bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tourism tertiary education and research in Poland
Authors: Białk-Wolf Anna
Published: February 2022

The very long tradition of tourism education and research in Poland cannot be described easily due to different political systems during the last 70 years. This paper is organized as follows: first, a short historical background of higher education in a political and economic context is given. Second, it illuminates the important changes in education in Poland. The universities with the highest number of students in this field are presented and discussed. In Poland it is possible to choose tourism as a specialization in other study fields. Tertiary education institutions do not have to provide information to the central institution regarding their offers of specialization, which complicates the attempt to show the whole spectrum of tertiary education. The tourism units are situated not only in different departments, but also in diverse faculties. A short overview of possible organizational aspects is also given. Subsequently, the main research areas are analysed. Because the problem of tourism research comprises a broad range of research fields, it is hard to depict the most relevant research fields and to identify the main sources that should be investigated. This paper does not pretend to show all problems and subjects connected with tourism education and research phenomena, but rather attempts to highlight the complexity and limitations in identifying the most important issues of the complete system.
Connections between scientific research and education in the field of tourism and leisure in Russia
Authors: Aleksandrova Anna , Aigina Ekaterina
Published: February 2022

This article focuses on the historical aspects of the development of tourism science and education in the USSR, and Russia as its legal successor. The specific features of their formation and organization in the second half of the twentieth century are examined, because they had a strong influence over the modern status of the country’s tourism and recreation and development trends in the beginning of the twenty-first century. Scientific generalizations made in the article are based on a large amount of factual data analysis and original literary sources, and are followed by a number of concrete examples.
Connections between scientific research and education in the field of tourism and leisure in Belarus
Authors: Tarasionak Aliaksandr , Nikitsin Viachaslau
Published: February 2022

The development of tourism research and training for the tourism industry started in Belarus in the 1970s. This was due to the need for recreational sectors of the economy, which in turn was caused by the increasing demand for tourism and recreation on behalf of the population. Tourism research has its origins in theory of recreational geography, which was best suited to the needs of a planned economy. During the economic crisis in the 1990s, a stagnation in tourism research took place. In the early 2000s, owing to the intensification of international tourism, development of market relations and the improvement of the economy, tourism research gained new impetus. However, the methodology of recreational geography was not enough: there appeared a need for a close cooperation with foreign scientific schools and universities. The drive for mutual cooperation between Belarus and the EU in tourism science and education has resulted in TEMPUS projects. This article reviews the history of tourism development, tourism, scientific research and tourism education in Belarus. It characterizes the state tourism industry and describes the problems that could erupt with further development of the tourism business in Belarus. The analysis is based on the topics of a Doctoral thesis which has been defended in tourism in Belarus.
Dawning of the Age of Robots in Hospitality and Tourism: Challenges for Teaching and Research
Authors: Murphy Jamie , Hofacker Charles , Gretzel Ulrike
Published: February 2022

This conceptual paper revisits, refreshes and reinforces a 1984 study that challenged hospitality educators to include robotics in their classes and their research. The paper briefly reviews robotics literature, explains three robot categories—industrial, professional service and personal service—emphasises the importance of autonomy and human robot interaction, and provides hospitality and tourism examples. This literature review leads to six areas of importance for teaching and research of robotics in hospitality and tourism. The paper gives academics and practitioners a foundation for envisioning the current and future state of robots in hospitality and tourism.
The consistency of a tourism product: A new conceptual framework
Authors: Sedmak Gorazd , Tina Kociper Tina Kociper
Published: February 2022

Although the importance of tourism product parts/elements consistency has often been emphasized in marketing and management literature, almost no academic attention has been given so far to the question concerning what determines the perception of its consistency and how it affects tourists' impression of the destination. The purpose of the research was to identify these elements, quantify their impact on overall perceptions of consistency and to make comparisons between tourist segments and two types of destinations – resorts and cities. The results revealed that whereas the majority of tourists do not consciously reflect on tourism product consistency, it is an important factor with regards to competitiveness and quality; although not to the same extent for all destinations and segments.
Sustainability disclosure and a legitimacy crisis: Insights from two major cruise companies
Authors: Aureli Selena , Medei Renato , Supino Enrico , Travaglini Claudio
Published: February 2022

