using an hour-long interview guide, participants were able to share their perspectives on the impacts they saw on Vancouver Island’s tourism industry. The interviews were analyzed using a Qualitative Descriptive (QD) approach adapted from the nursing field to explore the phenomenon. The results showed examples of resilience with the collaboration amongst operators was paramount to surviving the COVID-19 Pandemic. The results showed that many funding sources from governmental and community organizations benefited tourism operators and enabled them to remain open. It showed a shift in the demographics of tourists and a shift in the roles of tourism operators during this challenging time. The operators shared that the decrease in tourists saw wildlife flourish and gave them time to reflect on their impacts on the environment. The operators began to plan with thoughts of making their operations more sustainability for the environment, their communities, and their operational budgets.
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    Cognitive influences of outdoor leisure trips on Vancouver Island University students
    (Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University, 2024) Singh, Harpreet
    Purpose: The purpose of this research is to examine and understand the psychological influence of outdoor leisure trips on VIU students. Rationale: Recruitment and retention of students is a challenge in Canadian postsecondary institutions such as VIU. Therefore, a challenge is to understand the factors that influence a student’s retention and dropout motivation. This study investigates the transformative effects of outdoor leisure trips on self-efficacy, emotional intelligence, across-cultural adaptability, and a sense of belongingness among Vancouver Island University students, proposing that engagement in such activities significantly enhances their psychological and social well-being. Methodology: A quantitative research design (post-positivist worldview) guides the framework of this study. A self-reported questionnaire served as the main tool for gathering information. Students from Vancouver Island University, including exchange students, were invited as participants. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the direct and indirect influence of psychological constructs (emotional intelligence- EI, self-efficacy-SE, cross-cultural adaptability-CCA, and a sense of belonging-SOB). Results: Statistical analysis confirmed that students participating in outdoor leisure trips have higher SE, EI, CCA, and SOB (M ≥ 3.5). Independent samples t-test confirmed statistically significant differences among students who have exposure to academic/nonacademic leisure trips than those who do not, along with Cohen’s d varying between 0.5 and 0.7 validating that results are not only statistically significant but practically significant. SEM results proved a direct and positive relationship between emotional intelligence (β =.456, t = 2.32, p= .02) and cross-cultural adaptability (β = .577, t = 5.10, p < .001) on the sense of belonging while self-efficacy (β = .87, t = 2.76, p = .006) indirectly influenced SOB by influencing cross-cultural adaptability. The squared multiple correlation was 85% (R2 = .85) for the sense of belonging. The model fit explained 85 percent of the variation in SOB through SE, EI, and CCA. The fit indices: CMIN/df= 2.84, GFI= .95, TLI= .94, CFI= .96, SRMR= 0.45, and RMSEA= .07 were within acceptable range for the model fit. Implications: The results of this study may guide in framing policies by an academic institution while budgeting recreation and leisure facilities for students as students’ academic and social performance was found statistically as well as practically (effect size) significant. Understanding ways to achieve a sense of belonging can help universities build a competitive advantage for recruiting prospective students as well. On a societal front, this research shows the social sustainability aspect among students of different cultures, as cross-cultural adaptability was found to be significantly different for students participating in OLTs. In a broader field, this study enriches educational psychology by scientifically testing cognitive development and the impact of experiential learning on post-secondary students.
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    The nature of creativity: Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES), placemaking, and community resilience in Prince Rupert, British Columbia
    (Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University, 2023) Henderson, Rachel
    Creative activity, such as the visual arts, performance arts, and literary arts, offers significant advantages to the social, cultural, environmental, and economic resiliency of local communities. While creative places were once considered exclusive to high-population, urban centres, there is increasing attention extended to the existence and undervaluation of creativity within smaller and remote places. These peripheral regions are characteristically abundant in natural amenities, and often exhibit a relationship between nature and local arts and culture. As a result, creative activity offers unique insights into how cultural ecosystem services (CES) exist and function in peripheral communities. The following investigation focuses on Prince Rupert, Canada; a small coastal city situated in northern British Columbia’s coastal temperate rainforest. The examination employs a qualitative case study approach to investigate how Prince Rupert’s creative and cultural sector and CES influence local placemaking and community resilience. Data for this study used a thematic analysis collected from two methods: 1) fourteen semi-structured interviews with Prince Rupert’s artists and makers, as well as creative and cultural sector leaders, and 2) eight textual documents that portray or describe activities or products related to Prince Rupert’s creative and cultural sector (e.g., visitor guide, provincial arts and culture report, planning documents). Together, findings support an integration of creative and cultural perspectives into community resilience dynamics, with place-embedded significance to human-nature relationships in Prince Rupert. Given the complex nature of the challenges faced by peripheral communities, and the rich conceptual tool that is offered by CES, this research presents a unique perspective on the role of the creative and cultural sector in a small, remote Canadian city.
