Horses are perhaps the most common non-human animal to feature in planned events, but although there is considerable research on equestrian sport, there is virtually none on equestrian events. This book begins to address this gap, using the National Championships of the Icelandic Horse as an extended case study to explain in depth the process of managing an event, as well as the larger theoretical implications of events management. Drawing on diverse viewpoints and theoretical perspectives, the book draws wider comparisons to connect events management to larger themes in the social sciences, such as human-animal relations; nationalism; place branding; event impacts; event experience; and inclusion and exclusion. The book is a contribution to two fields. In relation to human-animal studies, it focuses on how the Icelandic horse breed is marketed and celebrated through top-tier competition; whereas from an events management perspective, it considers the role of the event in community building, the practical and theoretical aspects of running a sustainable equestrian event, and the issues that arise in multispecies event contexts.

This book features the second volume of the proceedings of the 9th International Conference of the International Association of Cultural and Digital Tourism (IACuDiT). Held at the Syros Island in Greece in September 2022, the conference's lead theme was ‘Tourism, Travel, and Hospitality in a Smart and Sustainable World’. With a full appreciation of the contributions made by numerous writers toward the progress in tourism research, this book presents a critical academic discourse on sustainable practices in a smart tourism context, stimulating future debates and advancing knowledge and understanding in this critical area of knowledge. It also puts emphasis on the knowledge economy and smart destinations notion. It enacts new modes of tourism management and development and presents chapters on cultural heritage tourism, emerging technologies and tourism consumer behaviour, such as tourism education, location-based services, Internet of Things, smart cities, mobile services, gamification, digital collections and the virtual visitor, social media, social networking, and augmented reality.

This book facilitates a critical investigation of gaps in theorizing and framing dark tourism by navigating through some onto-epistemological issues, theoretical entanglements, future possibilities, and the application of critical theoretical perspectives related to affect and emotions, human-animal studies, postcolonialism, feminism, trauma studies, posthumanism, power and identity. In doing so, it advances the need to connect critical theory, pragmatism and contemporary issues of social and global relevance. "Given the growing body of critical research within tourism studies, dark tourism has somewhat lagged behind. For example, critical tourism researchers have been examining postcolonialism for two decades, but dark tourism research has only sporadically engaged with this topic. Similarly, the issue of gender has been curiously neglected within dark tourism. In addition, dark tourism research has tended to shy away from the ‘big’ challenges facing contemporary societies. Through its engagement with a range of critical theories, this volume not only addresses gaps in the existing dark tourism literature but also moves the debate forward in exciting new directions. This volume is well-placed to demonstrate to other disciplines and fields that dark tourism research can be critical, theoretically grounded, and transformative." – Duncan Light

The benefits of being outdoors in a leisure context are widely acknowledged across a range of disciplinary perspectives (including tourism, therapeutics, education and recreation). These benefits include the development of: health and wellbeing; social skills; leadership and facilitation skills; personal, emotional and reflective abilities; confidence and identity creation. Drawing on a variety of perspectives, geographies and approaches, this book explores the opportunities that leisure in the outdoors provides for learning, developing and challenging. The authors in this collection challenge dominant discourses of outdoor leisure through their selection of outdoor activities, theoretical approaches and modes of representation. All offer fresh insights and thinking into how leisure in the outdoors can be understood. The book covers a range of outdoor conceptualisations that challenge the reader to think deeply and broadly about the common threads which bind the broad field of outdoor leisure together. The experiences explored in this book range from suburban outdoors to wild places, surfing to mindful reflection, and trail walking to Nordic skiing, and encompass a broad spectrum of people.

This volume unpicks mega-events as gendered entities and showcases how they both position athletes in relation to one of two binary sex positions and also push the boundaries of what we see and accept as a recognisably gendered male or female body.

Provides an in-depth analysis of human-horse relationships in equestrian sport and leisure. Contains original research on the ways that human society is structured around interaction with nonhuman others. Explores the individual and collective identities that are performed through involvement in the horse world.

This volume covers the management of human resources in the event environment. The work needs to be analysed and allocated, contracts prepared and signed, people hired, procedures developed, staff trained, uniformed and fed.

The Meaning of Horses: Biosocial Encounters examines some of the engagements or entanglements that link the lived experiences of human and non-human animals. The contributors discuss horse-human relationships in multiple contexts, times and places, highlighting variations in the meaning of horses as well as universals of ‘horsiness’. They consider how horses are unlike other animals, and cover topics such as commodification, identity, communication and performance. This collection emphasises the agency of the horse and a need to move beyond anthropocentric studies, with a theoretical approach that features naturecultures, co-being and biosocial encounters as interactive forms of becoming. Rooted in anthropology and multispecies ethnography, this book introduces new questions and areas for consideration in the field of animals and society.

Critical animal studies is increasingly interfacing with tourism research in an effort to shed light on the various ways animals are incorporated into touristic experience. Exploring non-human work in tourism: From beasts of burden to animal ambassadors builds upon the theoretical connections of animal ethics, agency, and welfare as it foregrounds specifically the work that animals perform in the industry. While some types of animal labor are more readily identified, readers of this volume may be surprised by how many forms of animal labor are overlooked. Taking a widely international perspective, with cases from the Arctic, China, Costa Rica, China, Finland, Greece, Mexico, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, this volume offers readers diverse scenarios of animals working. The book is arranged along three themes of work. Performative work focuses on the animals whose performances are front and center of tourists’ motivations and experiences. Value-added work turns attention to the co-working relationships of animals, while the political work of animals as ambassadors and icons is examined within the chapters on hidden labor. Additionally, the book makes theoretical considerations of the implications of positioning animals as workers and offers reflections on ways this focus on working animals extends current scholarship in the field.

With the growth in social networking and the potential for larger and larger breaches of sensitive data,it is vital for all enterprises to ensure that computer users adhere to corporate policy and project staff design secure systems. Written by a security expert with more than 25 years' experience, this book examines how fundamental staff awareness is to establishing security and addresses such challenges as containing threats, managing politics, developing programs, and getting a business to buy into a security plan. Illustrated with real-world examples throughout, this is a must-have guide for security and IT professionals.