The main aim of this paper is to analyse company sustainability disclosure in case of a legitimacy crisis. This work sets out to investigate how the negative externalities of an event reported widely in the media, such as the sinking of the Costa Concordia class cruise ship, have affected sustainability communication, for not only Carnival Corporation & PLC (the parent company of Costa) but also its most direct competitor Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. The paper relies on text analysis focusing on the sustainability reports of the two major companies (in terms of market share) in the cruise sector. Authors compared the reports of Carnival Corporation & PLC and its most direct competitor for a five-year period using text mining techniques. Results indicate that an event with social and environmental negative externalities, dominating international media and capable to bring discredit in the eyes of stakeholders, generates a change in the sustainability communication of both companies. Thus, repercussions are larger than one might suppose. Companies reduced the amount of information disclosed as a strategy to influence the perception of their audience, demonstrating that the provision of justifications, explanations and announcements of new sustainable policies (which increase the quantity of information) is not a predictable reaction. This paper undertakes empirical research on the sustainability reports of cruise line companies - which have been largely overlooked - and contributes to better understand company sustainability reporting praxis after an industrial disaster.
Tourist destination network analysis: The ego network role
Authors: Iannolino Salvatore , Ruggieri Giovanni
Published: February 2022

This paper aims to analyse the different roles that enterprises have within a tourist destination by identifying the presence and possible role of leaders within the system. The Social Network Analysis (SNA) is a tool that offers a greater degree of understanding of the operation of the destination. The map of commercial relations between the leading players of tourist supply can provide greater insight into the main relations existing between enterprises and the principles that ensure and regulate operation. In keeping with this objective and building on the results of a previous paper (Iannolino and Ruggieri, 2012), the authors have focused their attention on the role of some enterprises operating in San Vito Lo Capo (Italy) to determine the extent of their aggregating force vis-à-vis the destination. The ego-network analysis (ENA) has been applied to the existing relations between the enterprises at the destination San Vito Lo Capo, to determine the presence or absence of groups of enterprises, called Egos, which, with respect to the others, play an important role or are to be considered key subjects for the entire system in commercial terms. Following on this first results, the paper explores ways in which enterprises belonging to the ego networks are the key players responsible for a better climate of cooperation and trust among all of the system's enterprises.
The European Journal of Tourism Research: A Personal Journey
Authors: Ivanov Stanislav
Published: February 2022

This paper presents an overview of the history of the European Journal of Tourism Research – the first and only English-language academic journal in the field of tourism and hospitality studies in Bulgaria. It analyses the submissions by year, type and key topics, discusses journal’s policies and elaborates on the future of the journal.
Restaurant assessment of local food and the Global Sustainable Tourism criteria
Authors: Bristow Robert , Jenkins Ian
Published: February 2022

Certification standards have evolved to become a recognizable achievement in businesses. For tourism, numerous models have risen recently and most are striving to reach broad acceptance. The assessment utilized in this study was the management model suggested by the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC). From the food service perspective, little research has been devoted to exploring the willingness to adopt sustainable practices by restaurant managers. In order to assess the relevancy of the GSTC, a sample of restaurants located on several islands of the Turks and Caicos (TCI), the Pioneer Valley region of Massachusetts, U.S., in Wales, U.K. and Southern Switzerland were asked to rate the importance of several of the GSTC. Several differences in managements’ rating of sustainable practice were found, illustrating the unique geographies of our sample. Overall however, management embraced the importance of the GSTC.
State of the art of research in the sector of thermalism, thalassotherapy and spa: A bibliometric analysis
Authors: Río-Rama María , Maldonado-Erazo Claudia , Álvarez-García José
Published: February 2022

Due to the importance that this type of tourism has gained in recent years, academic researchers of different knowledge areas have focused their interest on studying, deepening and analyzing this sector by following different approaches (economic, marketing, distribution, tourism, etc.). In this context, the objective of this study is to track scientific publications that deal with research in the field of thermalism, thalassotherapy and spas, which will reveal the current state of research in this sector and define approaches and areas of knowledge from which these studies have been addressed. Bibliometric analysis was used as the research methodology to meet this objective. The international databases Web of Science and Scopus are used to identify the scientific publications under study by choosing search terms, and to develop the database for analysis. The results highlight the importance of the Scopus database for the search of bibliographic material related to the subject under study by researchers. On the other hand, very few researchers have continued with this line of research, most of them have only published one article and very significant percentage of the articles are published in journals that are part of the “tourism journals” category. The analysis highlights the need to continue developing knowledge in a sector with great growth potential.
Diving into the consequences of stakeholders unheard
Authors: Scholtz Marco , Saayman Melville
Published: February 2022