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    Travel, leisure, and aging: leisure for older adults visiting immigrant children
    (Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University, 2023) Najafi, Nazila
    Despite its prevalence and potential impact, visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel is remarkably understudied. Aging visiting parents of Persian immigrants are especially marginalized in scholarship and practice. This lack of attention is noteworthy, given the increase in immigrants to Canada and the rapidly aging population. This study aimed to understand the lived experience of 'visiting' immigrant relatives and the role of leisure (including leisure boredom and leisure constraints) during their visit. Specifically, this study explored whether leisure could help aging Persian parents visiting children in Canada with the cultural, familial, and economic challenges associated with their visit, including potential culture shock. Guided by a social constructivist paradigm and phenomenological approach, semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with a purposive, non-probability sample of 14 visiting parents of Persian immigrants from Tri-Cities, BC, Canada. Interviews were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA). Overall, Persian parents' lived experiences were characterized by three major themes:(a) visiting parents' experiences encountering Canadian culture, (b) visiting parents' leisure constraints, and (c) visiting parents' leisure activities in Canada. Eight sub-themes were developed to elaborate upon these overarching themes. The first sub-themes distinguish between parents who experienced culture shock and those for whom no culture shock was experienced. Language barriers were considered a common source of shock in this scenario, despite some unexpected findings (e.g., being able to connect with others despite the language barrier). The second set of sub-themes identified three recurring leisure constraints: (a) the exchange rate, (b) the host's busy lifestyle, and (c) leisure boredom. These constraints impacted and shaped the nature of participants' desired leisure activities. The third set of subthemes captured adults' leisure experience while visiting relatives, including (a) desired leisure activities, (b) leisure opportunities, and (c) autonomy, competence, and relatedness experienced within leisure activities. These themes, supported by data, are discussed, and the existing literature is extended. In addition, practical implications for hosts/host communities are also discussed.
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    Nanaimo residents’ sentiments study toward tourism: an exploration of perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs
    (Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University, 2023) Chen (Neo), Xunnan
    Tourism is an important contributor to Canadian economic growth, as evidenced by the record-breaking 22.1 million visitors that Canada welcomed in 2019, leading to employment opportunities and service growth in all regions of the country (Destination Canada, 2019). However, the COVID-19 pandemic's global travel shutdown had severe consequences for the tourism industry and altered host communities' perceptions of visitors (Destination British Columbia, 2020). As a result, residents' views on tourism may have shifted since the pandemic, making it essential to study their attitudes and beliefs toward tourism in their community post-pandemic. Knowing residents’ sentiments towards tourism can offer destination management organizations (DMOs) and tourism stakeholders valuable insights, which they can use to enhance local tourism development by improving tourism planning and policies. Although previous studies have explored residents' sentiments toward tourism at the national or provincial level, less attention has been paid to the community level (Destination British Columbia, n.d.; Destination Canada, n.d.). This study investigated residents’ sentiments toward tourism in the Vancouver Island community of Nanaimo. Grounded in social exchange theory, this study used an online survey to measure participants' agreement with positive and negative statements about tourism in Nanaimo. Hypotheses were established according to involvement status in the tourism or hospitality industry, length of residency, areas of residency, age, and Net Promoters Score categories. Additionally, this research also explored how residents in different Net Promoter Score categories spoke about Nanaimo as a destination. To test the hypotheses and identify any significant differences between the groups, the data analysis employed SPSS software and a range of statistical tests, including T-tests, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), group comparison, Chi-square test, and Cronbach's alpha reliability test. Results revealed that Nanaimo residents generally had a positive attitude toward tourism. Participants who were employed in the tourism and hospitality industry were more positive than those who are not employed in the industry. Passives and Detractors had similar attitudes toward tourism and were less positive than Promoters. Tourism Nanaimo serves as the Destination Management Organization committed to enhancing Nanaimo's appeal as a tourism destination (Tourism Nanaimo, 2022). The study’s findings offered valuable insights and suggestions for Tourism Nanaimo and other tourism stakeholders, aimed at promoting the sustainable growth of tourism in Nanaimo.