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Obesity, Educational Attainment, And State Economic Welfare, Martin W. Sivula Ph.D. May 2004

Obesity, Educational Attainment, And State Economic Welfare, Martin W. Sivula Ph.D.

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

For the first time in history, estimates of the overweight people in the world rival estimates of those malnourished. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2002) ranked obesity among the top 10 risks to human health worldwide. In the early 1960s, nearly half of the Americans were overweight and 13% were obese. Today some 64% of U.S. adults are overweight and 30.5% are obese. Even more alarming, twice as many U.S. children are overweight than were twenty years ago, a 66% increase. Non-communicable diseases impose a heavy economic burden on already strained health systems. Health is a key determinant of development …


Lodge Selection And Satisfaction: Attributes Valued By Ecotourists, Robert D. Mackoy, Gregory E. Osland Jan 2004

Lodge Selection And Satisfaction: Attributes Valued By Ecotourists, Robert D. Mackoy, Gregory E. Osland

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Although the ecotourism literature is growing rapidly, few researchers have systematically examined how ecotourists select and evaluate lodging alternatives. Understanding lodging attributes of importance to ecotourists is the first step in modelling lodge selection and satisfaction processes of interest to both managers and researchers. We report on the results of two studies designed to gather such attributes. Study 1 uses e-mail survey responses from dedicated birders, while Study 2 uses data from on-site interviews with visitors at ecolodges in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. The two most-commonly mentioned attributes in both studies were “proximity to natural areas” and “cost.” These …


An Ecotourism Quality Label For Maine? Insights From Sweden’S “Nature’S Best" Initiative, David Vail Jan 2004

An Ecotourism Quality Label For Maine? Insights From Sweden’S “Nature’S Best" Initiative, David Vail

Maine Policy Review

Nature-based tourism may be one way to revitalize lagging rural economies. David Vail offers “food for thought” based on Sweden’s recent development of an accreditation and branding process for eco-tourism operations. For an eco-tourism product to be awarded the label “Nature’s Best,” the operator must undergo a voluntary accreditation process which certifies that a set of quality standards has been met. Vail notes that effective marketing, ongoing financing, and demonstrated economic payoff both to operators and to local areas are key to determining the long-term success of Sweden’s “Nature’s Best” process. Like Sweden, he suggests, Maine may be able to …