The positive sentiment, as well as the role of the residents as a key stakeholder in the scuba diving tourism system (SDTS) in Italy’s Portofino Marine Protected area (PMPA), is essential for the sustainability of the SDTS. However, studies on this area found that residents did not form part of the planning and the implementation of the MPA or SDTS, and as a result, negativity towards these industries was observed. It was the purpose of this study to determine possible gaps in communication and understanding between two key stakeholders in this SDTS, namely the residents and the dive operators in order to create better undertstanding and resident sentiment towards the industry. This was done through a mixed-method approach. Interviews were held with dive operators, after which a questionnaire was distributed to residents. From the results, misperceptions and miscommunication were found between the two stakeholders which caused negativity in the SDTS. The data showed that residents are not aware that they are stakeholders with an essential role in the SDTS. This study contributes to current literature regarding the importance of residents as stakeholders in SDTSs and the tourism industry as a whole, and the manner in which negative social impact perceptions can foster negativity towards tourism activities. From a practical perspective, this study makes recommendations on how systems such as the PMPA and SDTS should be planned and managed by incorporating the key stakeholders into the planning and implementation, thereby bridging the gaps in communication and understanding between the stakeholders, and building a more sustainable tourism industry.
Entrepreneurs’ Self-Perception of Skills in Rural Tourism
Authors: Castro Conceição , Ferreira Fernanda
Published: February 2022

The objective of this paper is to study the perception of entrepreneurial and personal maturity skills among owners of rural tourism businesses and structure these skills. The main obstacles to entrepreneurship felt by these entrepreneurs are also analysed. Using the results of a survey of rural tourism businesses in Northern Portugal, exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted. The data was evaluated through CFA, using Analysis of Moment Structure and performed a Structural Equation Model. The CFA led to two distinct factors: one includes emotional coping, critical evaluation and networking (personal maturity) skills, while the other (entrepreneurial) includes goal setting and environment scanning skills. The findings reveal, after a cluster analysis based on the resulting component scores, three different groups of entrepreneurs with different perception of competencies, background and type of business. The owners/managers encountered some restrictions in the start-up process as the bureaucracy and the lack of financial support and information. Studying rural tourism owner´s perceived entrepreneurial competencies provide advances in identifying its dimensionality and corresponding profiles and help defining strategies to enhance them, in order to promote success and local development.
A Game Theory approach to Airbnb and hotels competition
Authors: Aznar Juan , Maspera Josep , Quer Xavier
Published: February 2022

The rapid growth of Airbnb listings has represented a challenge for hotels. While most of the existent literature has focused on empirically measuring the impact of Airbnb listings on hotels’ revenues and profitability, the present research is one of the first attempts to develop a theoretical framework based on game theory to model a hotel’s best response in terms of investment to improve the quality of service and pricing strategy. The model results suggest that hotel location, the average value of long-term rental contracts and the density of available apartments influence the hotel strategy.
Show your teeth and tilt your head! Customer preferences towards a service with a smile
Authors: Yu Chung-En
Published: February 2022

The notion of service with a smile is a commonplace one in the realm of customer service. However, there are cultural variations when it comes to the perception and display of a smile as customers interpret smiles differently, depending on their background, gender and/or ethnicity. This research paper aims to analyze in greater depth, the distinct characteristics and nuances behind the smiles of presenters (i.e., service agents) and to investigate the interpreters’ (i.e., customers) perceptions. The findings revealed that non-Asians, normally regarded as more individualistic, tend to display a wider spectrum of different facial expressions, compared to Asians. The association between an Asian cultural identity and collectivism might partly account for this difference. In addition, it was discovered that customers are more likely to be attracted by service representatives of a different ethnicity during a service encounter, with gender playing a negligible role. On the whole, this paper will present significant contributions to the tourism and hospitality industries, by providing guidelines and insights for managers, hotel operators, and human resource departments, to improve and refine employee training.
Profiling airport travellers based on their perceptions, satisfaction and intention to recommend food and beverage services
Authors: Chiappa Giacomo , Atzeni Marcello , Loriga Salvatore
Published: February 2022

Consuming Food and Beverage is one of the most frequent non-aeronautical activities that passengers enjoy at airports and that significantly contributes to airport profitability. Despite this, there is still limited research aimed at analysing passengers’ consumption behaviour of F&B. With the aim to contribute to this somewhat under investigated research area, this study applies a factor-cluster analysis on a sample of 1,139 airport travellers. Results from factor analysis reveal four underlying dimensions of F&B perceptions (i.e. atmospherics, staff quality, value of money, product quality) and one dimension related to satisfaction and intention to recommend airport-based F&B services (i.e. “satisfaction and intention to recommend”). Cluster analysis applied to the scores of the five factors reveal that three clusters exist (i.e. “enthusiastics”, “neutrals” and “price sensitives”). Chi-squared analysis tests show that significant differences exist based on socio-demographics (i.e. age, education level, employment status), travel-related variables (i.e. frequency of travelling) and flight-related variables (i.e. flying and check-in modality). Contributions to the theory, managerial implications and limitations to the study are discussed, and suggestions for further research are made.
Marketing perceptions of national and nature parks managers – the case of Croatia
Authors: Ozretic-Dosen Durdana , Malesevic Kristina , Komarac Tanja , Skare Vatroslav
Published: February 2022

The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of Croatian national and nature parks managers of the current role of marketing in creating and managing parks’ offer. Through identifying and evaluating the scope and importance of marketing in national and nature parks, the paper also aims to reveal the possibilities for improving existing practices. The theoretical framework includes a review of contributions from the fields of marketing in national and nature parks' changing environment and the literature on place branding in tourism. Exploratory qualitative research was conducted. An in-depth analysis of secondary data collected from internal materials, print media, and internet resources preceded to a content analysis of primary data collected through personal, semi-structured interviews with 15 key informants. The overall results suggest that umbrella branding emerges as a novel and promising approach. In some cases, the role of marketing in responding to changes in the competitive tourism environment is acknowledged, while in others not, as conservative parks are primarily focused on protection and conservation, which results in fewer resources to implement active marketing management. Research limitations are related to single informant bias and the subjective nature of data (the perceptions of respondents). To the best of the authors' knowledge, the study is the first that enables insight into the umbrella branding approach in the frame of the marketing management of national and nature parks. It brings evidence from one of the Central and Eastern European markets, a domain in which the role of marketing in national and nature parks has been under-researched.
Adapting and Validating Scale of Customer Engagement in Online Travel Communities
Authors: Mkumbo Peter , Ukpabi Dandison , Karjaluoto Heikki
Published: February 2022

Increasing attention towards customer engagement has caused its measurement to remain a highly debated issue among scholars. This study adapts and validates measurement scales for customer engagement in Online Travel Communities. It builds on previous studies on scale development for customer engagement. Data were collected from 450 members of Online Travel Communities in eight countries: Australia, Canada, Hong Kong (Chinese territory), New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The process of adapting and validating the scale involved exploratory factor analysis, testing for differential item functioning, examination of item response theory, confirmatory factor analysis, testing for invariance and criterion validity. The results found that three dimensions (affection, absorption, and interaction) suitably and adequately measure customer engagement in Online Travel Communities.
The effects of emotional labour on the outcomes of the job and the organization: Do the differences in age and the manager’s emotional intelligence have any impact in the hotel business?
Authors: Khetjenkarn Siriporn , Agmapisarn Charoenchai
Published: February 2022

In the high competition of the hospitality and service industry, hotels are in the process of intensely managing their employees’ behaviour and emotions, and this can have a detrimental impact on frontline employees’ work attitudes, job performance, and behaviour within the organization. In Thailand, there are still pressing questions regarding these issues. The objectives of this study were to examine the relationships among emotional labour, burnout, job satisfaction, turnover intention, and organizational commitment, and to compare the moderating roles of the employee’s age and manager emotional intelligence affecting emotional labour concerning the job satisfaction and burnout of hotel frontline employees in Thailand. A total of 509 subjects were investigated. With the structural equation modelling (SEM) and multiple group analysis technique used in this study, the positive and negative significant effects of emotional labour concerning job and organizational outcomes, and the moderating roles of age and manager emotional intelligence, were determined. The managerial implications from the results of the study can have beneficial outcomes for the hospitality and service industry, particularly regarding the human resource management process in terms of dealing and custom treat with employees’ emotional labour.
Hotels competition based on online ranking position
Authors: Alarcón Juan , Palacín Bernat , Maspera Josep
Published: February 2022

Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) information has become extremely relevant for the reputation of hotels and is a key variable in terms of their capacity to set prices and improve their occupancy rate. However, overall ratings have a bias towards high values; luxury hotels concentrate on a few ranges of values in terms of their rating, making it more difficult for consumers to differentiate among these hotels. In this context, the ranking position that is unique for each hotel is an additional source of information for potential consumers, and it can have a direct impact on the hotel managers’ capacity for setting higher prices. This research proposes a theoretical model of vertical differentiation that adds the ranking position as a part of demand function and analyses the optimum strategy in terms of quality investment and prices for hotels in a given destination. The model is empirically tested using a sample of 102 hotels from the city of Barcelona. Our results suggest that the ranking position has a direct effect on higher prices and that this effect is more important and significant than the effects of rating value or the number of stars on prices.
Revisiting the quality-value-satisfaction-loyalty chain for corporate customers in the travel agency sector
Authors: GRANADOS JUAN C. , PÉREZ LEONOR M. , Pedraza-Rodríguez José A. , Gallarza Martina G.
Published: February 2022

Most traditional travel agencies offer their services to corporate clients, although literature focuses on end customers. This paper addresses this research gap, but also aims at bridging the gap between B2C and B2B literature. Specifically, the authors revisit the Quality-Value-Satisfaction-Loyalty chain, a well-established postulate from the B2C literature in tourism, but adding Trust and Commitment as mediating variables between Satisfaction and Loyalty to adapt the chain to the B2B context. Using PLS-SEM, the analysis of data confirmed the Service Quality - Customer Value - Customer Satisfaction - Trust/Commitment - Customer Loyalty chain for corporate customers.
Sustainable authenticity in a World Heritage Site: The Maritime Greenwich example
Authors: Hassan Azizul , Ekiz Erdogan
Published: February 2022

The research is based on the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site (MGWHS) UK. UNESCO recognises a place as the World Heritage Site that presents 'Outstanding Universal Value'. This site is identified as a relevant case and suitable for necessary data collection by using face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions and personal observation. The objective of this study is to understand the requisite of technology application for modernisation in the WHS perspective that has authenticity and historical significance. Results outline that, authenticity and technology application can stay parallel to each other; these two aspects are fundamental to a WHS, when tourism is concerned. Thus, the research suggests that are very little scopes exist to ignore significance of both authenticity and technology adoption for modernisation. Also, due to set guidelines of the UNESCO WHS, an amiable standpoint of all these aspects is a possibility.
Extending collaborative consumption concept to yacht charter services: The case of Blue Voyage
Authors: Paker Neslihan , Gök Osman
Published: February 2022

Collaborative consumption (CC) is a form of sharing in which participants jointly conduct services thereby creating a variety of benefits ranging from economic to social. CC has been widely studied in the hospitality industry, but yacht charter services have not been examined within this concept. Customer-to-customer interaction, which is an important element of the value-creation process, has not been discussed together with CC. The purpose of the study is to extend the concept of CC regarding yacht charter services as a new field of study. Blue Voyage, used as the research context, corresponds to a Turkish yacht charter concept that describes the circumstances in which voyagers live together in a limited space and share all services provided for a week. Twenty-four in-depth interviews were conducted with demographically diverse experienced or potential customers along with auto-ethnographic research. The data were analyzed via content analysis as a result of which three categories emerged as core benefits, perceived risks, and expected service elements. According to the study findings, the intense customer-to-customer interactions due to CC are inevitable in the yacht, which satisfies the social needs of the voyagers while also triggering risks related with sharing. The results offer important implications for such interaction-collaborative- based services.
Market segmentation for wine tourism: Identifying sub-groups of winery visitors
Authors: Nella Athina , Christou Evangelos
Published: February 2022

Notwithstanding the steady development of the international wine tourism industry, accurate relevant information and comparative surveys focusing on primary research appear inadequate in various wine-producing countries. Understanding the wine tourism market is vital for sustaining its further development. In addition to existing typologies for wine tourists, distinctions of winery visitors may provide a valuable tool to help wineries design and implement appropriate marketing tools. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to identify segment characteristics and variations among international and inland wine tourists based on a multinational sample of winery visitors in Greece; differences between experienced and inexperienced visitors, first-time and repeat visitors at a specific winery, individual and group visitors, and men and women were also examined. The empirical study was conducted at 18 wineries in the most significant wine-making areas in Greece, through 1,400 questionnaires forwarded to wineries for distribution among their customers through self-completion. The results confirm the existence of significant dissimilarities between domestic and international visitors in relation to pre-visit behaviour, primary knowledge and loyalty levels towards the winery’s brands, visitation motives, spending attitudes, income, age distribution, perception of the winery experience and future behavioural intentions. Differences among these groups were also identified. The practical implications of the findings are discussed to assist winery managers and other wine tourism stakeholders implement a more customer-centric approach and improve strategic planning.
A note on the contribution of Valuation economics in tourism
Authors: Menegaki Angeliki , Dionysopoulou Panagiota , Agiomirgianakis George
Published: February 2022

Valuation economics is a field which promises a wide range of applications for tourism. However, the new born nature of tourism economics has not yet unveiled the vast opportunities for tourist policy information and the pricing information embedded therein. This paper aims to briefly conceptualize these opportunities with examples on the methods and relevant examples of literature and pave the way towards their accommodation in the emerging tourism economics field. Market failure occurrences in tourism drive the need for total economic value estimation for a wide array of tourist goods through the employment of stated preference techniques and revealed preference techniques. Tourism can also benefit from the benefit transfer approach initially conceptualized in environmental economics which have contributed to a great development and expansion of these methods.
Smart technologies in the Covid-19 crisis: Managing tourism flows and shaping visitors’ behaviour
Authors: Trunfio Mariapina , Pasquinelli Cecilia
Published: February 2022

This paper contributes to the academic debate on tourism destination development in the COVID-19 crisis, by investigating the role of smart technology tools for managing tourism flows and shaping visitors’ behaviours. Considering tourism in the COVID-19 crisis as an emerging stream of research, the paper assumes a continuity with the overtourism research (pre-COVID-19) and builds on the cross-fertilization between the advances in this field and the smart destination literature. Based on an explorative online news media analysis, the paper provides fresh knowledge on the role of smart technologies in destination management, by proposing the Smart Technology Matrix. This frames the smart-tech tools and provides the conceptual background for opening future paths of inquiry on smart tourism destinations in the Covid-19 context.
Tourism and regional growth in the Carpathian Euroregion – a panel data approach
Authors: Výrostová Eva , Hrabovská Zuzana , Dioba Albina
Published: February 2022

The paper focuses on the identification of the relationship between tourism and economic growth of the Carpathian Euroregion located across seven borders of Central and Eastern European countries (Slovakia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, and Romania). By analysing the relationship between tourism and economic growth within the region, the paper quantifies the positive impact of tourism on GDP growth per capita. To test for the existence and strength of such a relationship, we use a panel econometric model based on conditional β-convergence. The results confirm the tourism-led growth hypothesis, and determine the extent of regional disparities in tourism activities between different parts of the Carpathian Euroregion, observed during the increase in tourist attractiveness between 2005 and 2015. For Ukraine, where political instability has led to a decrease in the total number of visiting tourists, we show that the dynamics for its part of the Carpathian Euroregion are markedly different, as it has benefited from the changing structure of tourist flows.
The Smart DMO: A new step in the digital transformation of destination management organizations
Authors: Gretzel Ulrike
Published: February 2022

Smart tourism development has been adopted by destinations around the world to strengthen their long-term competitiveness in light of rapid technological, societal and environmental change. Destination management organizations (DMOs) are generally endowed with smart tourism governance at the destination-level and typically see it as a great opportunity to prove their relevance. However, these organizations also face enormous challenges and often lack the capacities and competencies needed to successfully govern smart destinations. While recent literature highlights the importance of smart destination governance, it does not provide much guidance in terms of the functions and roles of smart DMOs. This paper presents a preliminary conceptualization of six smart DMO functions that support smart governance roles, namely mobilizing, match-making, managing, sensing, shapeshifting and stewardship. As such, it presents practical guidance for DMOs trying to implement smart destination governance and outlines the need for research on smart DMOs.
Strategically positioning Europe as a destination for off-highway vehicle recreationists: some initial findings
Authors: Magnini Vincent , Lindsey Shawn , Wyatt Chuck
Published: February 2022

The popularity of off-highway vehicle (OHV) recreation has increased substantially in recent decades in the USA. The purpose of this study is to address the question of whether it might be a viable tourism strategy to position European destinations for such OHV recreationists. This study conducted a national survey of OHV recreationists in the U.S. The key finding is that 68.3 percent of those who have not previously ridden in Europe either strongly agree or somewhat agree that they would like to experience OHV riding in Europe if they had the time and money. Of those who had previously ridden in Europe, 100 percent either strongly agree or somewhat agree that they would like to return to Europe for more riding. Furthermore, this study finds that those with an interest in riding in Europe record an increased importance in the quantity of trail miles / large size of the OHV attraction in comparison to those with little or no interest in riding in Europe. These preliminary findings suggest that future research is warranted to further explore whether it could be worthwhile for European destinations to actively attract this large and growing segment of recreationists.
Spatial effects and institutional quality in the demand for international tourism. An application to COVID-19 impact
Authors: López-Gómez Laura , García-Solanes Jose , Beyaert Arielle
Published: February 2022

This paper analyses the determinants of the tourism demand, following an approach which innovates in a) using spatial models applying a well-founded specification selection process b) exploring the effects of two types of institutions, corruption and Rule of Law, and c) assessing the spillover effects of the COVID-19 shock on the international tourism demand in Portugal and Spain. The study is conducted using a sample of 109 countries for the period 1995-2018. It shows that tourism shocks in neighbouring countries, and particularly the coronavirus pandemic, significantly affect tourism demand in the host country with the same sign as the shock itself, and that the Rule of Law of the destination country influences positively on tourists’ inflow. Corruption does not seem to have significant effects on the tourist demand of the host country. From these results, we derive that national governments should provide fair and transparent legal frameworks that generate security for potential tourists. Moreover, national authorities of neighbouring countries are advised to cooperate in both promoting tourism and adopting coordinated actions against negative external shocks that hit them symmetrically, such as COVID-19.
Volunteering with elephants: Is it a way of moving towards global citizenship?
Authors: Proyrungroj Raweewan
Published: February 2022

This study examines the nature of European volunteer tourists’ experiences at Elephants World, Thailand as well as whether and/or to what extent such experiences foster a sense of global citizenship among them. It used an interpretive paradigm and a qualitative research approach. The informants included 21 volunteer participants from European countries. A combination of semi-structured interviews and participant observation was used to gather data. Data were then analysed via a thematic analysis technique, revealing that the experiences of the volunteer tourists were a mixture of general wildlife experiences, experiences related to self-development, and experiences fostering a sense of global citizenship. However, the last dimension of experience was found to represent only the soft mode of global citizenship. Five main obstacles were found to limit the volunteer tourists to become the critical global citizens: language barriers, their short period of participation, the intention and willingness of the volunteer tourists to learn about the root causes of problems in the destination country/host community, the active participation of wider groups of local people, and the volunteer tourists’ colonial perspective. These issues should be carefully by host organisations and sending organisations.
Degree of political attention towards tourism: An analysis of party manifestos during German federal elections
Authors: Vogler Ralf
Published: February 2022

The attention that political parties pay to the tourism sector’s issues has been an underresearched subject for tourism science. This paper aims to fill the gap by analysing political awareness for tourism-related topics on a national level. It will answer the question of whether tourism plays an important role in parties’ manifestos and in which context it is addressed. To facilitate the research, the paper applies a quantitative content analysis as well as a contextual analysis. Results show that within parties’ manifestos tourism topics are discussed and used for the political debate, not only for their economic aspects but in the context of infrastructure and sustainability as well. It becomes clear that tourism on a national level serves as a vehicle to communicate the general ideological message of the respective political party. The findings of this paper complement earlier studies regarding regional politics and tourism.
Service failures in a cruise line context: Suggesting categorical schemes of service failures
Authors: Skaalsvik Hugo
Published: February 2022

This paper reports a study on service failures carried out on the prestigious Norwegian Coastal Voyage (NCV) or the Hurtigruten which is the brand name. Service failures are studied from the perspective of the service employees. Seven tour conductors participated in the study and in the research personal, face-to-face, in-depth interviews were carried out using an interview guide as a data collection tool. The respondents provided descriptive accounts of 51 service failure incidents which were used to develop a classification scheme of service failures. The service failure classification scheme consists of two main categories: 1. Service failures on excursions; 2. Service failures on the ships (while at sea or at harbour). The paper describes and discusses a set of sub categories within the main categories. The case study may advance the knowledge field of service failures particularly relevant for a high contact service like a cruise operation.
Service recovery in a cruise line context – A study on the Norwegian coastal voyage (Hurtigruten)
Authors: Skaalsvik Hugo
Published: February 2022

This paper reports on a study on service recovery carried out on the prestigious Norwegian Coastal Voyage (NCV) or the Hurtigruten which is the brand name. The exploration is based on a collection of 51 service failure incidents of which 16 were recovered by the service provider. This paper describes the service recovery actions made by the service provider and discusses components of effective service recovery by focusing on the role of service employees.
Tourist loyalty and destination brand image perception: the case of Sunny beach resort, Bulgaria
Authors: Anastassova Lina
Published: February 2022

Research related to important marketing aspects of international tourism has increased significantly. The analysis and exploration of the concept of loyalty is gaining a significant attention in the tourism research during the last two decades. The main objectives of this research paper are: first to explore the tourist population structure of the Bulgarian Sunny Beach resort depending on the loyalty level of the tourists to Sunny Beach brand and to make an attempt for extracting a typology of the tourist segments. The second task of the research paper is to determine the brand image perception by the tourists with different level of loyalty and to identify the key attributes of the tourism product which distinguish the image of Sunny beach brand. The study analysis and conclusions are based on two probability samples- in seasons 2009 and 2010- stratified samples according to the variable “country of origin”. The study reveals differences in the image perceptions of loyal and disloyal tourists and points out that better understanding of the image perception by the loyal tourists can help the marketers to improve the destination branding strategy.
Revisiting the role of conflict in media events: The Argentine Bicentenary
Authors: Korstanje Maximiliano
Published: February 2022

The Argentine Bicentenary, celebrated in 2010, was unique in many aspects, not only since the event is being celebrated every hundred years, but also because this contrast with everything that is written in event-management literature hitherto. The belief that mediated-events are aimed at achieving social cohesion reinforcing the solidarities among attendants was put under the lens of scrutiny. Under certain conditions, the social conflict augments in these types of festivals, first and foremost, whenever it cannot be regulated by the state. This research focuses on the following relevant aspects, The Bicentenary potentiated long-simmering disputes between two contrasting discourses and gazes in the political fields. Distorted images of centenary from one side or another, give the preconditions for the advent of a stronger discourse that revitalize the heritage and helps citizenship understanding what being argentine means. As a mediated-event, bicentenary emphasized on values based on nation-hood and pride for national symbols in citizenship. However, politicians seemed to broaden their profound political discrepancies in this event, contrasting exactly what specialized literature claims.
A molecular treatment of successful destinations: revisiting methodological individualism
Authors: Loong Bernard
Published: February 2022

With nanotechnology coming to the fore and molecular gastronomy entering the culinary arts, this paper proposes a molecular treatment of successful destinations. Yet it is a molecular metaphor that follows from methodological individualism as a methodological tenet. Post modern destination analysis has tended towards investigations at the micro-scale. Unlike the usual micro-macro dichotomy, that tends to be lop-sided, this molecular approach emphasizes the scalability of individual codified experiences to the global emergent properties of destinations. Computer simulations based on a spatial contagion model, suggests that successful destinations tend to be poised on the edge of chaos, maximizing molecular interchange and thus their ability to change and adapt. Informed by such findings the paper puts forward destination policy guidelines based on the consideration of two contrasting cases of heritage tourism: Venice and Singapore.
Perspectives on foreign training: middle managers in Jordan’s international hotel chains
Authors: Masadeh Mousa
Published: February 2022

Despite the importance of employee training in the hospitality and tourism sector, there has been little research exploring the training of middle managers in hotels. The present research paper aims to explore this under-investigated topic in order to shed light on training practices in international hotel chains (IHCs) in Jordan, as well as company and management attitudes towards out-of-country training (OCT). This article focuses on a qualitative study in which guided focus group discussion was used to identify the determinants of upper management’s decisions to invest in OCT for middle managers in Jordan’s IHCs. The three groups each included six department heads from 18 IHCs. The interview data revealed five key themes affecting management’s decision-making: management and company attitudes; barriers; selection criteria; nature of training; and benefits and usefulness of out-of-country training to managers and hotels. Focus groups results revealed middle managers’ overwhelming support for out-of-country training along with some of the perceived barriers, including lack of company and upper management support. This is the first study of its kind investigating middle managers’ attitudes toward out-of-country training. As such, it offers insight into this little-investigated demographic, which serves a key organisational role as intermediaries between hotel management and front-line staff. The paper offers useful data and analysis to researchers and/or practitioners of hotel management, with practical implications for improving human resource management in hotels.
Service development: Modelling influencing factors by employing the Norwegian Coastal Voyage (Hurtigruten) as a case
Authors: Skaalsvik Hugo , Johannessen Jon-Arild
Published: February 2022

This paper reports research on a service development study carried out on the prestigious Norwegian Coastal Voyage (NCV), also known as the Hurtigruten, which is the brand name. The primary research instrument employed in the research was in-depth interviews with service managers and service personnel employed on the Hurtigruten. This paper reports on findings on influencing factors to service development and suggests how the identified factors influence service development on the Hurtigruten. A model is suggested that depicts these factors, which are grouped into company internal, company external and system factors. The study advances the knowledge field of service development particularly relevant for a high-contact service such as a cruise operation.